My Role in This Society

Why do I live? , What do I work for? , Am I investing the time wisely? These are the questions that I frequently asked to myself along this course. In order to answer them, I had to take a great amount of my valuable time and also let out my researcher spirit for the investigation of the truth.
The truth is that it is difficult to understand our role in this society if we don’t focus our efforts on our spiritual maturity. Books that helped me to enrich further ideas are the Discourse on Social Action and also the Holy Bible. Both clarified my doubts and helped me understanding my real needs and wants. Then, what I really wish is to became an example of life, as the bible said “to live in such way that my acts turn into the most powerful messages that someone could announce” (Acts 20:18)
The only way I could figure out to reach to this expectation, to become an influence on others and to make people witnesses my good intentions is by being immerse in a social action. For example, Visiting “ Hogar San Jose” which is a home that takes care of the basic needs for elders, gave me the opportunity to challenge myself in doing something meaningful and to grow into this maturity stage.
Being surrounded and having conversation with old people helped me to appreciate this journey called life and to understand how I want to spend the last years of it. Right after my first visit an important thoughts came to my mind, which are why I will try to conquer the world or become the most famous and successfully person if at the end I will feel lonely and hopeless with nothing valuable to share? It doesn’t have sense to waste our potentialities in things that won’t last long. Elders taught me that at the end we don’t need material things to fulfill our life. We should invest our time in action that endure longer and could be passed through generations and raise our social and personal level with are dedication, patient, peace and love. We should be admired for the facts that we could overcome our problems and make them a learning opportunity to others.
Finally regarding to the previous questions I could say I will do all my best and continue living for being the reason to change. I will direct my work to make others better and for being recognized as someone that continuously participate in a social service and contribute with the transformation of this society.

reflection about the Cognitive Surplus video

As I said before I really like this class because it gave the opportunity to know different organizations or to visualize videos that share others works relating to social action. I am always been interesting in make others happy. I always blame to myself for not having enough time to dedicate to a service. I think that in my rush to finish my career I had left aside my well intentions to contribute with the society, but thank god and this class on Saturdays I go with my friend Angie and spend sometime with old people and do something to produce happiness.
I always have this necessity to give others love, but what have stopped of doing this is the lack of information about what options do we have to serve others.
I definitely don’t see myself sitting on a sofa waiting or watching the news of the world and just criticized every event that happens around it. I will rather produce something for the common share.
Here is a quote that I like for the ones that spend time doing nothing:
“if you judge people , you have no time to love them” Madre Teresa de Calcuta.

beauty session

Because we all are attracted to beauty. We decide to plan a beauty session with elders. We offer all the elders women to make a manicure and to also brush their hair and give some massages in their arm and legs. They like the idea that someone hold their hands and asked them to choose a color they like in order to be beauty. They smile and the have confidence to tells us more about their youth life. They start make us questions about our personal life for example how old we are or about what we studying and if we are married. What I learned is that elders persons are friendly if you talked to them kindly and of course since they have seen us several time in the Hogar San Jose we are not strangers anymore. I feel proud of myself doing something that the enjoy .

my leanirng with an elder talk.

My talk with Beatriz and her sad history help me to reflect in the importance of humanity and humility. I wanted to know about her dreams or what she likes to do in her free time so that I could help her to do something entertaining with her. But then she told me her sad story. She started working as a maid of a accommodate house for people with good economy conditions. She raised all their family children and grandson; she cooked and did the laundry. She did everything there since she was 18 then after 45 years of serve to that family they decide to send her to an asylum because she had arthritis problem and she can hardly move. They pay for taking care of her but they didn’t visit her and she feels lonely because they were like her family. She has no husband or sons, she has nephew but she said that it is like no having them. In the conversation I insist in knowing about she likes or what did she do on her vacation and she said that she did nothing because she didn’t have someone to be with…
After this I ask my self how can we possible have someone next to us and see their weaknesses and don’t do anything to make it better. How can a person that serves us lot of year, don’t receive the love or the care that she needs. It is not about leaving someone asylum and that’s it “work done”. It is to give back all the attention and be thankful for it.
I definitely direct my objective in life in a twofold purpose not only think in my personal level but also to dedicate my time In the promotion in the welfare of human race.

focus on others

This time after knowing more about older people I decided to leave the fear and start doing something with them. We offer them a simple thing that they like. We offer them a ride (in their wheelchair) around the asylum, some of them didn’t accept because some places didn’t have a roof so they didn’t want to receive sunlight. Some didn’t want to move because they say that they get dizzy. And for the ones that accepted, they ask us to move slow and to not go far away. While we were wander around. We ask them their names and she also asked who was I? I told her that I am a friend of the religious mother and that I want them to visit. She told me that few people come there a visit them. So I was happy to be a reason for her happiness and I also was less anxious to treat with her. I think the idea of being like them and the end of the year scared then I start to think about what things could be done in order to enjoy the like, then I immediately shook my head and think about what our text says about to abandon the tendency to satisfy ourselves and focus or energies on endeavor that seek viable solutions to humanity mounting problem. Finally what ill try to do is to not to think on how sad is to lonely and having no one to take care of you but focus on what can I do to solve this issue.

understanding elders

In our second visit I was interesting in have a small talk with an old people. This time I say hi! to everyone and expected no answer cause now I know most of them see reluctant to speak. But after having talking with Mercedes and with the religious mother I learned that some of them behave like that because they think going to ask them something that thy don’t want, for example to move from one place to another, or to take a pill, etc… this ladies know very well their room mates she told us that sometimes they hallucinate you are the ones of their relatives that leave them alone. It is nor that they don’t want to be unkind, the thing Is that they are not conscious of their actions. Some are very old that even open their mouth is a big exercise. This time I was wondering, am I going to spend my last years like that? Will I be conscious enough to understand my behaviors? What kind of social responsibility should I acquire with this group of people? What deep questions that I hope to answer in my following visits.

what a experience !!!

My first visit was shocking for me. I imagine active old people doing different types of activities, playing cards or having some fun but when I visited it was the opposite, they were lying down on a sofa, chair or wheel chair doing nothing. There was a radio and a very slow old song playing. Most of the elders have their heads down and facing to nowhere. Some questions came to my mind at that moment, What a depressing place, what else do they do?, what are their hobbies? What can I do in order to take them a smile? When we get close to them and say hi! Some of them start making weird sounds. I didn’t know how to react and didn’t know if my presence was interrupting their peace time or what? Finally we found a lady that told us more about their life and their mental and health background. This elder lady seems like the only one which we can say something. I was a little bit shy that day what I mostly did is to observe others elders behavior and to see who my classmate and nurse get close to them cause it seems they have develop a social skills with them.