Japanese Youth Elder Care
September 23, 2017
Japanese youth, along with regular devotees, gathered on September 23, 2017 and visited an elder care facility located in Sagamihara city to share pure love and gratitude with elderly people in the facility.
During the study session held the previous week, devotees discussed how to connect with elderly people in the facility who are withdrawn and cannot have much interaction with outside world.
In order to have insight on how to connect with elderly people, Sai youth also conducted guided meditation session to experience and rediscover their connection with everyone around them, especially elderly people. Youth gave themselves the assignment to express their inner connection into loving action during their visit to the elderly care facility.
Some volunteered to make and present beautiful handmade cards to express love and a sense of gratitude to elderly people who, most of the time, do not have close family members and friends. Presenting the gifts of handmade cards filled with love, for hanging in the elderly’s rooms, brought a feeling of connection and love.
Girls sang old songs to which the elderly could dance. They had a separate practice session to make this presentation presentable. The elderly people rejoiced together in nostalgic songs to which they used to dance.
Girls selected children`s stories that the elderly people used to listen to when they were young. They acted three different roles to tell the stories along with scanned images from the books. A girl, who is a professional voice healer, brought her favourite story to send healing energy through her amazing, calming voice.
Youth spent time together with elderly people while these performances were being presented, encouraging them to join and sing together. Some shed tears of joy and started singing in their own expressions.
Behind all these activities, youth coordinated with the facility staff to make this happen. They prepared, transported audio items, and set up for everyone to be able to serve in a true spirit of pure love and joy.
