Already Week 8?? This quarter felt like it went by so fast and I am sad to see that we only have to more weeks of this class left. But today we were able to get through many fun and creative Debunking Ageism projects. This assignment was completed in order to recognize that many of the stereotypes and misconceptions we have about elders and aging is actually false. Debunking such negative views is important for raising awareness and fighting against views of elders. My classmates had such cool ideas to showcase their ways of debunking ageism in terms of websites, MEMES, posters, handouts, board-games, rap songs, reflections, videos and many more! I specifically focused on the myth that elders do not travel. We have been to different seniors centers and homes like West Center, Bayside, Casa de Manana and many of them talked about their amazing travels, when they were younger and now. So why is it a common myth that elder people do not travel (65+)?? Travel & hospitality sectors are biased towards targeting younger generations in ads & marketing. It is also a common notion that elders to go only on a pilgrimage, not on a vacation. It was great to present these factors with examples from a tea-selling elder couple from India who traveled to more than 17 countries even though they did not have a lot of money, they still traveled and had amazing times. I ended my project by passing out tea bags (to keep with my tea theme) that had different myths about elders and travel attached to the back of it. Overall, debunking ageism myths was a great way to foster discussions and present ideas/creative projects.
Today is our second Gateway Growing program which is at Bayside. Learning from last week’s program, we were better prepared for setting up and figuring out efficient ways to divide the roles between us. Bayside is always close to our hearts as last quarter and this quarter we were able to come to Bayside multiple times for Zumba and talking to the elders about their life experiences. I saw familiar faces, as well! While setting up the station, we had elders already coming in for the program but thankfully, because of last week’s program, we were able to quickly be prepared. Wayne helped put the soil and rocks in the jars while the elders got to pick which arrangement of plants they preferred. We also passed out food and drinks while they were seated after picking their succulents. Many of them really loved the variety of plant-themed stickers and black jar labels in which they can write their name, a message or quote. One of the participants used paint to write mine, Neena’s, Wayne’s and Leena’s names on her mason jar which we thought was really sweet. They also enjoyed getting their polaroid pictures with their friends and jars at the backdrop. One of the elders also wanted to take pictures of the Gateway Growing theme so we gave her some good poses. I was happy to see that they really enjoyed decorating the jars and talking to us throughout the time. Having them pick their own plants and design their jars helped them create their own beautiful masterpieces and they turned out so so well! Overall, this project was very successful at both Potiker and Bayside as we got great feedback from the elders and the managers. We would love to come back with more LCS groups and other students to continue this program!
Back at school! We presented the second half the book, “Happiness is a choice you make: lessons from a year among the oldest old.” Some of the lessons learned by the author and from this book are that many elders know there are negative aspects to aging but focusing on the positive moments helps us enjoy life, find our purpose, accept adversity, not to sacrifice our present for the future and be content with what we have. We also were taught how to make poster formats, designs, and proper info for our HAP posters. During our HAP meeting, my group went to retrieve succulent cutting from the ERC garden. We were able to cut a diverse range of plants and keeping in mind how to cut the plants based on what Chris taught us.
On Friday, we had our first Gateway Growing HAP program! Dennis was an amazing host and really helped us unload the supplies like plants, food, soil, decorations, jars and so much more. We came early to set up and immediately many elders came to join our succulent party. In our first station, we had a sign-in sheet and Wayne helped with putting soil and rocks in the mason jar while the elders picked their arrangement of plants. In the second station, we set up food and drinks that we offered to take to their table as the third station was decorating their mason jars! We had paint, brushes, paint plates for mixing, stickers, jar labels with glow markers, twine, tags, and rocks. I was in charge of encouraging the elders to decorate their jars and helping them with it. Neena was the photographer and took pictures of the elders doing the activities while Chloe used the succulent backdrop we brought to take polaroids for them to keep. Throughout the program, we all talked to them while decorating, taking pictures and eating which was amazing as it created an intergenerational activity that they not only got to keep as a memory. Many of them were so happy that we were able to do this activity and Dennis told us he hopes we can do more programs like this! At Westcenter today! We talked to a great group of elders who were very happy to answer the question cards we had such as asking advice, their favorite experiences, and jobs. The first elder we met was a woman named Joy Sun. Although she spoke mostly Chinese, with the help of Sallie and the wonderful google translate, our group was able to have a great conversation. We learned she picked her own name because she always feels joy and enjoys sunny, bright days as it makes her happier and energetic-thus Joy Sun. She recalled how she stayed in Seattle a bit but really disliked the gloomy weather (but Joy Rain sounds pretty cool too). Her relationship advice for us was give lots and lots of love and her lesson for us was keep on working hard and sticking to our goals, no matter how big or small. Joy is also really active as she walks more than 10K steps a day in order to stay moving and she also volunteers at the West Center everyday by wiping the floors, folding napkins, and passing out food. She really loves giving away gifts to her friends that she made at the center as she believes material things re only of value if given away to make other people happy! My group also talked to another very lovely and amazing woman named Talat. She only recently joined the Westcenter group but she told us that she loves it already as the people and volunteers here are wonderful. We talked about her life in Pakistan and moving to America plus her love for traveling. I really connected with her as she reminded me very much of my grandma in terms of her personality and similar interests in culture. She gave us her number so we can keep in touch (her granddaughter goes to UCSD as well)! Before we departed, she gave us a big hug and told us to keep in touch as she really loved that the LCS group was going to different centers and neighborhoods for intergenerational talks and how there needs to be more groups like that. Couple days after, I texted Talat wishing her a very Happy Ramadan!!
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June 2019
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