Diary as a Volunteer-- Day #5

Day#5: 6 March 2013- Emergency Room (ER)
     Day #5. I was starting to accustom to this volunteering job now. Accustomed to waking up so early in the morning. Accustomed to the traffic jam in the morning. Accustomed to trudging up the blue-and-white outdoor staircase every morning. I was starting to wonder whether I'd land in the Wellness Center again today. (I was getting accustomed to that place and the people there too. ><) 

    "Today... do you want to go to the bakery? Help them seal bags of bread."
    "Bakery?" Yay! That sounds really fun. What's more, the bakery smells really NICE too! =D Unfortunately, my dad was pestering me everyday to ask to be sent somewhere where there is something relevant with medicine, (which is what I was planning to study later on). I really wanted to try out at the bakery, but I just can't stand another day of pestering. @@ So I informed the person in charge what my dad said. After all, we could choose where we wanted to go. We could choose to volunteer where our interests are. 

     "Then... what about the ER?"

      ER?! Emergency Room? Are you sure? What could I do there? I know some basic first-aid and I'm even sure that they wouldn't let me do things like that. Ah well, we'll see as we go on... 

      The moment I walked into the ER, I observed around and found out that it was a wide, spacious area with curtains-enclosed cubicles, beds and chairs. There was a counter at a far corner where I saw three nurses busying there. After the usual greetings and get-to-know, one of the nurses gave me a task to do-- staple pieces of paper together. I was led into a small side room to carry out the tasks. 

      It was still early by then. The place was really quiet. All I can hear was the "clip clip" sound I was making. Then, I heard someone walking in and raised my head to see a tall Indian man approximately in his forties to fifties. He was wearing a blue uniform... so unlike the nice, white uniforms the nurses wore. Hm, I wonder who was he? Later then, I found out that he was actually the supervisor of the place. Gosh. =O After he walked out, I was really absorbed and focused on what I was doing. Thus, I was shocked when I heard someone coughing IN THE ROOM. I jumped out of my skin. What? There was someone in here too? @@ I peered around and found out that there was another tinier room inside this small room. I guessed that the cough issued out from there and I was right. Minutes later, a healthy-looking man walked out. Oh, it was a doctor. (I thought there was someone sick in there #><#) 

     After I had finished the stapling, I went out to find the nurse and came back with a big box of paper clips. Yea, the next thing I had to do was to sort out several stacks of paper and clip them together. Well, I know it sounds like an easy job, but it took me more than an hour to finish them all. >~<

     I looked forward to the next task. However after I finished the sorting, the nurse simply said, "you can stand around and watch." Watch? Ok. I WATCH. ^^

     
     It was quite a 1 Malaysia scene. I did mention that there were three nurses there right? Well, one was a Chinese, one Malay and one Indian. Haha. =) 

     The rest of the day was quite boring. There was nothing much that I could help with, and there were not many patients there either. Well, there was one small incident that made the day a little interesting. The Indian supervisor drew some blood from an elderly patient and transferred them into three separate "test tubes". One of them rolled into the drawer and he closed the drawer without noticing. Soon afterwards, there was a small commotion where the four nurses searched high and low for that test tube. I did saw the test tube roll and I wasn't sure whether it was the one that they were all searching so madly for. I pointed out what I saw... and it was the one they were looking for! Yay! Glad to be some use. =D

     Besides that, I just stood around and observed how they treated patients who came in. Oh ya, there was once when one of the nurses asked me to go to the blood bank laboratory to fetch the results of a blood test. Hooray! Now I get to do something useful and move my legs. =) Then, there was another time when I had to send a document to the X-Ray department. Holding the document, I wandered around in that department and found no one at the counter. Hm... what to do? I just stood there and waited. A quite old man wearing white coat appeared from I don't know where and I gave him the document. Hah, thank you for appearing! =) He asked me to send a message back to the ER which I did, mentioning him as Dr. just as I thought I heard he told me. Ended up he wasn't one. He was a radiologist. Ah... How embarrassing! #><# 

     Just as I was going to leave, the ER got a phone call. An ambulance is needed. Everyone else was busy preparing. Sigh, seemed that I was going to miss the action after all. (._. )

     Well that was about all that I did that day. Sorta boring right? But, BUT it is really great to obtain the  opportunity to help out and observe at the ER. A chance that hardly comes by. =D

Diary as a Volunteer-- Day #4

New day, new hopes... Let's see what's new in day #4~

Day#4:  5 March 2013- Wellness Center
     Yes, yes, it's the Wellness Center again. It was my third day here. So far, the tasks they sent me to do were different. So, what is in store for me today?

     There was a reason why I went there again. Firstly, the person in charge of volunteers had not make up her mind about where to send me. Secondly, the lady at the Wellness Center actually asked me to go back the next day! Wow. (Smiles) So, that was where I landed that day.

Touch down! =D

    

      I was given several pieces of paper and was asked to modify the soft copies of them in the computer. By that time, one of the people there had not arrived yet and so she let me use his computer. I was only halfway through when the person came. Uhoh... And that was when she disappeared into the back room and came back with a mini laptop. Wow. After I finished my task, she took it for printing. Besides that, I also helped to edit brochures for printing using Microsoft Publisher. Hm, that was my first time using Publisher doing real stuff. (Before that, I just "played" with it.) Thank goodness I did alright. =D

     Oh yea, before I missed it out. The ladies there actually PRAISED me. Wow wow. They said I'm very efficient. (Smile) Maybe I did things too fast? Hm...

     After all the printing, it was then "cutting" time. There were stacks and stacks of cards waiting for me to cut out. Total= 102cards. @@ Originally the lady gave me an art knife and a ruler to complete the job. Then I found out that............ the blade is too blunt. (Or I didn't exert enough pressure? Don't dare to, in case the table gets scratched ><) So I went and borrowed a pair of scissors. I was happily cutting until I went through halfway and realized that friction was doing its job. Too much friction between scissors and my hand= reddish sore. Ahh....  

     Well, there was something nice this day too. When I finished the cutting, the lady gave me a heart-shaped chop to print on the cards! (The cards were something about the healthcare for your heart) Yay yay~ It was fun! Ok, at least it was more interesting than cutting papers. ^^ (No complaints here.)

     With that done, it was lunch time! After lunch, I did some double-checking stuff, signed out and went home feeling really tired and sleepy. (YAWN~~~~~)

     This seems like a lousy post to me. Ah well. >< Will do a better job in the next post. (Yawn~) 

Diary as a Volunteer-- Day #3

It was the same schedule. And I thought I'd get used to it. First days might be challenging, but once I know how things work, I thought I'd get the hang of it. It will be like clockwork. You know, doing the same things everyday, just repeating them. There's nothing new for you to look out, and so prepared to get bored. I WAS WRONG! Very wrong.

Tick tock...

Day#3:  4 March 2013- Wellness Center

     Yes, you didn't see wrong. Nor did I forget to change the title. It IS the Wellness Center, again. Well, this was what that had happened... 

     This was the third day. I knew I will be sent to a different place this day, and I looked forward to it. In fact, I was wondering about that the previous night and was still wondering about it when I knocked the door expectantly that morning. I opened the door... to find the person in charge wasn't in. She was on leave. Oh God! What do I do now? Thankfully, another person working there saw me. After making some confirmation, he placed me back to the place I went the day before- Wellness Center. Oh. ><  Turns out that I was wrong after all. 

     I trudged back to the Wellness Center. Everything seems so familiar, and welcoming. After all, I spent at least four whole hours there last week! The people there were surprised to see me again. [P.s. They actually  looked happy to see me back. After all, who doesn't want someone to help them lighten their work? And that person is volunteering too! (In this case, it's me ><)] 

     Anyhow, I started my day by helping one of them to tidy up the store room. Well actually I didn't do much tidying. The lady did most of it. Talking about this, the store room wasn't so untidy either. She just moved a few boxes into place and I counted some items. I saw the baby dolls and towels I labelled the last time I came here. (And that was what I was supposed to count.) Hmm... =)

     I learnt something new today. Today, I learnt how to use a photostat machine! Yippie! Okay, you might think "So what? I use a photostat machine every other day". Ah well, I never get the chance to learn... until now. Hoho~ The lady there taught me how to use the photostat machine. It goes without second thoughts that her aim was to let me photostat brochures for her. LOTS and lots of brochures. Pink ones, blue ones, yellow ones, green ones... I don't really mind that. It was fun! ^^ Besides having to photocopy them, I was also requested to fold them (as shown in the picture below). 

An example of the size of brochures I did

     It was my first time using the photostat machine after all. I wasn't sure whether I had to replace the stack of pink papers in the machine with white ones when I finished using them. Just as I was wondering about this,  a man who worked there came over and photocopied some documents... and they turned out PINK! He screeched! HAHAHA~ No no no, that was bad of me to laugh. (Small whisper: But it was really funny.)  I didn't do that on purpose. He should have checked. I do admit it was my fault though. Sorry. Thank goodness it wasn't some important documents, or else. Full stop.

     Besides that, I was helped to tidy one of their shelves. A shelf full of messy brochures. @@ Brochures, brochures, brochures. Brochures EVERYWHERE! While I was tidying, dust flew everywhere. The worst part is a tiny little SPIDER actually ran out and hid back again in the midst of brochures. OMG! It was still very satisfying when I finished my job-- everything looked really tidy. =)

     After lunch (this time I had to queue up T-T... there were lots of people there...), I started on my next and last task. I think the lady I was helping had started to trust me now. That's nice. =) She asked me to key in something and to double-check some details while she was out for lunch. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish all of them by the time she came back. There were too much after all.

     I left the hospital early today, hoping to be on time to catch a bus home. Luck wasn't with me that day. I was forced to wait 40 minutes for the bus to come. Geez. It was really baking hot that day and I was sweltering. What's more, a man came and stood a short distance away, SMOKING! Okay, I'll move. Then came a big-sized man who accidentally stepped on my shoe AND settled down next to me. I won't mind if he just kept quiet and waited for the bus. However, he started blabbering and asked me many personal things. I was on caution immediately. Suspicious stranger!!! Red alert!!! I was hoping and praying for the bus to come at once... which it did not. T_T You can't imagine my relief when I saw the bus rumbling up around 10 minutes later (it seemed like one hour to me). The bus was very very full and I sensed the stranger just behind me, waiting to get on the bus. I gave up at once and sat back to wait for the next bus. The bus was just closing the door and started to move when another EMPTY bus came up. Yay! A place to sit and bye bye stranger! Hahaha~

     This was my first time taking this bus. I wasn't sure of its destination and I simply hopped up. How blur of me. I realized it later and immediately went to confirm. Thank goodness it was heading towards my destination. If not... (Blank). Here's an interesting thing that had happened on the bus. There was a girl who boarded the bus and sat next to me. It was quite a long journey and we started to talk. Guess what I found out. She was actually the same age as me AND she was actually a classmate of my friend! WOW! That was really a coincidence! =]

     Life is interesting. Things pop up when you don't expect them the most. Life is full of surprises and challenges. Nothing is ever boring. Cheers~ ^^

Diary as a Volunteer-- Day #2

I wondered what was it, as I walked by... 

Curiosity ignited. 

Tentatively...
I approached,  

The place,

Where flowers stank like garbage. 

Day#2: 28 February 2013- Wellness Center
     Okay, day 2. Remember my last post about me going to the second hospital to apply for volunteer work?   Well that day my dad parked his car in a parking lot quite far away from the main building and the HR office ( we didn't know where was the HR office earlier then). So, we had to walk quite a distance (obviously). Well, when we walked past a small single-story building, I smelt something bad. Something rotten. Just like something you will smell when there's a heap of rotting rubbish nearby. Yucks. There was a big tree beside the building and a pile of yellow flowers scattered below it. So the first time I went past, I thought, was it the flowers? The second time I walked by, it still stank. I was really curious. I asked my dad what place was it and we walked up to the front door. Just beside the glass door, there was a big board saying "Wellness Center". Okay. Wellness Center? What do they do there? Hmm...

     By now, I'm sure you know what I was writing about earlier. The few sentences I wrote before the extremely cute cat pic above. Yes, you guessed right. "The place" I mentioned is actually the Wellness Center. Of course, the flowers don't actually stink. Then what was it? I don't know. Shrug.

     So, why am I focusing on this "Wellness Center"? Because that's where I was sent to on my second day as a volunteer! =) Imagine that! I was wondering about it two days ago and now I'm going there! WOW! Hahaha!~

     Actually I arrived at the hospital that morning feeling really nervous. I thought I was going to the pharmacy again. When it turns out not... haha, I was over the moon! =) New place, new people... Yea, it was just great getting to explore new things again!

     It turned out that there were actually two wellness centers. One with doctors, and one not, which was where I went. The people who worked there wore blouses with thin orange and white stripes and black skirts. (All were females there, except for one whom I met the day after, more about this in the next post! ) I found out that the place was actually some sort of health education center where they teach health facts and so on to people. They also help people to lose their weight the correct way besides giving talks and classes about health. There were counselling sessions too!

     When I first walked in, one lady asked me to have a sit and she disappeared into the back room (or so I thought then). Then, many others seem to appear out from nowhere and I greeted them all with a "good morning" and a smile. It's always better to leave good first impressions, and that was what I tried to do. I looked around and studied the brochures on the table in front of me. It was all about nutrition. Ok. Another lady walked out and I stood up, wondering what will she ask me to do... and I sat back down again. Ended up getting embarrassed. This lady looked similar to the previous one: tall, young, long haired... She just went on with her business and that was when I knew it wasn't the first lady I met before. Oops. Well, you can't blame me. I just saw the first lady for a few seconds only. Shrug.

     Anyway, it turned out that I was to help with the packing of goody bags. After giving the instructions and giving me a demo, the person went away into back room... and reappeared with more recycle bags and more goodies for me to pack. Oh. Okay. This was actually a good change. At least, at least I won't break anything and feel guilty for the rest of the day. Hmm >~<

     After finishing my first task there, guess what's coming up next! Another lady asked me to help her label baby dolls! Aw... The dolls were newly bought for demo in their classes and needed to be labeled in case the cute dolls got lost. Too bad I had to be the bad guy using black marker writing words on them. T-T They were so beautiful and the words ruined them (in my opinion). It hurts to do that. Once, I accidentally pressed a doll and it can actually talk! Wow. The people working there were all very obsessed with the dolls too. They were really excited about it and cuddled them. Wow again. The people in the pharmacy were all really serious and hardly laughed. However, it was really a contrasting sight here! I was really surprised, and it was really pleasant all the same. The mood and atmosphere here was way better and I liked it here. =)

     The next thing I had to do was labeling towels and handkerchiefs. Labeling, again. Haha. I was also asked to stamp envelopes. Besides that, I also helped the lady to prepare containers with cotton wool and alcohol pads. Those were easy jobs, especially when compared to the tasks given to me on my first day. I managed to complete them and they actually complimented me! Wow. =)

     I went out for lunch earlier than the day before. It was around 12.45 p.m. when they said I could go for lunch. Once again, I need not queue up. Yahoo!~

     When I went back to the Wellness Center, I was stunned.

     What? Closed?! The lights were off and they were all out for lunch. For one whole hour. Uhoh... What should I do? There was a security guard sitting just in front of the door. His had his back on me. (I was wearing a volunteer vest, remember?) I took a look and him, pushed the glass door open... and slipped in. Hah! I went back to the desk to find lots of goodies and recycle bags on it. A nurse who dropped by earlier had told me what to do. And so I started packing another set of goody bags... again.That was the third set. Haha. Goody bag day!

     I had finished packing them but there was still half an hour to go before lunch time was over. Geez. I tidied the bags and arranged them neatly. Ok, done. What's next? I asked another lady to see whether I could help with anything. She stood up, looked around, thought hard... and told me "nothing". Oh. She told me that I could read books in the waiting room outside. Read books? Never mind, home I go then! Haha. This day, I left early. It was only 1.44 p.m.

     I did not lose my way out. Thank goodness. After a few minutes of waiting, the bus rumbled up and I hopped in. On my way home, I actually met a foreigner at a bus stop when I was changing buses. She was looking at the signboard and asked for my help. She was actually trying to catch the same bus to the same destination! Wow. That was how we ended up travelling together. >-<

     The foreigner had dark, brownish hair and seemed to be in her fifties. She wasn't so high and had quite tanned skin. She struck up a conversation with me as we were waiting for the bus to arrive. She told me that she came from Korea... but honestly, I don't think she looked like one. Probably someone who immigrated there. I also found out that she was travelling alone and was really interested to visit my hometown. I ended up being a tourist guide. Geez. #>.<#

   
     Day #2.... finished. Whew. This is one really long one too. Gosh. Should I have controlled myself better? Shrug. Thanks to you if you finished reading this post all the way through! =)


   

Diary as a Volunteer-- Day #1

In my last post, I wrote that I had found a place for me to volunteer right? And now the "story" continues here...

Day#1: 27 February 2013- Pharmacy
     I woke up early in the morning, with butterflies fluttering in my stomach. (Er, did I swallow them while I was sleeping? How did they get in here? >.<) I know it starts at 9.00 a.m., but it takes around 50 minutes for me to reach there, by CAR.

     My dad dropped me off at the main gate of the hospital and I walked in. I was really nervous because I wasn't so sure that I know how to get to the HR office. To me, the layout of the hospital is quite confusing with lots of different buildings laying here and there. What if I end up getting lost? Ah well, don't think about that. That's because I found out that the building is just round the corner! Yay~

     Knock knock... Good morning. I pushed open the door to find the person in charge smiling at me. She was the friendly sort of person. Well well, this changed my mind. I had always thought that HR people are really grumpy and stares coldly at the others. Apparently not. Haha.

     The day started with Ms Wong (the person in charge) showing me the file in which I have to sign each  time I went there. Then, she gave me a badge with my name written on it. After putting on a vest and the badge, she showed me around the hospital. It was like a mini tour. Though I had visited that hospital for a few times, the only place I had ever been was the ground floor. This time, I got to take a peep at the diabetics center, patients' ward... and the door of the intensive care unit (ICU). ><

     The last place Ms Wong showed me was the pharmacy-- the place where I had to help out that day. To be frank, I was a little bit worried. I had never been into a hospital's pharmacy before. What is it like in there? How will the people in there treat me? Most importantly, what will they want me to do??

     We rushed into the pharmacy, and... wait a moment. Yes, we RUSHED. That's because to open the door, we need a password. Or, you can knock and wait for someone to open it. When we reached there, someone was just going in and the door hasn't closed yet. So we quickly rushed in. (And Ms Wong actually laughed at that. ^^ )

     After informing the people at the pharmacy, Ms Wong left. I was asked to help them with the labeling of bottles of medicine. One of them showed me how to paste the stickers on. Mind you, I wrote "showed me how to paste" and not "the correct way to paste". I just got to the forth bottle when another person came over and said: "Don't stick those on yet. There's no expiry date." I was like, WHAT?! That's not what the first person told me. >~< What's more, the second person left me with those words only without any further instructions. Argh. I was at lost of what to do. @@

     Fortunately, someone else beckoned me from the front counter. She gave me a few strips of paper containing the expiry dates. A few strips of paper with lots of expiry dates. Well, there were two large containers of bottled medicine. I can bet there were over 200 bottles there. (Rough estimation, I did not really count.) I was showed how to stick the labels WITH the expiry dates on, together. And so, I spent the whole morning standing at a counter, cutting out expiry dates and sticking labels on bottles of medicine. (Actually the medicine was some sort of cream, and I forgot its name.  -.-) Legs and neck aching, I did my best to finish the labeling as fast as I could. Ask me why? I don't know. Maybe, this is my personality. I like to finish things as fast as I can AND completing it PERFECTLY.

     While I was doing the labeling, I did observe around and see what people in the pharmacy do. Well, there were lots of shelves in there, and fridges too! Obviously, those were used to keep the medicines. The medicines were arranged orderly with the names stuck onto the shelves. WOW. There were lots of people in there too. They were really busy people. The whole morning I stood there, I saw them rushing around preparing medicines for patients to pick them up. Most of them never chat while doing their work except about what they were doing. As for the others, I wasn't quite sure what they were doing as the high shelves hid them partially. There were small rooms in the place too. Besides, there were also a few computers in there. The place was actually a little messy. Once, a box of medicine nearly fell onto my head. It dropped down with a loud bang right in front of me, giving me a huge shock. Hm, so this was what the inside of a pharmacy looked like.

     It was around 12.30 p.m. when I finally, finally finished my task. YAHOO~ Happily, I went and reported to one of the people there. Then, she gave me pair of gloves and told me to fill some powder-form medicine into capsules. >-<||| I was surprised! So, this was how capsules were made. People manually filling them. I thought the capsules were ready made in factories... medicine, outer shell and all! Anyhow, the capsules were black and pink, just like those shown in the picture below. =)

     When opened, both parts of the capsule were of different sizes. I was told to fill sodium chloride into larger part and close it back up. I was really lucky this time. I get to sit! Hooray for my tired legs!~ I finished the task at 1.30 p.m and I FINALLY get to go for lunch. Haha, I know I made me sound all too eager, but my stomach's rumbling... Shrug ^^

     I took off my gloves and almost ran to the canteen. That was the time when I realized that my hands were sweating. >< Anyway, I got a free lunch ( all volunteers are given a free meal) which I lavished down hungrily. The canteen was already quite empty and I even needn't queue up for food. This shows how late it was. Already.

     After lunch, I went back to the pharmacy again. This time I had to knock on the door to get it. Knock. Nothing. Knock knock. Nothing. Hm... A nurse who was waiting for the lift told me to press the bell, which I pressed (of course). Nothing. Press. Nothing. Geez. Then another nurse came and pressed the bell. Nothing too. She pressed harder again and we heard a ring inside. Oh. That felt stupid. Haha.

     The door opened and I went inside... to find out that the next task is......... filling sodium chloride into capsules AGAIN. This time, the person went to the store room and got a big bag of capsules for me. OMG! There were 1000 of them in there! I settled down again and started. I was just starting when another person came and told me that I should press down harder when closing the capsules so that both colours are of the same length. OH. Why didn't the person before tell me?? I had already finished a heap of them! Sigh.

     As predicted, I had to start all over again, pressing them down. I was just starting to get the hang of it when here comes the first CRACK. What? The capsule actually cracked! What's worse, after the first one cracked, many more cracked after it. (T-T) There were some successful ones but I started to get scared of the crack sound. Yikes! ><

     It was already 3.00 p.m. when I finally asked to go home. I went back to the HR's office to sign out. Then, I realized that I didn't know the way to the main gate. Oopsie. I wandered around for a bit and end up getting out from a side door. Whatever. Shrug. At least now I can see the bus stop... and my way back home. Haha. =)

     

     This is all for Day#1. After I got home, I was practically aching all over. And really really tired. However, I sincerely felt happy. After all, I did one good thing today, and that is volunteering. =]

     I know, I wrote too much, too long. However, every tiny details count. After all, this is my diary as a volunteer~ Cheers! 

   
   

   
   

Searching For Volunteer Work

Things are better written down before they are forgotten, turning cloudy and eventually turning into faded memories.

     It has been a long time since I last updated this blog. Geez. Thank goodness it hasn't crumbled to dust.

     Last week, I signed up for volunteer service at a hospital in town. It has been something that I had been so excited about for a long time (after all, this is a brand new experience for me! =] ), and it was really unfortunate that I had to delay executing it until now. This was because my dad wanted me to get my car license FIRST before doing anything. >~<

     Originally, I went to the hospital that was just a stone's throw away from where I lived. First time I went there, it was quite late in the afternoon, around three o'clock. Okay, I admit that me and my dad had started the journey just after lunch, which was one o'clock. So, why did we take two hours to reach a place that should be five minutes away? Hm.... because I practiced driving. And I had a fun time practicing parking the car in the spacious parking lot of the hospital. Shhh.... #>-<# Well, end up going back empty handed. The staff there said that the director went for a meeting somewhere else. Ah well, so we went back the next day WITH a letter that they said that I should write... to find out that the director is unavailable for one whole week for a meeting outstation. ==|||

     And so, we traveled to another hospital in town that we know volunteer services were needed. In fact, the person in charge there said that I can start the next day! How great was that? (wide grin) I am really bored of the days staying at home doing nothing much. Now, finally, I have something to look forward to, everyday.

     Well, that's all for this post. After all, long long post will hardly invite readers to finish reading it, right? More posts on my experience and thoughts as a volunteer worker coming up later! (^-^)