When I walked into headway for my second volunteer experience I noticed something was off… there was no one there! Well there were a few people, but the volunteers for that day outnumbered the members 2:1. Was this just case of craft day not being very popular or was something else wrong? I think the occupational therapist that came to our class a few days later may have revealed the real reason. HandyDARTs cost quite a bit of money. With each round trip to headway (or anywhere else for that matter) costing $5.50, and the members having a very limited living allowance, I doubt the members can make it to headway as much as they would like to. It’s upsetting to hear that HandyDART fare is as much as a bus fare. I thought it was a free service provided by the government, but it turns out it is a part of Translink, which explains the ridiculous price. To add to my frustration I found out they don’t accept Government Funded Annual Bus Passes (http://www.eia.gov.bc.ca/PROGRAMS/bus-pass.html). Considering many of the members rely on headway for their social and recreational needs and many are unable to work to make enough money for the bus, changes should be made.
As the volunteers were meeting in the office one of the members came in saying she didn’t feel well and needed to head home. As one of the staff called for a HandyDART I got her a glass of water and chatted with her. This member had a language deficit but she knew sign language, and was happy to teach me a bit of it. I’ve always wanted to learn American Sign Language (ASL). All I knew before hand was how to say “yes” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1ErhNEWDU) or “no” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFRuI1OzzBk), but she sowed me a bunch of signs from the whole alphabet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M1ky9_nm4Y), to “family” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sqq90cBOOA). She said she has had to relearn ASL 3 time since her injury. It must be frustrating not being able to retain something you work hard to learn, but she didn’t seem discouraged. It was lots of fun learning from her, and I wish she could have stayed longer.
When it was time to start the crafts we still had more staff/volunteers than members. We were supposed to paint coffee cups, but the paint wasn’t sticking to the cups! Instead we glued coloured paper to them, which seemed to work better. One volunteer helped a member with impaired fine motor movements. I cut some extra paper into small squares, and decorated the half finished demonstration mug. As usual the conversation was great. We talked about our favourite movies and books, to current events. Some members had a hard time keeping up with the conversation, but it was nice how everyone was so inclusive in keeping them connected to the conversation.
Time flew by and before I knew it, it was time to head home. I hope we have a chance to go back again before the course is finished.
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