COVID-19 impacts the immune system of senior citizens much worse. Senior citizens are twice as likely to suffer complications from COVID-19 than younger citizens. The Health Advisory for Elderly Population of India has also felt the need to put out a list of Do’s and Don’ts in order to keep the senior citizens safe. Having a close relationship with my grandparents, I knew that senior citizens who need help now should be receiving it.
I wanted to try and help as many senior citizens as I can by helping them avoid suffering from COVID-19. I decided to focus on old age homes that serve the needy. as in old age homes, there are many senior citizens at once which means that there needs to be even more preventative measures, because they are even more at risk I have searched for old age homes through contacts and online and I contacted as many old age homes as I could. Out of the old age homes that I have chosen, I decided that I needed to help the ones most in need. I looked at how much they needed the support and spoke to them about the challenges in the old age homes. I have chosen a few of the neediest old age homes in Hyderabad with senior citizens who were once homeless. These senior citizens have no families and their stories are very devastating.
When delivering a month's worth of medicines to these old age homes, I was told the stories of the different senior citizens and I was heartbroken. These senior citizens are so brave even after everything they have been through and I was able to learn so many valuable lessons. I was inspired by their stories and decided that just one month of medicine isn’t enough. Though sorting through around 200 medicines was a challenge, I knew I needed to take it and help as much as I could. COVID-19 has affected the economy so much and these homes aren’t expecting any donations any time soon. I knew that I needed to do more than just supply them with medicines so I started supplying them with a year of medicines.
I have just recently supplied the old age homes with the second month of medicines and have started contacting even more old age homes. I am so thankful to be able to meet them and make their day every single month. Since they are at risk, in order to keep them safe, we make sure to quarantine ourselves and we only come out when we are delivering medicines. We also wear masks, gloves and check our temperature before we enter the old age homes to ensure there is no risk. We talk to them from 6 feet away to ensure that we are distancing each other. The old age homes we have chosen are also quarantined and are not even going out for groceries as they already have them supplied.
Not only does it make me happy to see their faces but I also learn so much as senior citizens have so much knowledge to pass down. I have started learning valuable lessons and creating new friendships with the senior citizens. The senior citizens have taught me so much about being brave and to never give up. Though all of these messages are very cliche, the stories behind these messages from them made it very interesting. Some of the senior citizens have been through so much and it is inspiring to see how brave they are through it all. The senior citizens also have many talents such as recipes and different ancient remedies to pass down to the newer generation. The senior citizens enjoy hanging out with kids so I am so thankful to be able to visit them and give them someone to talk to.
In my neighbourhood, I have formed a team of four neighbourhood friends to help me with this project and I am so thankful for all of the opportunities that we were faced with. I believe that teamwork is really important and it was great to be able to overcome all of our challenges with my team. In the future I will continue collecting money and provide medicines to as many old age homes as I can. I started off this project with the hopes of providing old age homes with medicines and medical equipment but I believe that I have gained even more than that. I have learned the importance of senior citizens and how much knowledge they have to pass down.
