On the 4th of August, 34 members of IAYP (International Award for Young People) visited the Old Age Home in sector 15, Chandigarh as part of service project. We were all brimming with excitement. Each of us interacted with the 23 inmates (10 men and 13 women) and became aware of their empathy. We discovered an amazing ability in them that despite them being left by their families or not having any, they still had stories to regale us with. The stories were a happy kaleidoscope of memories which had us impressed with their inner reconciliation with life. They taught us that even in adversity we can find strength in humour.
They all came from different areas, were united here by common miseries but still were able to keep a smiling disposition reflecting their attitude towards life. Many of them were quite wealthy but their children refused to look after them. For some, their children sent them money and clothes and visited them regularly while a few of them had no family. We were all in some way affected by their pitiful stories. One lady works with Sahayta at PGI and enriched us with a lot of information on different types of cancer and how to identify them. We treated them with home-made , fruits, biscuits and chips. We also gave them items of daily needs. To cheer them up, we danced and sang with them. We were surprised to see how well they could dance and sing at their age. We promised to visit them again. It was a humbling experience to see how overjoyed they all were with the happenings of the day. They made us realise that grandparents and parents are very precious to us. We are all blessed to have a wonderful family. The way they look after us now, we must care for them out of a feeling of love and duty when they are old. We would like to thank our school for their wholehearted support and guidance and also for giving us an opportunity to extend ourselves to others needs! Now we have a video presentation which depicts our experience of that day.