On Feb 22 morning, 10 volunteers including two young ones went to do house spring cleaning for a care recipient.

After repeated reminder and education, Mr. Chan keeps the empty soft drink bottles for volunteers’ home visit. He would help volunteers to sort them out too.

Volunteers provide periodic spring cleaning to the Chan family to improve their living condition.

A junior volunteer is working tirelessly to clean the floor.

The junior volunteers were seen helping out their parents while learning a valuable lesson helping the needy.

How will you spend your weekend morning?  Will you be lazing in bed? Or still having hangover from the late night party the night before?  Or will you be meeting friends to have a nice brunch?

On Feb 22 early morning, 10 volunteers including two young ones met in one of the pavilions in Circuit Road.  After a short briefing by volunteer Wu Yu Chin, they came to a unit on the ground floor. 

From the cordial greetings between the volunteers and Mr. Chan, the owner of the house, one can tell that they had known each other for a very long time and they have a very warm relationship.  Volunteers brought along things like brooms and rugs and everyone started work right away.  Some scrubbed the floor; some cleaned the toilet while others cleared the trash.  There was also another volunteer there to give hair cut for the care recipients.

Sincerely caring for everyone

Both Mr. Chan and his mother are patients of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).  His mother’s condition is more serious – she would stare blankly and sit on the floor throughout the day. She cannot take care of her daily life and does not know how to use the toilet. Thus the house is always very messy and filthy. They are on long-term medication and require follow-up visits to the Institute of Mental Health.  They depend on government subsidies for their living expenses. Chan's younger brother has a regular job, but he cannot manage the household while caring for his older brother and mother. 

Tzu Chi took in the Chan family as care recipients in 2006.  In the beginning, volunteers were shocked to find out about the piles of unused stuff and the very unhygienic environment in the house.  Worrying it may cause a fire, they initiated a spring cleaning for the Chan family but it was turned down.  However, with a lot of persuasion, care and concern shown to the Chan family over time, Mr. Chan finally agreed to let the volunteers to help clean up their house.  This was also after the volunteers brought many bottles of soft drinks to him after knowing Mr. Chan loves soft drinks.  Since then, volunteers have been helping in cleaning up the house on a periodic basis and they call Mr. Chan as the “Brother Soda”. 

“When did we start coming to help you clean up the house?” asked Cai, a volunteer.

“In 2006.” Mr. Chan replied immediately.  He also remembered he was not so friendly towards the volunteers in the beginning.

Patience and tireless guidance pay off

In order to encourage the Chan family to participate in recycling and therefore reduce the amount of trash, Yu Chin made posters especially for the Chan family to explain and educate them about the different types of recyclables.  She put the posters in a prominent place in the kitchen so that they are reminded everyday.  Whenever volunteers come, they will patiently remind the Chan family to not create too much rubbish and improve the hygiene at home. 

Since Mr. Chan loves to drink soft drinks, previously volunteers used to collect four big bags of empty, flattened soft drinks bottles whenever they came to do spring cleaning.  However, this time they were pleasantly surprised to see that they did not even have a bag full of it.  The amount of bottles has reduced almost 80 percent!

The kitchen sink used to be filled up with unwashed plates and bowls.  But now they only found two used cups and one bowl.  In the kitchen cabinet, they also did not find any empty cup noodles or Styrofoam boxes from the takeaways.

“Do you know why your house is so much cleaner now?”

“My younger brother takes out the rubbish and he also sweeps the floor.”

“Why isn’t there any of those disposable chopsticks anymore?”

“(It’s because) whenever I buy takeaways, I do not take disposable spoons and chopsticks no more.”

Yu Chin was touched to hear Mr. Chan’s replies.  Very clearly, Mr. Chan has taken in the volunteers’ long-time advice. This is the result of three years of patience and continuous reminder and guidance. Till date, the volunteers have carried out more than 10 spring cleanings and through that, they have won over Mr. Chan and his family.  Meanwhile, Mr. Chan, who used to take soft drink as water, has since drank green tea instead. 

No fear in helping

“Yes!” a definite YES answer when asked if Mr. Chan like to see the volunteers.

Among the volunteers, there were a few who were participating for the very first time in home visits and helping out in spring cleaning.  Thoo Moi Seng and Kan Chee Heng were among the first timers. 

When both of them opened the refrigerator in Chan’s house, they were taken aback by the stench smell. It was filled with all kinds of things and looked as if it has never been cleaned before.  Many of the food in it were already rotten.  But they had no qualms and they patiently cleaned up everything.

Another volunteer, Yap Hui Kee, was also a first timer.  Though Yap is very particular about hygiene, she quickly got the mop and cleaned the floor when she saw Mr. Chan’s mother soil the floor.

Though Yew Chui Fong has joined Tzu Chi for a few years already, this was her first time helping a care recipient with haircut.  The Chans do not pay attention to their personal hygiene and therefore their hair was messy and dirty.  This did not startle Yew but instead she happily gave them a fine and neat haircut.  She even told Yu Chin later to not forget to ask her to come along in the next home visit.

When everyone finished cleaning up, they got Mr. Chan to help mop the floor.  Upon seeing him wetting the ground, volunteer Wong Chong Wee quickly came forward and showed Mr. Chan how to clean it the proper way. 

The continuous care and concern shown to the care recipients reflect well on Tzu Chi’s charity mission.  Master Cheng Yen encourages the volunteers to reach out to public and help those in need.  Meanwhile, through helping others, we learn to appreciate what we have and be contented.  This is especially pertinent during this economic gloom period.