BB CARES..... Now what?

You could say I was completely knackered after BB CARES today in Bethany. This plus the fact that I've been in ACS every afternoon for the past 2 weeks means that when I reached home, I more or less collapsed on the bed.

Bethany is, as always, a struggle for me every time I enter those glass-doored wards. The first thing that hits you is the sense of helplessness, and to a certain extent hopelessness, whenever you enter the ward. A hollow and distant look is what greets visitors when they see the old folks staring at the TV or into space. These people, how often must we remind ourselves that, who are here because either their families cannot care for them anymore, have been abandoned, or who simply do not have any family to speak of.

What than can we few helpers do? How many volunteers walk through those glass doors once a year or even once a lifetime and leave never to be seen again by these old folks? How many volunteers have these old folk seen come and go?

And as I stood beside the bed of a man who could hardly speak, for his teeth had long since been removed, I could only weep inwardly at my own helplessness, at my own inadequacy in language.

For every month, an average of 5 old folks pass away in the home. The old man that I stood beside today may be gone tomorrow. The next time I return, the place may be awash with new residents, yet almost all with the same look of despondency of those who had gone before.

After the official programme was over, I made a slight detour before going home for I needed some time to think and reflect.

As I gazed upon the rolling hills and tombstones of those who had gone before me, I wondered whether the Boys had realized anything from their visit to Bethany. As I carefully pulled the weeds from a grave that I had visited for the past 7 years, I wondered what difference could we ever make to the lives of those in Bethany.

For Life is short and Man is but a vapor that appears for a little while before it vanishes away.