There are so many people in the world that need help. Among them are people suffering from poverty, disease, and hunger. Still others are left without care or natural disaster victims. Whether young or old, these people are everywhere, yet the more fortunate are blind to their surroundings living their lives as if all is well. Anyone can succumb to such lies and be tempted to ignore surrounding trouble because helping requires tremendous effort and time – usually. I confess that I make excuses for not helping others. Some of my petty reasons used to include lack of time, tiring effort, and uncertainty of how to help.
Until recently, I thought the right way to help people was to do something extremely impacting in their life such as donating enough money for them to be healthy and active. Community service seemed tedious and I was unsure how I could do anything. I thought my abilities were limited due to age and transportation restriction, yet it never occurred to me that doing little things could make a huge impact.
It was my teacher’s assignment that helped me change the world. She wanted us to ‘help others in a need which they cannot help themselves’. Then she taught us that even small things we have to offer to help those in need could benefit greatly. After my friend and I pondered what we have to offer, we decided to volunteer for four hours at a nursing home. We discovered that a nursing home would be easily accessible to both of us and support our topic of helping the elderly.
Before we went to the nursing home, we conducted some research about why the elderly needed help. We knew they might feel lonely or upset sometimes, but it was not until our in-depth research that we comprehended why the elderly needed help. My research explained that many elderly people suffer from depression because of lack of care, discouragement, or loneliness. I felt so thankful that I had a healthy body, people to care for me, and friends to listen to me. At the same time, I felt pity for the elderly. I understood that the elderly suffered so much and were rarely cared for unless they had excellent nurses or living relatives – many elderly did not. I grasped the idea that I could demonstrate care to people and give them a sense of worth instead of simply giving them material things.
Evidently, I could do something to help. In fact, I could do something significant just by talking to the senior citizens at the nursing home! Suddenly, community service was more appealing and I was compelled to do more. After the assignment was over and we had finished our community service, I felt it was not tedious at all. I now want to help more people in ways that I can. Whether donating a few pennies, talking to some elderly people for a few minutes, or picking up a piece of litter and disposing it properly, there are always simple jobs which benefit the community.
Community service is not a chore or an assignment; it is learning how to care for humanity and an inspiration for helping others. Despite my feeble four hours of community service, I can now see so many ways to help people. Hopefully, these four hours will be the inspiration to more. No matter how small a deed is, if it is performed completely from the heart, it means more than all the gold in the world.