Junjie is pictured on the top row, second from the left with other participants and volunteers at the Temple City Site.
I have been a LBFE volunteer for one month. My service site is located at 10 Temple Place and close to Chinatown. There are many Chinese elders there. Most of the elder come from Guangdong, and the others come from Shanghai, Zhejiang, and so on. My role is to take care of the elder and help them spend their spare time. I am from Fujian which is a province nearby Guangdong and I can know a bit of Cantonese (the dialect in Guangdong). It is easy for me to talk with the elder and provide the service by using Mandarin, Cantonese, and English.
My most important responsibility is to take care of the elder and help them spend their spare time. Most of the elder do not live with their children, because many of their children work in other cities and they have little time to take care of the elder. In addition, many of the elder know a little bit English, so it is hard for them to talk with the Americans. Thus, another responsibility of me is teaching them English. Some of the elder want to use the app Wechat by the cellphones, iPads, and computers, because Wechat could help them connect to their relatives easily. It is also important for me to teach them how to use the electronic equipment. I am confident to take care of them and teach them how to use electronic equipment, because I am patient and know a lot of knowledge of electronic equipment.
In the service, my teammates and I try to solve all the problems the elder have. I think the challenge is some elders carry a heavy accent and sometimes I cannot understand what they say easily. I think it is necessary for me to get used the situation quickly so that I can help them better. I think I am a good fit for my partner organization, because I can solve all problems the elder have quickly and share our daily life with each other, play games, and so on. I feel confident that I can spend the time with the elder happily. I think it is a good way to regard the elder as my own grandparents when I miss my grandparents in my hometown.
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