Laura Lynn
On the week of November 6-10th I worked in Laura Lynn’s work experience program for transition year students. I attended this with Daniel wall and two other girls from Loreto Foxrock and Holy Child Killiney. We started on Monday at 10 in the morning with a talk about the history of Laura Lynn as a charity and as the only children's hospice in Ireland. Throughout Monday we were touring the hospice and the disabled area of the building. We also met the staff and discussed what they do for the charity and hospice. Although Monday was not the most exciting day it was still fascinating to hear and see what goes on behind the scenes.
Tuesday was another disappointing day. We spent most of the day listing toys that the charity has to give out to kids. This included getting the name of the toy, the manufacturer of the toy, giving a brief description of the toy, giving the type of toy, the age group of the toy and finally the quantity of the toy. Although we had to sort through about a thousand toys we were able to get them all written up in one working day. Although Tuesday was a lot of work we got to play with a few of the kids in the hospice for about a half-hour. We did a musical therapy session with them. This was a challenge as all of the kids in the hospice that day were in wheelchairs and could not hold or play an instrument. We soon learned that if we are singing a song you have to do what the song says; for example, if the song says “touch your eyes” you touch the child's eyes to help them comprehend the song. This was a really eye opening experience. It made me think about how lucky myself and my family are to have are health.
Wednesday was without a doubt the best day of the week. On wednesday we spent all day in the Children's hospice. We started the day reading interactive stories to two boys named Issam and Cian. They seemed to really enjoy the story The Gruffalo because of the excitement and irony it has in it. I think it really grabbed their attention. After this we made christmas lists with them. We decorated them with finger and foot painting. I think they really enjoyed the feeling of the paint on there feet and hands. After some music was turned on one of the kids named Kuba really started to dance in his wheelchair. He had a specific move which was throwing his arms and legs around in the air. We started to call this dance “The Kuba”. Everyone joined in on “the Kuba” and it was really fun. After lunch we did another musical therapy session. After the musical therapy session we dressed up as Minions, Pikachu, and Spongebob for one of the kids named Aaron. We danced to one song called “Happy” this was really fun but also extremely hot! This was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned so much about how tough life can be sometimes and to see these kids enjoying themselves after having been through what they have been through is amazing.
On Thursday we returned to the grooling work we did on tuesday. Only this time instead of writing out the information we had previously written down, we now had to type it all up on a microsoft spreadsheet. Although this was the first time I have ever used a microsoft spreadsheet I caught on quickly and got them all typed up quicker than expected. After this, we dressed up in the costumes again for Aaron and danced this time it was to “Dancing Queen” although it was again, really hot, it made my day seeing Aaron's face light up. The time to take off the costumes and go back to work came quicker than expected, this time however, we were to clean out a closet. This was a task that took us the rest of the day but we did eventually finish it. Thursday was a day that had it’s fun parts.
Friday was our final day. Although I went in there expecting to get to do something fun this was not to be. It was back to sorting through more toys. This took us all day as we were let out early. After the toys, we said a quick goodbye to everyone we had met throughout the week and a special one to Lorna who was our boss for the week.
This week gave me an insight into what goes on around us everyday that myself, my family and my peers are oblivious to just because everyone has their health. It is unbelievable to think about how privileged we all are and most of us do not even realize it. This week has definitely opened my eyes to what needs to be fixed in our world. I hope to continue to volunteer in all sorts of charities to improve the life of everybody all over the world.
Tuesday was another disappointing day. We spent most of the day listing toys that the charity has to give out to kids. This included getting the name of the toy, the manufacturer of the toy, giving a brief description of the toy, giving the type of toy, the age group of the toy and finally the quantity of the toy. Although we had to sort through about a thousand toys we were able to get them all written up in one working day. Although Tuesday was a lot of work we got to play with a few of the kids in the hospice for about a half-hour. We did a musical therapy session with them. This was a challenge as all of the kids in the hospice that day were in wheelchairs and could not hold or play an instrument. We soon learned that if we are singing a song you have to do what the song says; for example, if the song says “touch your eyes” you touch the child's eyes to help them comprehend the song. This was a really eye opening experience. It made me think about how lucky myself and my family are to have are health.
Wednesday was without a doubt the best day of the week. On wednesday we spent all day in the Children's hospice. We started the day reading interactive stories to two boys named Issam and Cian. They seemed to really enjoy the story The Gruffalo because of the excitement and irony it has in it. I think it really grabbed their attention. After this we made christmas lists with them. We decorated them with finger and foot painting. I think they really enjoyed the feeling of the paint on there feet and hands. After some music was turned on one of the kids named Kuba really started to dance in his wheelchair. He had a specific move which was throwing his arms and legs around in the air. We started to call this dance “The Kuba”. Everyone joined in on “the Kuba” and it was really fun. After lunch we did another musical therapy session. After the musical therapy session we dressed up as Minions, Pikachu, and Spongebob for one of the kids named Aaron. We danced to one song called “Happy” this was really fun but also extremely hot! This was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned so much about how tough life can be sometimes and to see these kids enjoying themselves after having been through what they have been through is amazing.
On Thursday we returned to the grooling work we did on tuesday. Only this time instead of writing out the information we had previously written down, we now had to type it all up on a microsoft spreadsheet. Although this was the first time I have ever used a microsoft spreadsheet I caught on quickly and got them all typed up quicker than expected. After this, we dressed up in the costumes again for Aaron and danced this time it was to “Dancing Queen” although it was again, really hot, it made my day seeing Aaron's face light up. The time to take off the costumes and go back to work came quicker than expected, this time however, we were to clean out a closet. This was a task that took us the rest of the day but we did eventually finish it. Thursday was a day that had it’s fun parts.
Friday was our final day. Although I went in there expecting to get to do something fun this was not to be. It was back to sorting through more toys. This took us all day as we were let out early. After the toys, we said a quick goodbye to everyone we had met throughout the week and a special one to Lorna who was our boss for the week.
This week gave me an insight into what goes on around us everyday that myself, my family and my peers are oblivious to just because everyone has their health. It is unbelievable to think about how privileged we all are and most of us do not even realize it. This week has definitely opened my eyes to what needs to be fixed in our world. I hope to continue to volunteer in all sorts of charities to improve the life of everybody all over the world.