UKZN Students Display Care and Love for the Elderly

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Members of the Black Lawyers Association student chapter on the Pietermaritzburg campus recently spent a day caring for residents at the Emuseni Home for the Aged as part of their social outreach initiatives.

More than 20 students got involved in chores such as serving breakfast, making beds, bathing some of the elderly, assisting with the laundry, washing dishes, cleaning rooms, mending the washing line, correcting loose wiring, gardening and general pampering.

The Chapter’s General Secretary, Ms Nosipho Nkwanyana, said community outreach was an integral part of the focus under their relaunch.

‘The initial idea was to assist senior citizens draft their wills,’ said Nkwanyana. ‘However, owing to the fact that we are newly re-launched, time issues coupled with the recent protest action at University, made it impossible to achieve this. But we wanted to contribute so we put the drafting of wills on hold and plunged into helping the folk in as many ways as we could.’

The students describe the experience as humbling as they had never imagined that volunteering a bit of their time could have such a huge impact on people’s lives.

‘The time we spent at Emuseni was more of a gift to us than the elderly. One realises how little is required to make a difference in the life of someone else,’ said Nkwanyana.

As part of their outreach initiative, the Chapter is also planning to volunteer their time at the Lend-A-Hand soup kitchen as part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign.

Thandiwe Jumo