Every year we have a volunteer day. On that day we can leave the office and choose to volunteer an organization. Last year, my team chose to volunteer as a group at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in the cancer ward(癌症病房). The RCH asked us to make Christmas cards with the kids, and generally just stay with them, whether waiting between doctor's visits or staying in their room.
With our day at the RCH coming near, many of us in the team were feeling quite nervous about what we would do when seeing the sick children. I tried to deal with the stress by baking(烘焙) the night before when we were asked to provide morning tea. Later I was feeling more confident.
We arrived at the RCH and our first job was to serve morning tea to the children and their families who were waiting to see doctors. It seemed that the biscuit or chocolate broke the icy situation! Then it was time to start making Christmas cards. We came with shiny and fun things that can get even those big kids excited.
It was surprising that our stress immediately went away. By sitting and talking with the kids, and helping them make cards, it became clear that though they were sick, they were open and glad.
To say that I didn't feel upset that day would not be honest. However, we were able to put smiles on faces. Many thanks to the nurses, doctors, parents and children at the RCH for welcoming us, and allowing us to experience the joy that kids bring.