Journal

__**9/18/11**__ For my volunteer hours I would like to go to St. Joseph Villa in Flourtown. I hope that I will be able to visit and care for residents who smoke because I want to research cigarette smoking and lung cancer for my project. I e-mailed Sister Vicki DeSante today and plan on calling later this week to follow up. I told her about how I need a mentor as a part of the volunteering experience as well. I am optimistic that she can help me and get me started on my hours next weekend.

Instead of going to the Villa, I am going to volunteer with my aunt's sister, helping take care of their "aunt." Aunt C, as we refer to her as, has been receiving hospice at her home. She used to be at a hospice center, but she prefers to live at home. My aunt's sister is one of Aunt C's nurses. Therefore, she can serve as my mentor. Starting this weekend, I plan on volunteering a few hours a day on Saturday and/or Sunday. I will most likely go and visit with my aunt and help her and her sister take care of Aunt C. I don't know how much I can do to help, but by simply spending some time with Aunt C and talking with her, I feel like I can gain a lot from the experience.
 * __10/11/11__**

Yesterday and today I visited Aunt C with my aunt. It is sad to see such a frail, weak woman. I definitely feel very sorry for Aunt C because I've been told that she used to be very skillful and meticulous, and used to make little doll houses and dolls by hand. These days, Aunt C can't move, see, or hear very well. She doesn't eat much either. On Saturday, I primarily just helped to clean Aunt C's house, since she lives alone aside from her nurses that switch off daily. I cleaned some dishes, vacuumed her carpets, and dusted a lot of furniture. I was happy to help doing any house keeping that needed to be done because I understand that she can no longer do it herself. Today, my aunt and I took her out for a walk around her neighborhood. I wheeled her around in her wheelchair. She seemed very happy to see and chat with her neighbors. I plan on visiting Aunt C next weekend again, if not sooner.
 * __10/23/11__**

This weekend I did most of the same things again. I vacuumed the carpets and cleaned the dishes. There wasn’t much to do on Saturday, since Aunt C wasn’t really up to doing anything because of the snowy weather. I also helped do her laundry. I primarily just did house work on Saturday. However, like I said before, I’m happy to do whatever because I know she cannot do her own housekeeping any more. On Sunday I completed some more housekeeping. I watched Aunt C and my aunt play cards as well. I merely observed their games since I really had no idea what they were playing. I plan to keep up with the same schedule, completing around four hours of volunteering each day on Saturday and Sunday. I should complete the requirements rather soon at this rate. My goal is to hopefully be finished before basketball starts since we will have Saturday morning practices.
 * __10/31/11__**

This past weekend I went to visit Aunt C with my mom on Saturday because my Aunt was unable to watch her. I listened to my mom and her talk about my mom's book club book, which was about the depression. Then we watched TV for a little bit and I helped my mom make Aunt C lunch. On Sunday I visited with my aunt again. I did some house cleaning, as usual, and then just hung out for the most part. We played cards again, watched TV, and then ate lunch. Aunt C will most likely go to the hospice for a few days during Thanksgiving week because she will be unable to make it to my house due to her health. I feel bad because Aunt C is usually in attendance at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but she won't be with her family and friends this year. As far as volunteer hours go, I believe I only need about 6 more hours to have a total of 30. I should be able to finish up volunteering this weekend.
 * __11/7/11__**

Today I visited Aunt C for four hours. We talked about the Penn State scandal for a little while. We then watched the game for a little bit on TV, but she doesn't really enjoy watching football. At that point, she decided that she was hungry and so I made her half a sandwich for lunch. After lunch, I asked Aunt C about some of the things she has made around the house. She showed me some of the doll house furniture she made and mats and stools and things she has knitted and "hooked." Aunt C used to be very artsy and creative before she got very sick and too old to continue to make such intricate crafts. I took a few pictures of the things she has made and home to incorporate them somewhere into my presentation or Informative Research Product. I believe I have just about 2 hours of volunteering left to complete.
 * __11/12/11__**

Today I completed my volunteer hours. I made Aunt C lunch, helped Patty with the laundry, and I put new sheets on Aunt C's bed. I thanked Aunt C for letting me visit with her over the past weeks. I got the opportunity to see first hand how chronic exposure to secondhand smoke affects an individual. I also thanked Patty and my Aunt for being my mentors and helping me to help take care of Aunt C.
 * __11/19/11__**

__**12/21/11 Volunteering Reflection**__ From this experience I got to see first-hand how secondhand smoke affects a person, especially later in life. I never got to actually see how smoking affecting my grandparents, since they all died before I was born or when I was very young. I really enjoyed spending time with Aunt C. I liked looking at all of the crafts she has made and hearing hear talk about them. It truly is a shame that her health keeps her from doing the things she used to love. I appreciate her eagerness to help me and allowing me to visit with her. The experience further reasserted how negatively I feel about cigarette smoking and how I believe that measures must be taken to reduce the amount of smokers in the world.