January 2009 Visits

Visit on 31 January 2009 - Bishan Home for the Intellectually Disabled (BHID)

Hi Fellow Volunteers

Our Big Head Dolls led the PAT team of volunteers to the auditorium with big bang .. woof.. woof... woof.... from a group of 16 therapy dogs, and were greeted warmly with loud cheer from the residents in ushering the OX year full of joy and happiness. A big thank you to Mun San and Gregaory for being our Big Head Dolls who brought more laughter, handshakes and wonderful atmosphere of one big family wishing one another ... Happy New Year .. Gong Xi Fa Cai .

To share the joy of Chinese New Year celebration with the residents and staff of BHID, our helping hands distributed goodie bags of mandarin oranges, biscuits, bak-kwa, etc.. and angpows of sweets. Truly appreciate the CNY spirit of all helping hands and healing paws who made this visit a memorable one. I think the biggest angpows the residents gave us are the joy, smiles and happiness!

A Big Thank you to the following helping hand and healing paw in making the CNY visit a great one

1. Helga Khul with Hilde / Labrador

2. Melissa Tan with Horlicks / Labrador Retriever, Mooji / Chihuahua & Sonegol

3. Amanda Richardson handled Stallion (as Tixi / GSD is on medical leave)

4. Mak Mun San with Flash / English Springer Spaniel

5. Evangeline Koh and nephews Harrison & Sebestian with Pepper & Perdi / Shetland Sheepdog

6. Hilda Lim and hubby Gregory with Pepper / Mini Schnauzer

7. Louiza Chan with Grace & Beatrice / Spoodle

8. Lok Tin Chan & hubby Steven with Bobby / Shih Tzu

9. Rebecca Kwan with Cocoa / Maltese

10. Monique Hsu and daughter Mariam & son Mark with Nani & Lino / Maltese

11. Mabel Ho with Silky / Golden Retriever

12. Charlie Ho with Stallion / GSD

Another Big Thank you to you for your graciuos contributions:

• German Shepherd Dog Club of Singapore (GSDC) sponsored 100 goodie bags of 200 mandarin oranges and sweets in red packets

• Melissa Tan contributed packets of biscuits / Pak-Kwa

• Lok Tin Chan & Steven contributed biscuits

• Evangeline Koh contributed biscuits

• Mak Mun San contributed red packet (angpows) for the sweets.

• All others who made the festive visit a joyous one
  

• Naka Nami & hubby Wen Choi
• Ranji David
• Janelle Teng (Student volunteer)
• Cathy Chia & hubby

Hopefully, they could share the unconditional love and joy of their dog(s) in the very near future with the less fortunate people in our community after their dog(s) have gone through the temperament assessment soon. I hope all of you have enjoyed the visit. Thank you for your support.

Once again, many thanks to all who gave us a helping hand. .. Gong Xi Fa Cai .....Wan Si Ru Yi.

Have a wonderful year of the OX

Warmest regards
Charlie Ho

PS: A word of thanks to Hilda Lim who had taken many candid shots. I will try to create a slide show in DVD for your viewing pleasure.

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Visit on 23 January 2009 - MINDSville

--- Coming Soon ---

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Visit on 18 January  2009 - Ward 66A Institute of Mental Health (IMH) 

Hi everyone
We started the new year well with a good turnout of 18 human and 13 doggie volunteers for the first visit of the year. We also warmly welcomed back our MIA volunteer Lishan, who is finally home after a year of overseas study. We look forward to seeing lots more of you, Lishan!

As usual, the patients were very pleased to meet old friends among us, both humans and canines. They had a wonderful time watching the video of last month's Christmas party -- lovingly put together by Charlie (with photographs courtesy of Balaji). They were fascinated to see themselves in the video, which brought back fond memories of the great time they had.

We also organised a walk for some of the patients along the walkways, a special treat especially for the wheel-chair bound patients. Along the way, we made a pit stop for cold drinks from the vending machine, as it was such a hot afternoon. It was a nice time of 1-on-1 interaction as we strolled along the walkway. We discovered that IMH has a thrift shop, so if you have unwanted clothing, books and household items, you can bring them along at the next visit. (The thrift shop is not open on Sundays, but you can leave the stuff at the door).

Many thanks to those who made time:
1. Charlie and Mabel Ho, with Stallion/GSD and Silky/Golden Retriever
2. Bian Yu Wei with Rafa/Mini Schnauzer
3. Tricia Tan with Freo/Silky Terrier
4. Shum Chin Yang and daughter Lishan with McMug/JRT
5. Balaji and daughter Rashmi with Cookie and Chikkie/Shih Tzu
6. Evangeline Koh and nephews Sebastian and Harrison with Pepper and Perdi/Shetland Sheepdogs
7. Doris Boo with Bambi/Silky Terrier
8. John Chua and sister Yan Toi with Mickey/Maltese
9. Jaclyn Lim with Starkey/Shih Tzu
10. Elaine and Emily Lui and mum Soo Fen with Polar/Samoyed

THANK YOU once again for the companionship and joy you brought. Hope you get a good break (don't we all need one, even though we only just started the year?!) during the CNY holiday period. And look out for the next visit announcement for BHID from Charlie -- a special CNY celebration!

cheers
Soo Fen

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Visit on 16 January 2009 - Sunshine Welfare Action Mission Home (SWAMI)

Dear Fellow Volunteers,

We had a small PAT team of 3 human volunteers and 6 therapy dogs. However, we had a good time with the residents .... encouraged and helped them to do a lot of walking exercise as well as throwing dumbell for therapy dog to retrieve ... this is a form of physio-therapy for the resident(s) who may be unwilling to do their regular physical exercise. Small dog , Cleo, was very busy moving around from resident to resident who are paraplegic but they strived hard and succeeded in stroking and patting Cleo.

My heartfelt thanks to the following volunteers who came to bring joy and comfort to the ID residents

1. Alicia Chue with Diva & Magic / Labrador Retriever
2. Melinda Ann Michael with Chewy / Catalan Sheepdog & Cleo / Dachshund
3. Charlie Ho with Silky / Golden Retriever & Stallion / GSD

I hope more weekday volunteers can join us on February visit. The ID (Intellectually Disabled) residents need you for all the supports you can offer. Your power of touch, smile, a kind word, a listening ear or a smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Looking forward to your support.

Gong Xi Fa Cai ..... Wan Si Ru Yi

Warmest regards
Charlie Ho

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Visit on  10 January 2009- Bethany Methodist Nursing Home (BMNH)

Howdy All TDS PAT Volunteers,

The session we had at Bethany on the 10th Jan 2009 was cheerful and lively one even though we had a smaller group of residents who were able to make it down and join us.

The Helping Hands and Healing Paws for the session included;

1. Charlie with Stallion (German Shepherd) and Silky (Golden Retriever)
2. Pearly Cheong & Joshua with the foursome furries; Samuel and Caleb (Burnese Mountain Dogs), Grace (Border Collie) and Gabriel (Rough Collie)
3. Mum Soo Fen with Emily Lui and Polar (Samoyed)
4. Melissa with Horlicks (Labrador), Mooji (Chihuahua) and Smeagol (mixed breed)
5. Lena with Sammi (Chihuahua)
6. Michelle wth Yaki (Mini Dachshund)
7. Lena with Sammi (Chihuahua)
8. Rebecca Kwan with Cocoa (Maltese)
9. Ann Wee who came by and helped to handle the doggies and bring cheer to the residents.
10. Peter & his wife SK joined us for their first visit with Prince (Spitz x Pom)

And as usual, we had our ever enthusiastic helpers from Pioneer Junior College who have been doing a wonderful job each month; Geraldine, June, Jasmine, Hui Min, Chor Chuan, Shao Quan and RuiAn.

The session was all fun and laughter and we saw progress amongs the residents as there was a lot of chatter and stories, catching up with the residents and testing their memories with our doggies' names.
And the sessions never fail to see the doggies all eager to be fed treats by the residents.

We didn't forget those residents who were unable to come down and join us. Pearly and Joshua sparing extra time to do their usual rounds at the wards while Cocoa and I together with Jesslyn and Sian Ann made a trip to visit one of the residents from our last session who was unable to make it out of bed to join us. It was fantastic to see he was all smiles as soon as Cocoa walked in to greet him.

GONG XI FA CAI!! Wishing you and your families (including all the doggies) an 'OxPicious' Lunar New Year.

Look forward to seeing you and your pooches again after the Lunar New Year break.
Our next visit to BMNH is Saturday 14 Feb 2009, 3pm - 4pm.

With Love,
Rebecca and 'lil Cocoa
 

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Visit on 09 January 2009 - Thong Teck Home for Senior Citizens (TTHSC)

Hi Fellow Volunteers,


TDS PAT Team continues its monthly visit to TTHSC with great enthusiasm as January visit was the first visit of the new year. My heartfelt thanks to the following helping hands and healing paws for their precious time and efforts to cheer the ever smiling aunties and uncles.

1. Francis & Evelyn Yip with Cash / Corgi
2. Alicia Chue with Diva / Labrador Retriever
3. Louiza Chan with Grace & Beatrice / Spoodle
4. Melinda Ann Michael with Chewy / Catalan & Cleo / Dachshund
5. Charlie Ho with Silky / Golden Retriever & Stallion / GSD

As usual, with food motivation, our therapy dogs encouraged the residents to communicate, helped them to exercise their memory skills and motivated them to move their hands to pat and stroke our dogs. We had a wonderful hour of joy and laughter with the residents.

Please watch out our circular for the next visit and check our website for the details.

Gong Xi Fa Cai .... Wan Si Ru Yi

Warmest regards
Charlie Ho

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