This week’s session is the last session that I will be attending my local service. It has been a great experience for me, where I was able to learn from the patients and getting to hear their stories. I was also able to know some of the NCID care members and help them with volunteering through sharing our ideas for items, helping them sell in the cart and making them quilling tutorials.

I also think that I’ve personally become more confident and understanding. In the first two seasons, I would have to go around the hospital, offering sandwiches and drinks to the patients. We had to face language barriers for some patients and very often, rejection from both patients and nurses. I did get over the rejection soon enough though and by every session, it became easier. Also, there is a lot of misunderstanding regarding people with HIV such as that simple contact with them can make you have HIV too. Although I’ve never really believed this in the first place, I’m more confident that this is false after doing service in the hospital, where I’ve come to close proximity with them and gave them massages. I’ve also become more understanding as I have to understand that the situation that they are in is different than mine and so, whenever they talk about something that I may disagree on, I try to see their point of view and understand why they think the way that they are thinking.

However, I do wish that I could have interacted more with the patient. In the last two seasons, I have spent most of the time selling crafts in the cart to raise money for NCID cares, making products, quilling, and teaching English. I do regret not going up to visit the patients more and getting to talk, give them massages, and meet them like the first two seasons.