"Are you supporting 40 to 50 people with this?" The reality of an Ecuadorian senior center with few staff
On the first day, I was left alone at the site.
I couldn't speak the language well enough.
I didn't even know what I was supposed to do.
That was how my activities at the senior center in Ecuador began.
However, as I spent several days on-site, I began to have a different question.
"How does this place manage to function?"
There are certainly not many staff members.
Even so,
the daily lives of 40 to 50 seniors continue every day.
There, I found support from families, local people, student volunteers, and the seniors themselves.
On the other hand, there are things that kindness alone cannot protect.
The safety of the seniors.
How to handle those with dementia.
How can we create a place of peace of mind with limited personnel?
Hello. I'm Mido.
I am currently working at a senior center in Ecuador as a JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteer.
In my previous article, I wrote about the day I first visited this place.
This time, I will write about the daily life of this senior center that I have come to see while working on-site, and the challenges I felt there.
Daily life at the senior center
I am working at a senior center in a rural area of Ecuador.
The seniors who come here are not the same every day.
Some come from the morning.
Some come looking forward to lunch.
Some come for activities or to socialize with friends.
Each has their own reason.
In the morning, activities are held with a small group of 15 people.
Then, just before 12:00, more seniors arrive by shuttle.
There are days when the total reaches 40 to 50 people.
The surprise I felt on the first day,
"So many people come here?"
became the daily reality after that.
Are families not involved? No, the form was different
At first, because of the differences from senior facilities in Japan, I felt,
"Maybe there is little family involvement."
However, as I watched their lives, it wasn't that simple.
Families were important figures in supporting the lives of the seniors.
Some seniors are driven by their families in the morning.
Also, there was something that surprised me.
One family was providing transportation not only for their own family member but also for neighbors and acquaintances who were seniors.
In Japan, we might often think in terms of "family units."
But here, the sense of
"helping each other within the community"
existed naturally.
The center supports their lives
On the other hand, there are quite a few seniors living alone.
Many of the seniors who come from 12:00 are transported by the center's vehicle.
And one of the big purposes for coming to this center is
"lunch."
I once asked a senior,
"What do you eat at home?"
That person paused for a moment and answered quietly.
When I heard those words, I was speechless.
And then, I remembered something from later.
That person, when it was time for the 10:00 AM snack,
would come to me quietly and say,
"Can I have a little more?"
It was a small voice that no one else around could hear.
At that time, I felt,
"Maybe they are hungry."
But looking back now, perhaps those words weren't just seeking food.
Someone who always speaks kindly to them.
Someone they can rely on when in trouble.
They might have been looking for that presence.
This place was not just a place for social interaction.
A place to eat.
A place to meet friends.
A place to connect with someone.
For that person, it was
an important place that supports their daily life.I realized this for the first time then.
Thinking about life on weekends
They can come to the center on weekdays.
They can meet friends.
They can eat meals.
They can participate in activities.
So, how do they spend their time on weekends when the center is closed?
I was curious and asked.
Then, there were seniors who lived alone and had no family nearby.
However, that person said,
"The neighbors help me."
People who care about their meals.
People who come to check on them.
People who call out to them when they are in trouble.
Even if it wasn't in the form of family, there was a connection of support within the community.
In Japan, the isolation of the elderly can be a major issue.Of course, Ecuador also has issues surrounding the elderly.But in this region, a
culture of neighbors supporting each otherremains.I felt that this was a great strength of this place.
A site supported by few staff
And there was another big difference.
That is thenumber of staff supporting the site.From the perspective of Japanese standards, there are many things lacking.
However, if you only look at what is lacking, you will lose sight of the true nature of this place.
This center has parts that are sustained not only by staff but by local people, student volunteers, and the mutual support of the seniors themselves.
Instead of one person carrying everything, the people there brought what they could do, creating the daily life of this place.
From my perspective, having worked in day services, senior facilities, and psychiatric hospitals in Japan, the number of full-time staff supporting the site relative to the number of seniors was by no means large.
When I was first assigned, the people who were on-site every day were basically
• The head chef
• Cooking staff
• And me
.
"Are you supporting nearly 40 to 50 seniors with this?"
I was truly surprised at first.
Of course, the site cannot run on that alone.
This center is supported by the power of many volunteers.
When I was first assigned, nursing students and physical therapy students were participating in activities as interns or volunteers.
And currently, there are physical therapy student volunteers from the university who work once a week, and a psychologist volunteer who comes to gain experience on-site after graduating from university and before getting a job.
People who help with recreation.
People who listen to the seniors.
People who support gymnastics and rehabilitation.
The people who are active change from time to time, but the daily life of this center is sustained by the cooperation of many people.
On the other hand, volunteers have fixed terms.
They leave the site when they graduate.
Activities end when they get a job.
In other words, it's not that "the same members are always there."
People rotate, and the site is supported by those who are there at the time.
That was the daily life of this senior center.
However,
there are situations that cannot be compensated for by human warmth alone.
As the number of seniors increased, my anxiety about "whether safety can really be maintained" also grew.
When anxiety became reality
Amidst all this, there was one thing that made me feel particularly anxious.
That was,
the safety management of the elderly.
Some of the elderly have symptoms of dementia.
The risk of falling.
Getting lost.
And,
suddenly disappearing without anyone noticing.
In fact, there was a time when one elderly person went missing from the facility.
I will never forget the tension of that moment.
"What if they went far away?"
"Who would notice?"
"How would we respond?"
I thought about many things.
Fortunately, it did not become a major problem.
After that, a security guard was stationed at the facility gate.
Things that puzzled me about the differences from Japan
In Japan, at elderly care facilities, there is a strong mindset of
"how to prevent accidents."
Fall prevention.
Environmental maintenance.
Risk management.
It is a culture of thinking before things happen.
On the other hand, here, there were many situations of
"responding to what has already happened."
It is not a matter of which is right or wrong.
The systems are different.
The staffing is different.The culture is different.
Therefore, you cannot simply apply the same methods.However,
what I took for granted in Japan is not taken for granted in the rest of the world.I felt that every day.
A warm, but imperfect place
This elderly center has wonderful aspects.
The elderly laughing with each other.
Staff treating them like family.
Dancing naturally when music plays.
There is a closeness between people.But,
not everything is perfect.
Staff shortages.Safety management.
Dealing with dementia.
There are still many challenges.
At first, I thought,
"I must teach them Japanese care methods."
However, after entering the field, I realized something.
What is needed is not to simply bring in Japanese methods as they are.
It is to think together about a form that can be sustained in this place.
Conclusion
On the first day, rather than anxiety, I had a feeling that
"it will work out somehow."
But, by entering the field every day, a new anxiety was born:
"Will this situation really continue?"
This place has human warmth.
There are community connections.
But there are also things that cannot be protected by kindness alone.
Safety of the elderly.
Dignity.
An environment where they can spend time with peace of mind.
So, with limited personnel,how can we protect these things?.
From there, my real activities began.
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