March 24, 2006

By: Vicki Xu

Three years ago I began to volunteer with the Friends program at the University of Alberta Hospital, in their patient library. A friend of mine volunteered there and told me it was “good for volunteer experience and hours”, so I decided to capitalize on that. Thoughts of bettering my community or making a difference in the world were far from my head, as I focused more on the “CAS” (creativity/action/service) hours I could fulfill for the International Baccalaureate program instead.

The patient library proved to be just that: a great way to get four hours a week of volunteer hours without having to do very much. The Friends program is a great volunteer program to start with, especially if (like me) you have a certain number of hours to fulfill for a course. You can volunteer in a number of different areas, though most of them are for people older than eighteen; however, fourteen year-olds and up can start at the library or at the gift shop, and a few more places open up when you turn sixteen. Some positions are reserved for adults twenty one and older. Hours per week range anywhere from one to four and cater to all types of schedules.

I worked the Tuesday evening shift, a time when hardly any patients came to visit the library and our most regular visitor was one of the janitors, taking a break to read the newspaper. My friend and I would often sit there playing cards for two hours and be visited by one doctor, a visitor asking for directions, and the janitor.

Needless to say, after awhile, this volunteering position got a tad tedious. I decided that I wanted to stop gaining easy volunteer hours and start helping people in the hospital. At the time I started I was limited by my age to that position, so when I turned sixteen, I was able to switch to the Greet and Treat cart. This cart entailed visiting patients in their rooms with various toiletries, magazines, and snacks to sell and conversation to give for free. With this new position, I have a chance to actually see patients and provide them with a companion to share their thoughts with, even if only for a few minutes. Just last week, one older gentleman was telling my volunteer partner and I how he went beaver hunting and crossed a rapid river on a log bridge, and how it is essential to carry a stick in one hand as a weight/balance. We told him we would always remember that lesson, in case we ever needed it.

Nowadays I always leave the hospital thoroughly tired and content. There are always a few patients with interesting stories to tell, or ones who are just really sweet. One patient even gave us some of their homemade peanut brittle (which was delicious!). Though I’m still not changing the world, to those patients that I see, it means the world to them that someone cares enough to come and talk with them.