THE RESIDENT AND I.

I have been living on my own for over two months now and with some occasional apprehensions done pretty well. There are the moments of insecurities especially when I think about the fact that I am not insured and in the event of sickness what would I do??? But overall touch wood (I mean my head) chugging along like an old steam locomotive!!!

The half way home has been trying to get me involved with doing work for them without the all important factor of making sure that I get paid!!! They keep calling me on some pretext or the other and I used to go there just to keep in touch with a couple of Residents whom I had established a close bond with to meet them. But it was obvious that their only motive was to get work done by me for free. So it was them trying and my dodging till my Serendipity gave me a sound piece of advice. “Just be unavailable and wait for them to realize your value!!!” I did just that!!! And out of blues I got a call asking me to come over and help out with a Resident who needed confidence boosting and propose a program for which I was to be paid!!!!

So I did just that. I went for an assessment of the Resident and found that he was an extremely nervous person and lacked the ability to believe that he could face society ever again. This was a challenge for me and I could empathize with him as I too went through a similar process for over three years before I met my Serendipity and as stated elsewhere in this blog was the reason why I made up my mind to chart out a life away from the home.

I have never been trained to teach the Mentally Ill or possess qualifications to do so!!! I only have my own aptitude of natural teaching skills since for me sharing knowledge is a pleasure and all my students I have had the privilege of teaching have shined both academically and professionally. The incredible high I get when I see the sparkle in the eyes of a student when they comprehend and understand what you’re talking about is unique. Also students if encouraged to question really keep you on your toes and that ensures that you do the necessary leg work to keep yourself well informed.

I prepared a program, stated my charges, found out about the medical situation about the Resident and insisted that I meet the Parents before I agreed to undertake the assignment. The parents were very happy and I went to the home today to commence the first of four classes to test if the Resident could comprehend and retain information to sit for an exam.

The Resident’s knowledge of the English Language is excellent so my purpose was just to test his comprehension. I was in for a shock!!!! That was not his problem!!! He had an insecurity about only one thing!!! If he would ever get out of the half way home and be able to lead a normal life!!!!

This revelation fucked me upside down!!! I had come to do something else and I had to now deal with a situation that I was not prepared for!!!!! I recovered fast and changed the whole trend. I started by asking him what he wanted to know about me. In between his questions I referred to the fact that I had been a Resident like him for over three years and its only just over two months that I have been living alone, assured him that he will be able to get out here and his Parents weren’t going to ditch him!!!

I got him to write what he faced on a daily basis and what he could do. I found out that he could use a computer and allowed him to surf the net on my Lap Top. The home wanted to get some letters typed (I was going to get paid for that) so I told him that I would meet him tomorrow and he would use my Laptop learn anything he needed on word processing and print the letters.

He was worried that what he had written in his note book would be disclosed. I took it and put in my bag and told him “only the two of us will know. We will share the fee for the work. Tomorrow I will inform your Parents that we are going to have ice cream and go to the beach!!” The look on his face said it all!!! I feel great!!!!