Taking the Elderly for a Stroll

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Helsinki & Porvoo Finland

In the spring of 2008, Amma devotees in Helsinki began helping old people, taking residents of Kutaankartano, an old-age home, for fresh-air strolls.

“The permanent workers do a valuable and heavy job with a very small number of workers. The volunteer workers can ease the nurses’ workload,” says Sami Kurko, the devotee who came up with the idea.

The decision to take the residents for walks came after seeing a survey wherein it was shown that this was the primary desire of the elderly in the home. The majority of the residents at Kutaankartano are bound to wheelchairs. The devotees also spend time chatting as well.

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“The voluntary work is essential for us,” says Saara Sierilä, a city-worker put in charge of Kutaankartano’s volunteers. “It is a great joy and creates opportunities for the old people to get out from the ward.”

In May, devotees in Porvoo, Finland started visiting an old peoples’ home there as well.

– Das