SHILLONG, Aug 19: In what may be described as a noble and pioneering initiative, a privately established old-age home – Kripa Victoria Senior Citizens’ Home – was inaugurated at Nongsder village in Ri-Bhoi district on Friday.
The Kripa Victoria Senior Citizens’ Home is the brainchild of Victoria Wahlang who is associated with the Kripa Foundation.
The facility at the old-age home boasts of an infirmary with trained nursing staff available on a 24×7 basis. More employees are being enrolled and a good number of them have undergone training to the serve the elderly residents.
The setup has four private rooms (each consisting of a pantry and bathroom), two private cottages and a seven-bed dormitory to accommodate the distressed persons. All accommodations are fully furnished.
Taking about her visionary initiative, Wahlang said she was thrilled as her long cherished dream had come true.
Recalling that her visit to a senior citizens’ home in Singapore and the Saint Teresa old-age home in Kolkata guided her to push for this mission, she said there are numerous instances of parents being left alone because their children work outside to sustain the family and in such situations this facility will be a blessing for the elderly parents.
“Would you want to live the last days of your life in pain, misery, ill health and alone? I am sure not. Hence I wish that all of us should try to show love and compassion towards the elderly and make their final days on Earth joyful,” she said.
Founder and Trustee of Kripa Foundation, Fr Joseph H Pereira said the principles of Kripa Foundation is to mutually share vulnerability, brokenness and pain to empowers the human being, and the same principle will be applied in the case of Kripa Victoria Senior Citizens’ Home.
“At Kripa Victoria Senior Citizens’ Home, we will reach out to these senior citizens and share their brokenness and pain so that they can experience love and happiness,” he asserted.
He pointed out that the old-age home is an act of grace (Kripa) by God and with Victoria Wahlang, the spirit and power behind the project, it will set a benchmark for quality and compassionate care-giving in the state.
Ri-Bhoi Social Welfare Officer Emy Kharchandy referred to official data and said that 35% of the elderly population lives below the poverty line, of which 60% reside in rural areas and 90% do not even have any social security. “The adverse impact of the socio-economic scenario is that our elderly population is being marginalised and isolated. They are the ones who suffer the most. Since most of our senior citizens are illiterate, they do not know about their rights and they are ignorant of what they can expect and demand from their children,” she said.
Kharchandy also informed the gathering about an integrated helpline to cater to the senior citizens of the state that was launched last December named “Elder Line”. This helpline will make it possible to access information on healthcare, products and services for senior citizens at the dial of a toll-free number 14567 she told the gathering.
Victoria’s son Sherrard Wahlang, who is managing the day-to-day affairs at the old-age home, said that they are not going to charge anything for those staying in the dormitories, be it medicines, nursing care, food or laundry services.
“We will however levy a charge on those occupying the private rooms and cottages commensurate to the facilities provided, which will in turn help support the dormitories. So, in a way we are rotating our resources,” he said.
Secretary of Health and Family Welfare department and former Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner RM Kurbah was also present on the occasion.
