Young Dominicans urged to spend quality time with senior citizens

DCOA president, Ophelia Marie. Photo credit: Sun, Dominica

President of the Dominica Council on Ageing (DCOA), Ophelia Marie, has called on young people in the country to reach out to senior citizens and spend quality time with them.

This call is contained in an address by Marie to commence the celebrations of the Month of the Elderly, gazetted by the government 18 years ago and which runs from September 1 to October 1.

According to the DCOA president, this period is used to give recognition to seniors on the island for everything they have done and still continue to do.

Marie asked that persons include seniors in their activities and to be patient with the elderly as they strive to make their golden years the best that they can be.

“Look for that grandma or grandpa to reach out too. Don’t pack the aside and pass them straight as if they are not in existence,” she urged. “Take the time to show granny how to send a WhatsApp message, look for grandpa’s favorite music on YouTube and let it play for a little hour in the house. Let us work together until it becomes automatic to respect and love the older persons and to include them in the decisions that pertain to them.”

“Life is short,” Marie pointed out and warned that “the boomerang you may send out, may come back to you much faster than you think”.

She said because of the elderly in our midst, we have a conscience and a sense of values and on and account of them, we are close to the most high God and are close to nature and its surrounding abundance.

“Because of the sense of value that they have handed down to us, we find ourselves and formulate our own character, direction and destiny. How automatic it should be for us to honor the ground on which our seniors walk,” the DCOA president noted.

Speaking specifically to Grandparents Day – September 11 – a vital part of the Month of the Elderly, Marie pointed out that this year, the United Nations and the USA were encouraging people to pay attention, not only to the contributions that these people have made to Dominica’s development but also to their resilience.

For many of us, she pointed out, having a grandparent is one of the best things in our life and they are among our favorite people.

“Their hearts appear to be larger than those of our parents. Their patience, peace, and tolerance are like nobody else’s. Every day our grandparents demonstrate how resilient they are. They roll and rumble with the hardships that come with life. They adjust and invent ways to keep them and ourselves nourished with whatever means [are] available to them,” the DCOA President stated. “They have limited funds, failing health [due] to our changing environment [and] COVID and the loss of loved ones and as we watch them, we too appreciate and learn those coping skills.”

She asked that persons protect the elderly from the predators who seek to steal from and hurt them.

“Neglect them not, lest one day you be neglected,” Marie admonished Dominicans.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

5 Comments

  1. WM
    September 14, 2022

    Mrs. Ophelia Olivacee Marie, looks forever young. God’s continued grace, blessings and comfort is wished for you in your pursuit of creating a happy and loving space for the aged

  2. Legion
    September 13, 2022

    Did she make that call in her youth or is it just a self serving call now that age is catching up and the reality of old age sinks in?

  3. Amelia W.
    September 12, 2022

    Thanks Ophla (not a typo) for the continued guidance. Not only are you the songbird but you surely are a true inspiration for all of us in life in general.

    I always take pride in knowing that I come from a country where taking care of your elders is an expectation!!! While I understand why it may be needed to place a loved one in care of others, if we can do it ourselves, we must at least try. My grandma lived here in NY with me & my mom for 10 beautiful years before she returned to DA and then passed at the beautiful age of 98. It was the most fulfilling 10 years of my life as a young woman and I miss those laughs, I miss the stories, I miss hearing her humming or seeing her smile when the rest of the family comes to visit. I also see the example of what care my mother (Amoy) provided her everyday with a level of selflessness that I sure hope I can provide to Amoy one day. Ophelia is right – if we give, then much will be returned. Give your time to those you love…

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  4. Ibo France
    September 11, 2022

    Well said, Ms. Ophelia Marie. Our elderly persons have so much wisdom and knowledge to share particularly with the young.

    Grandpa and grandma are human encyclopedias. They have a depth of knowledge on almost everything: local history, farming, weather patterns, bush medicine, politics, romance , marriages, EVERYTHING!

    We, as a community, need to value them more instead of abandoning them to just pine away. There are too many older citizens among us who go hungry, without a bath, unkempt, and li’ve in deplorable conditions.

    The way we treat our aged reflects on us as to wh we are. Let’s make a more concerted effort to involve them in our daily lives.

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 0

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available