My name is Mariama Kalokoh and I’m
a hospice volunteer. Before becoming a hospice volunteer, I had a somewhat
vague idea of what the word hospice meant.
But I contacted Medi Home Health and Hospice and filled out a volunteer
application. After being interviewed, I was accepted and went to the training.
After learning the technicalities of hospice, I was bit intimidated and
honestly a little frightened by the idea of working with a terminally ill
patient, but I always kept an open mind.
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| Miss J with daughter |
I got my first assignment in
February, and I was really excited to get started! My first visit was the
complete opposite of what I imagined it would be: I imagined walking into a
room blanketed by grief and sorrow, at the center of the room being a patient barely
clinging to life. I imagined I would be overwhelmed by difficult emotion. Instead,
when I walked in I was greeted warmly by my patient’s daughter. She wore a huge
smile on her face, and was so thrilled to see me! I was a bit shocked by this
reaction because I had never met this woman, but she was so happy to see me; it
was like we were long lost friends! I also met my patient’s son, who had a
similar reaction. Finally, I met “Miss J,” and as I moved closer to her bed to
greet her, her face lit up with a smile. All the preconceptions, reservations,
intimidations and slightest amount of doubt in my mind about being a hospice
volunteer were erased. I knew I was really going to enjoy being a volunteer!
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| Mariama with Miss J |
On that first visit, Miss J mainly asked about me. It really took me by surprise how curious she was about
my life, my background, and what I did outside of school. (During training we
were told that because most of our patients are elderly and vulnerable, some may
want to know something about us before they open up and tell us about
themselves.)
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| A beautiful trio! |
During the course of my
next couple of visits though, Miss J slowly opened up, telling me about her
life: mainly her children and her work. She often confused me with characters
from her life, and would ask me questions about her family members. Sometimes I
would just answer and other times I corrected her. I always listened and asked
questions so she could tell me more. Sometimes when she told certain stories
she would get quiet in between, and I would move closer and hold her hand to
let her know that I was still there. Other times she would laugh really loud,
and I laughed right along with her. Miss J is actually a bit of a comedian
when she tries! She has even offered to make me something to eat or teach me
how to cook. At times she has complained about being in pain or being moved
around too much. Overall, she was and is always happy to see me. And my mood
usually changes for the better after I visit with her; there is just an aura
about her and her family that always leaves me in a cheerful mood. I always
feel like my presence is a relief from most of her quiet worries.
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| Miss J shows her warm smile! |
Being a hospice volunteer is actually
a very significant life changing experience for me. I am really learning a new appreciation for
life and all it has to offer. My patient is on hospice care, and she and her
family deal with it every day with open minds and smiles on their faces. As
young men and women, we often get caught up in our world perverted materialism
and we love to complain about things we don’t have and things we want. We often forget that life is really not as
guaranteed as we would like to think. We forget to be appreciative of what we
have been blessed with in life. Being a hospice volunteer has really changed that
for me. I’m a lot more thankful for my family, my health and all the blessings
I do have in life. And yes, I still
complain about things I don’t have, but I do it a lot less now. I really like being a hospice volunteer, and I
will continue being one for as long as I can. I wish I could
make more visits, because I know how much my visits mean to Miss J and her
family. But the amount of time my school work and extracurricular activities eat
up makes it difficult. In the future though, I will definitely try to make more
time for my patient and be a more dedicated volunteer!
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| Mariama Kalokoh, Hospice Volunteer |
If you would like to join Mariama and be a part of our special team of hospice volunteers, please contact Andy Wichorek, Medi Hospice Volunteer Coordinator at 804-282-4301, or awichorek@msa-corp.com. Or, if you live outside of the Central Virginia area, please find and contact your local area hospice and learn how you can get involved today!
