Inmates of a home for the aged at Gosala village in Penamaluru mandal had unexpected guests on Tuesday.
The 27 women in the twilight years of their lives were in for a pleasant surprise when they saw a group of five young foreigners walking into the premises of their home.
Tuesday being International Day of Older Persons, most of the elderly women had an inkling of ‘something special’ in the offing. But a youth group of an alien land spending their day with them, entertaining them with activities that would keep their enthused all through the day was something beyond their imagination.
The five Germans--Rorian Wendt, Christin Strehl, Anne Sprenger, Julia Forchheim and Fricclo Hehmann, are members of a youth group which has descended on Vijayawada city as part of a cultural youth exchange programme, hosted by the Atheist Centre, Vijayawada.
The home for the aged run by local NGO Vasavya Mahila Mandali (VMM) houses elderly women in distress. “Most of them have either been abandoned by their children or neglected by family members due to health problems,” said Chennupati Vidya, president of VMM.
During their three-week visit, the German youth has been going to important places to imbibe local culture and traditions.
The youngsters, apparently, enjoyed their day as much as the inmates did. They played games enacting like different animals and prodding the senior citizens to guess the name of the animal. After a lively singing competition, it was time to learn a few yoga techniques.
Following a brief session of yoga, the youngsters spoke about the rights of senior citizens back home in Germany.
