OKA Seniors’ Brainstorming Session – in a nutshell By Divya Nayak
Saturday October 22nd dawned bright and clear. I had a chat with Sadanandmam who had undertaken the initiative to bring the seniors of the Konkani community together to have a seniors’ brainstorming session. The purpose of this session was to highlight the concerns and issues related to seniors and determine whether a Social Support System is needed for seniors in our community.
The session started with snacks provided by Amita and Ashok Bhat, Arun Kamath, and the Mankikar Family followed by a warm welcome by Kash Nayak, President OKA. The attendees varied form early forties to late eighties. Joe Daniel, Former Member of Parliament, Don Mills East Riding and Richard Noonan, CEO, Help for Moms were our invited guest speakers.
As population ages, there is a growing need for better knowledge of senior health care and living options as all of us want to approach old age with good health. The session on Saturday provided subject matter experts from our community as well as invited speakers on various topics of interest such as financial independence after retirement, support systems available from the government for seniors – Long term care, Ontario drug benefit etc.
It was amazing to see so many seniors enthusiastically engaging in group discussions to learn and identify key points on social/cultural programs, community independent and assisted living and provide a lot of input. The session was well organized by Sadanandmam, with excellent time management, largely due to the presence of one of the best time keeper I have seen. Chaitanya Baliga – on a lighter note, a rock-solid presence strong enough to deter even the strongest politician and ensured that Mahesh Nileshwar who spoke about “Hoon Udhka Ghotu” could complete on time! The session was a great success!
During the breakout sessions, several topics were covered including: buddy systems, get togethers/outings, saving required for a comfortable retirement, the possibility of help from OKA community, overcoming isolation/loneliness, and the organization of regular seniors’ activities.
After a delicious lunch that was sponsored by the Nileshwar family, the afternoon session discussed at length the merits/demerits of seniors home, community independent assisted living etc. A few suggestions made included:
• one young OKA family should adopt 3 or 5 seniors, to keep in touch.
• Help them when there is a need.
• “How do you form an NGO?”
• Short term solution – Rent or buy condos – live together,
• Help each other with OKA support group.
• Long term solution – Plan big – our own 4 stage SENIORS home –
• Everyone contributes for a bigger purpose
• invest our KAO funds/
• buy land now
• look for Gov. grant/ask help from Federal, Provincial and Municipal government.
Can we have another session?
As we were departing, we could hear a few seniors asking “When can we have the next session?”
I realized this was a very important and necessary discussion. “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” Said Robert Browning (1812-1889) This very inspiring characterization of old age fits with the concept of “successful aging,” provides the view that it is possible to enjoy your later years in a way that exceeds your expectations. To condense and summarize, The OKA seniors would like to have strong friendships, foster a sense of support from the OKA community and start every day with purpose.
