Mystery Braunschweig donor strikes again

Beautiful!

Our family would sure be in a better place if we could get enough money for the down payment on a Bauernhaus. Should I post the address?

It is absurd that the hospice is planning to use the money to redecorate a room for education of staff presumably. I am sure the money was intended to comfort the sick and dying in their last days. Better ideas include a music system...visits by therapy dogs...drivers to bring family and friends for visits ....a wintergarden to keep in touch with growing plants and the earth....aroma therapy (these oils are expensive)....visits by choirs or other performing artists LIVE..... All these comforts cost money but would mean alot to the desperately ill who are worthy spiritual humanbeings.

And no redecorated room was needed fot THIS educatioal lecture.

Hallo!

Cassandra777 wrote it is absurd - but it isn't!

Being a volunteer at a hospice myself, I know about the importance of education - not only for the staff employed but even more so for volunteers, familiy-members, staff of hospitals and homes for the elderly etc.

Most hospices do not only work centralised but also have decentralised activities such as caring at home or in the homes or hospitals for those who cannot or do not wish to be moved to a centralised hospice.

Besides, re-decoration can also mean re-building and refurbishing, setting up furniture and media (beamer, video), not just painting the walls. But it all adds up...

Be assured that all that is taken care of - all hospices are short of money, all work on volunteer labour (except a few positions such as special nurses with extra education and entitlements who need to be employed (if only for a few hours per week) for reasons of insurance). None of us would waste money.

The donor knew what it was for - and supported this cause. That is HIS decision, whether you agree or not.

Take a wider view at it - teaching and training does the movement good - and therefore helps the patients a great lot! Maybe that's better than just music or a wintergarden.

TheWonderer

The Wonderer:

I am shocked to learn that most hospices rely on volunteers with only a few specialist nurses on site (for insurance purposes) !!!!! I can see the urgent need for education of these volunteers that you represent. I do not believe that the donor knew that the money would be used for furniture and video (your examples). You presume to know that staff needs trump patient needs. So it is no surprise that many people prefer to die at home.

Cassandra, looks like you mess things up completely!

You are so much focussed on what you WANT to see that your vision is obstructed.

Fact is there are lots of professionals - where necessary. But in relation to the "workforce", the volunteers dominate.

First of all, you can't buy enough professionals as that is too costy under the current health system.

Secondly, you can't just assign this sort of job to any nurse - you need to want this. Some nurses want it, most nurses do not - it is nicer work to see patients get well rather than die. So be glad for every nurse choosing this way

Thirdly you need to consider burn-out and the like. If you perform this profession for just a decade or two, you will experience hundreds, probably thousands of people die. How does that effect your life? Not every professional can handle that. It takes a mixture of a few dedicated professionals who love this job plus a large number of volunteers who do assist "their" patient(s) - maybe just a few hours a week, but for years if necessary. If you have just one patient, it is not as bad as doing it 40 hrs a week for a life.

Both the dedicated staff and the volunteers often had personal experiences before they opted for this engagement - the loss of a close family member or a friend. It is a sort of dedication you cannot describe.

Why waste resources when less but highly motivated, cordial staff and volunteers can do? Especially as a human, sitting at your bedside, holding your hand (or even massaging it), readiing something to you or talking with you is priceless. HUMANITY counts - on EITHER side.

For centuries, dying have been cared for by their family, these days that is often not possible (families live hundreds of miles apart, everybody is working). That indicates volunteers (if properly guided) can do it very nicely.

The insurance-puposes referred to were injections and the like - laymen are not permitted to give morphines etc - and they also give the guidance and instructions patients, family-members and volunteers need.

Furthermore, you don't know whether all things you mentioned are already there - maybe that creation/refurbishment (as it was called in Braunschweig press) is the finishing touch?

Besides, if the operating cost would rise due to higher staff cost, you would probably one of those to complain first.

Always remember: You or your loved ones may need the support of a hospice, too. If you prefer dying at home (in your accustomed environment) hospice-helpers (both professionals and volunteers) will be available for help even then.

Then you may experience the need for good training facilities for family-members (who are confronted with lots of problems), volunteers and professionals (nurses and even GPs) alike.

Don't judge too quick!

TheWonderer

I believe the donor intended the money to be spent on the patients and not on the endless expenses and problems of the hospice system which you so expertly catalogue. This money is unique in that it comes from one human heart full of love and it bypasses intentionally the huge burocracies of the many charities that help poor and sick people. Ten thousand euros does not go far in the hospice system. But the personal nature of this gift should not be lost in addressing general development plans.

I´D LIKE WE ALL HAVE SUCH A WONDERFUL DONOR EVERYWHERE, because nowdays there are no more than 6000 millionaires in the Planet, is that fair?

Sharing resources would mean equality, freedom, health, peace, no hunger, no war, no crisis. What are the millionaires doing for the World? While a crisis is hitting everywhere, some of them only think of making more money. What about the massive killing of dogs in Ukrania, Azerbajan, Moldavia? No Authorities, politicians and millionaires do anything to protect them, only the actor Mike Rourke touched by the dramatic situation in ROmania IS COLLECTING MONEY

MONEY FOR WHAT? CONGRATULATIONS DONOR, WE need one like you everywhere to help those in need, particularly Mother Earth and its creatures