Helping older people live full and secure lives | Age helps

Helping older people lead full and secure lives

The feeling is mutual

How older people's associations are changing lives in Asia

Spending 12-hour days pedalling on an old-fashioned sewing machine would leave most people in pain.

When you are in your sixties, it is going to take a huge toll. Just ask Piyaseeli from Sri Lanka, who ended up exhausted, her knees and joints aching badly.

And the sewing wasn't all she had to do. With a 13-year-old granddaughter to cook for and get ready for school, she had her work cut out from before sunrise until late at night.

It took a simple solution to transform her health and life. She joined a local older people's association, set up by our sister organisation HelpAge Sri Lanka. The association gave her a small grant towards buying a better sewing machine.

Piyaseeli and granddaughter The impact on her life has been tremendous. Her income has tripled, thanks to her new machine, which helps her work much faster than before. She doesn't need to keep pushing away at pedals anymore, either, so the pain and inflammation in her legs has gone.

Emotionally, too, the grant has given Piyaseeli a new lease of life. When she got the money, she felt so good. It was as though she had finally been recognised for her abilities and efforts. Sadly, that recognition can be hard to come by for older people, even when it is obviously deserved.

Accessing healthcare

Isn't it amazing how a small grant can provide so many benefits? And micro-credit is just one of the many ways older people's associations, with support from HelpAge, are changing their members' lives across many Asian countries.

For instance, they also make sure older people get a better deal when it comes to healthcare. They will arrange check-ups, or link up with local clinics to book home visits for their members.

But empowerment really starts when older people learn to provide healthcare and education themselves. So older people's associations often train their members in homecare and health awareness, skills which they then use in their communities.

In Cambodia, 15 older people's associations have trained 111 older people to provide high-quality homecare to neighbours in need.

Fighting for rights

Politically, too, older people's associations are having a huge imapact across Asia, helping older people join forces to claim their rights and entitlements.

For example, in the Indian region of Rajasthan, women, especially older women, have long been excluded from decision-making - but that is now changing, thanks to older people's associations.

They have set up self-help groups to help women claim leadership roles, and challenge the barriers they face.

Helping during disasters

Disaster response is yet another area where older people's associations can make a powerful difference. Whether helping with early warning schemes or distributing relief, older people's associations use their local knowledge to save lives. After the 2006 tsunami in South Asia, they really showed what they were capable of. For instance, in Aceh, Indonesia, they distributed cash grants to 2000 older people in extreme need.

Seed money means villages can grow

In Sichuan province, China, older people's associations are thriving despite challenging circumstances such as poverty, remoteness and a widely scattered rural population.

The associations' primary focus is running a seed money system - a community fund that provides small loans for older people so they can buy the things they need.

After the Sichuan earthquake of 2008, the associations relaxed the repayment period and interest rates for borrowers.

When asked what happens if someone doesn't pay back their loan, association members at first did not seem to understand the question. But this was because the repayment rate is 100%. Members understand the fund belongs to all of them and they have to protect it, so nobody ever fails to repay.

The seed money system holds the association together and engages its members, but equally importantly, it is a vital way of keeping people connected and in touch.

Older People's Associations provide fantastic proof of what older people can achieve with a little support. Isolated, older people often feel vulnerable and insecure. But once they start helping each other, they become a force to be reckoned with - which is why we are backing these groups all the way.