Foreign director brings joy at senior home
Anastasija Puzankova from Latvia talks with a resident at the Jiufeng Senior Home.
Anastasija Puzankova from Latvia helps out with a puzzle at the Jiufeng Senior Home.
Anastasija Puzankova takes a resident out to enjoy the fresh air.
Anastasija Puzankova, who is from Latvia, greets every resident in Mandarin at the Jiufeng Senior Home in Qingpu District’s Liantang Town where she is the director.
"Ni hao Grandma Zhang," the 35-year-old said with a brilliant smile as she hugged a resident on Wednesday.
She started work at the senior home in Zhanglian Village in April last year. It has 217 residents with an average age of over 85.
Puzankova described herself as their mother.
"They behave like kids, sharing their joy and pain in life with me, and they resort to me when they need help," said Puzankova. "I like staying with them."
She knows them all and can remember 80 percent of the names.
Puzankova has been living in Shanghai for 16 years.
She studied Chinese in Latvia for two years and law at Fudan University as an exchange student. Her post-graduate major at the university was environmental protection law.
"I am interested in China, because I thought it a very mysterious country," she said.
"I know traditional things about China like taichi and kung fu, but I didn’t know the modern side of China," she said. "I think it is a very big and mysterious country, but I knew nothing of it, which spurred my interest and I wanted to learn more about the nation."
Anastasija Puzankova paints along with a resident.
Recalling her first contact with the home’s residents, Puzankova said she was surprised.
"I was surprised by their age, and learned that Chinese seniors enjoy longevity," she said. "They are very healthy, enthusiastic, and vigorous from my first impression.
"Seniors are like children and they are maybe very curious about you but they don't show it. The first step is to get close to them and win their trust."
But she soon found that language was a problem because the residents at the home spoke in Liantang dialect.
"Some cannot understand Mandarin, while I don't understand the local dialect," she said. "My Liantang colleague helped me with translation."
Time gradually smoothed these obstacles.
"We don't use language only, but body language and gesture sometimes," she said. "As we have been together for a long time, we have got used to each other gradually and now they understand me and I understand them.
"We don't have any problem in communication now.
"Some seniors here have rich sign language and they can replicate the whole story with that," she said. "They like sharing their life with me."
Anastasija Puzankova talks to a resident.
It took time for Puzankova to remember the names of seniors at the home. But she found some shortcuts.
"The names of villagers here have some similar characteristics like mei (sister) and bao (baby), which helped my memory," she said.
"They greet me every time they meet me, take me to their rooms and they are very enthusiastic," she said. "We have a very good relationship."
But not every one in the home is easy to get along with.
A few are bad-tempered.
"I have many skills and I use them differently on different senior residents,” Puzankova said.
When there is a problem, Puzankova asks nursing staff who know the residents well first.
"Some just want to catch our attention as they miss their families, and I analyze different situations and source of contradictions, disputes and problems. Then I pacify seniors and offer a solution to tackle the problem."
A senior with cognitive disorder kept herself isolated at room all the time. She was sick and her husband had passed away.
"We didn’t intervene too much, and gave her time to get accustomed to the environment," Puzankova said.
The woman has been living at the senior home for six months. In the past, she hid when seeing others. But now, she is willing to share her life with Puzankova and expressed a willingness to communicate.
"It is big progress as she wants to communicate with others," Puzankova said.
The senior home has established a specific area for seniors with dementia. It is a safe place for them and has old items helping them to recall their past.
Anastasija Puzankova pictured alongside some of the home's residents.
Living in downtown Xuhui District, she takes two Metro trains and one bus to reach the senior home. A single trip takes almost two hours, but she has no complaints.
"I like the job very much," she said. "I never thought I would do such a job 10 years ago but it is an important job.
"Our volunteers said they feel pressure eased and playing with seniors is very happy," she said.
Puzankova said her parents supported her decision.
“Overseas, the work is highly respected," she said.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, many group activities were canceled at senior homes in the city.
"Seniors here were very bored during the pandemic and we need to ensure their safety, but also divert their attention," she said. "Their psychological situation will affect their health and some didn’t eat."
Puzankova and her colleagues arranged one-to-one activities for seniors when they were feeling down.
She also webcast vegetable planting and picked for them.
"I ask those who were former farmers about soil conditions and what we should do as the next step to increase interaction," she said.
Once, she invited seniors to peel broad beans, which were then cooked.
"They said they were very delicious because of their own involvement," she said.
Puzankova is a star at the senior home.
"She is like our sister and she cares for seniors with heart," said Cui Xuedong, a nurse at the home. "Seniors are willing to share their difficulties with her and she will help tackle them immediately."
Li Xiaomei, 92, happily showed her photos with Puzankova.
"See? this is me," she pointed to a photo with the director. "I am very happy living here."
Yu Yinnan, 90, said she likes the foreign director.
"I was surprised she can talk with us in Chinese," she said. "She likes communicating with us, and she always hugs us when meeting us."
"My health has turned better after living here due to my better mood," said Yu.
