An Old Lady who Cannot Even Recognize her own Child--Serving as Interpreter for a Senior Couple suffering from Dementia

[Date & Time] 5 days in December, 2008
[Attendant] 1 KSGG Member
[Language] English

A KSGG member living in Yokosuka had a call from a volunteer group there through a social worker in Yokohama to serve as interpreter for an old lady (Lady A) living in Yokohama. It was her elder sister (Lady B) who needed help, and her husband is an American living in Yokosuka. Lady B and her husband developed an Alzheimer type of senile dementia almost at the same time, and she was to move from a hospital in Yokosuka to a nursing care facility within the year.
This couple has a daughter (Lady C), who is Lady A’s niece and returned home from the U.S. after an interval of 30 years to see her parents. The KSGG member acted as interpreter between Lady A and Lady C. As their conversation was highly personal, the KSGG attendant, keeping a distance as interpreter, had to be careful enough not to be unkind. On the 5th day, however, Lady C asked more about the situations in Japan. When she was pleased that she could exchange dollars to strong yen easily at a favorable rate, the attendant felt that he could contribute a bit to international friendship.
According to Lady C, as she exchanged a large amount of dollars to yen at a bank, she was chagrined when she was told to sign and fingerprint the form like a criminal suspect. The attendant also realized that our social conditions have been getting tough.
His interpretation covered their talk about bank accounts and the disposal of property at a scrivener’s office and, at a nursing care facility, the procedure for admission and agreement, the procedures for nursing care and health insurances, a request for medical certificate covering the level of the required nursing care, the required expenses with its details, and a report on the progress of nursing care at the facility.
The attendant said later, “The 5-day service at the year-end was really tough to give, but I made my best effort to help them; I could not help but sympathize the couple who could not recognize each other and even their own daughter.”