Scarves for China

Dell Girle, 84, eases into her favourite lounge chair, takes up a pair of knitting needles and wool, and starts working as if almost in a trance.

“I normally knit about four or five scarves a week,” she says.

It’s a seemingly small act, but these woollen neck warmers are changing lives.

“Dell’s on to her third box or fourth box; she’s done hundreds of scarves already since last June,” says Jean Yan, Registered Nurse at Wesley Mission Queensland's Sinnamon Village Jacobs Court.

The boxes are destined for China, specifically; a combined aged care and orphanage home in the country’s east where temperatures plummet to -16 degrees in the winter.

“It’s snowing all the time and people don’t have heating systems,” says Jean.

Dell has been lovingly creating the scarves since hearing firsthand of Jean’s trip to the region last year.

Jean visited Shandong Province as part of a tour group fostering working relationships with aged care professionals in China, as the country works to improve its aged and community models of care.

“In China, aged care is very different. The elderly don’t get much attention from doctors and they don’t receive much in the way of physical care or pain relief, so that leads to people being bedridden,” she says.

Dell had planned to knit for just a few weeks; now more than a year has gone by. Regular contact with the residents of the orphanage and aged care home through photos and videos motivates her.

“It’s lovely to see them on the iPad, these ladies. I didn’t know they had children in the same place and when you see little orphans it makes you want to keep knitting,” Dell says.

“It’s only a little thing, knitting scarves, but I feel inspired by how people are receiving them over there,” says Jean.

And while it looks like there’s no stopping Dell anytime soon, Jean is headed back to China in 2017 and will look for new ways to build ties between the two homes.

“Of course, when it’s cold here it’s warm there, so we might come up with another idea for the summer next year – maybe Dell can give me some suggestions about that!”

Click here to find out more about Wesley Mission Queensland's aged care homes and home care services.

You can watch a video about Dell and her amazing scarves below: