How the U.S.’s schools helped make the aging population feel more productive, from the Front Page Sections, translated…
The reduction of birthrate, and the population aging had become, two huge problems in Taiwan, but is there, innovative ways, to help lessen the impacts?
I’d felt enlightened, from this New York public elementary school.
The New York #334 Public Elementary rents its track and auditorium out on weekends to the nonprofit organizations to host a flea market. In the end, it’d, helped out the students, the local residents, as well as countless smaller scale shops too.
The story began thirty-five years ago. The public schools in New York were similar to the elementary schools in Taiwan, lacking in funding. The most widely used measure was for the PTA to go out and get donations. Back then, after the handful of parents hit walls, trying to raise the funds, they’d had a thought: why not set up a flea market?
like this, only it’s inside a school…not my photograph…
And, it’d, hit the place huge. Several years later, the children of this group of parents had, graduated. And in order to keep the flea market going, the not-for-profit organizations took over running the flea markets. All of the money from the sales of the flea markets were donated to four local schools, and managed to help out 4,000 children.
Other than benefitting the children, this method of utilizing the unused resources also helped out the smaller-scale shops. In this large marketplace, over a hundred independent, individual, and not mainstreamed shops, in the expensive New York, found a space for their retail sales.
The items sold here, were mostly artistic, for instance, handmade clothes, soaps, paintings, jewelries, cards, snacks, as well as antique watches, glasses, porcelain tea cups………underneath the basketball nets of the playground hung the Persian rugs, so totally, “outside the boxes”.
In order to give a stage to ALL the poor artists in New York, the market hosted the themed events, for instance, a handmade jewelry show. So those who couldn’t pay for the rented stands long-term can have a place to show their items as well.
And because the items sold were mostly along the realms of art, so, the funding donated to the school also became specialized, it’d added to the funding of arts education for the students at the schools. Hoping that one day, the students will return back to the school, and sell their own works.
putting spaces like this to good use…photo from online
Unlike the group of young people setting up the stands in front of Eslite here, the owners of the shops here are mostly retirees. They’re not just selling the treasures they’d accumulated throughout their lives, but also, the stories of their lives too.
This, is the most charming part of this flea market.
There are three good things that can come, of setting up shops for these elderly.
First, from the angle of the customers, in the flea markets, the shops and stands set up by the elderly is usually better to seek out the treasures in. After all, they’d used their entire lives to accumulate the items they put out. And, each and every item has an interesting story attached to it.
Secondly, because the elderly population isn’t as familiar with hi-tech as younger generations, in the online world, the two generations are separated. But in the physical marketplace, the generations can interact on a more personal level.
Lastly, the younger generation’s beliefs about elderly are mostly limited to nursing homes or long-term care facilities. But, a lot of elderly don’t want to just stay at home or in the nursing homes, and socialize with people their age, nor do they want to just be on the receiving end of care. Selling their things in the marketplaces, interacting with the various generations, and transitioning from “being cared for” to “productive”, it’s helpful to the elderly population’s body, mind and soul.
Like the owner of this marketplace, the marketplace itself, had seen its share of ups and downs for thirty-five years on end. The new management team asked for the new shops just last year, they’d selected a special date for the grand opening: September 11th.
Yes, we can cope more positively, and more actively too the tragedies of the world.
And, in coping with aging, we can also, take a positive attitude to it.
So many elementary schools in Taiwan, because of the reduction in birthrate, the space became unoccupied. Are there, innovative ways, to make these vacant spaces useful again?
There would be an increasing number of elderly in the population in Taiwan, and, can the younger generations have a different belief about them? And, form a relationship with them, other than caretaking?
As I handed my money to an elderly man in the bazar, my answer was, affirmative.
So, this, is how another country did this, getting the aging population, back into the world, to socialize, and, this idea started thirty-five years ago, and it’d, changed a bit in why it was set up, and, this is something we can all take from.
Life, the Obstacle Course 