A present from the children

I wasn't in the mood to post anything for the past 2 days. Poor Nurin's case really made me lose my mood to write anything.

But continue with my work I must. Nurin is at a better place now... but other kids need my attention. Yep, in my case, the HIV infected/affected kids.

I promised Yah I'd meet her at the hospital today. She came to get this month's supply of medication and wanted to meet up with me as well. So I told her to wait at the usual place between 12 to 12.30 pm.

When I got there I saw Yah carrying a big box nicely wrapped. Her eldest daughter tagged along. When they got in the car I asked whose present it was. At first I thought she was kidding when she said, "Untuk kakak lah." Huh? For me? Then she said, "Budak-budak pesan... depa suruh bagi hadiah ni kat makcik."

Apparently her kids, particularly the 2 older girls (9 and 7) had been saving for some time their daily school pocket money to buy me a present. Of course their mother had to top up a bit. Whatever the occasion was I don't know but I felt guilty at first. I would have been happy if they just made their own card and wrote something sweet. They could have used the money to buy something for themselves yet they chose to buy something for me. But then I figured if giving me a present makes them happy and excited, oh then, whaddaheck! Just accept the present and make them happy! :)

Well, I couldn't take them for lunch today (puasa lah!!) so I sent them straight to the bus station. But even during the short drive from the hospital to the bus station I managed to get some updates from Yah.

Yah had put aside part of her EPF drawings into ASB. She had to use part of it to repair her house. You see, recently during a rainstorm, a big papaya tree fell onto the kitchen and so the house needed some major repairs. Being the resourceful type, she went to see the YB for her area and managed to get the YB to sponsor half of the repairs.

She's also using some of the money for income generating purposes. She's renting a piece of land (a paddy field to be exact) and will work on the paddy field. No doubt the income will come later but at least she's already thinking long term.

That was about all the update I could get from Yah today. She was in a hurry. She said she needed to stop by a friend's place on the way back before going home. At this point, her 9 year old daughter who tagged along said, "Mak jumpa kawan tu nanti lama ke? Kalau lama nanti bagi kak long sepuluh ringgit, kak long balik sendiri." THAT of course drew immediate response from me, what with Nurin's case still very much in my mind. I told her she must NEVER go back alone! No doubt she felt it was no big deal... she knows what bus to take and she knows where to get down. What she doesn't know is the danger lurking around!

Anyway when I got home in the afternoon I opened the present. The children actually bought me a table lamp clock - minus the bulb. I will have to get the light bulb myself lah...

Later after my zuhur prayer, I went out again. This time to little Boboy's place. His guardians sought my help to fill some forms to ask for financial aid from MAC and so off I went with some Raya goodies for the kids. Boboy looks much better ever since he started taking his HIV medication. When asked what he wants to do when he grows up, he said, "Nanti Boboy dah besar Boboy nak kawin." Oh dear... you cute little boy...

While I was at their place I received an SMS from Zainab. She said her elder daughter (5 year old) had just been warded for kidney problems. Oh dear, oh dear... now I susah hati again...

Will try to visit the little girl at the hospital tomorrow. It was getting late so I had to go home. Got home, went into my bedroom and saw the clock, and remembered Yah's children... sejuuuuk hati...

Ahh, thank you kids. You made my day...