Goodbye 2007... Hello 2008...

2007 had been quite a hectic year for me when it came to my HIV related voluntary work.

There were a few deaths amongst my PLWHAs and their family members this year.

In April, one of Zana’s twin babies died due to complications which were not HIV related.

In May, Lily died after being warded at the Ipoh GH for dengue.

In October, on the 3rd day of Aidil Fitri, Hana’s husband, Rashid passed away. Just 2 days later, another client, Rina followed suit. Both Rashid and Rina succumbed to HIV related illnesses.

This year too, I was assigned 5 new clients. One of them was Rina, who died within the same year. I only got to know her just about a month or so.

Hana too was just assigned to me this year. I have been in touch with her even before she was confirmed HIV positive as she needed help with her husband Rashid who had been diagnosed positive earlier.

Ani too was assigned to me this year. She was infected by her first husband, and she in turn, unknowingly infected her present husband. But her present husband has been very supportive so Ani so far doesn’t really have any problem emotional-wise.

Although I became Fuzi’s buddy since 2006, her son Ijam’s HIV status was only confirmed this year and so he’s the other new client assigned to me.

One more new client was an elderly lady whom I never had the chance to meet and until now I don’t know her whereabouts. Remember Makcik Minah, the 74 year old grandma? Well, my calls to her house were never answered, and since she had also been missing her hospital appointments, even SN is unsure of Makcik Minah’s whereabouts.

I have not included Lin in the list of new clients as I have yet to meet up with her. She will probably be my first client of 2008.

There were also cases whereby I wasn't assigned as the buddy but the PLWHAs would still call me for help. One of them was Zali, whose wife left him and his 2 girls.

It was also this year that I had to handle one case of someone who wanted to kill himself because he THOUGHT he had HIV. Well, Mr. X had been “naughty”, and when his private part began to feel itchy, he was confident he was infected with HIV. He even bought pesticides to kill himself with, much to the horror of his wife who forgave him despite what he did. This one was a tough one to convince. Despite one by one negative blood test results, he insisted he was probably infected. Oh well, after so many tests, he finally accepted the fact that he wasn’t infected and now both he and his wife have moved to another town where he has got himself a new job.

Guess who called me the most in 2007? Well, Yah Ah Ngau wins hands down! From a very strong and determined lady, the moment she got to know Mr. Darling and got bitten by the angau bug, she changed for the worse and is beginning to get on my nerves with her calls. While previously her calls used to be for updates on her children’s wellbeing, of late her calls were more to confide me about her lovelorn stories. Her story is still ongoing, so do stay tuned for more of Yah’s blockbuster mollywood stories… I am sure there will be a few more sequels in 2008.

And if you want to know who the raja SMS is amongst my clients, it has to be Mrs. K. When I say raja SMS, I didn’t mean she got the most number of SMS votes. Mrs. K was the one who would SMS me every time she needed something. And her SMSes are usually very lengthy. Like for example, if she wanted to tell me that her children’s bus fares were RM55, the SMS would include details like “Along tanya kawan dia, drebar bas kata tambang RM55 sebab harga minyak dah naik dan sekolah pula jauh, kalau tak sanggup bayar banyak tu drebar tak nak ambik” etc, etc, etc. I would prefer if she had just gone straight to the point so I could easily figure out what the total amount was…

Most cheerful client would definitely be Jah. She always makes the people around her laugh.

Speaking of cheer, our 2007 Family Day which was held at Lost World of Tambun was a lot of fun. Hmmm, I wonder where our destination will be next year. Other activities include the International Aids Memorial Day in KL and our Deepa-Raya gathering for the HIV infected ladies and their children.

Ah well, goodbye 2007…

To all reader’s of Pi’s TWIST, here’s wishing you all a very happy and blessed 2008, and hopefully our lives will NOT be as twisted as the lives of some of my clients whose stories I’ve been posting on this blog.