My little Cek Mek...

When I went to see SN (the staff nurse at the HIV clinic) the other day to arrange for Sharifah's next appointment to be done at the hospital nearer to where she'd be staying, SN told me about meeting up with Aida earlier during the HIV clinic. Remember Aida? She was the one who had earlier agreed to adopt Sharifah's baby before Sharifah and Puan Nur decided not to give away the baby.

Apparently a friend of Aida's who knew about Aida wanting to adopt a baby born to an unwed mother on such and such a day, the friend, who happened to know one of the nurses at the labour room, told her nurse friend about it. And guess what? The nurse told this friend (Aida's friend) to better tell her friend (that's Aida) not to adopt the baby as the baby has HIV because she was born to an HIV positive mother! Kurang asam punya nurse! When this friend told Aida about it, Aida just pretended to be surprised.

SN got so mad she asked for the name of the nurse. "Kalau aku jumpa dia, aku sembur habis-habis! Maklumat sulit pesakit mana boleh bagitau kat orang?"

Yeah, I wouldn't mind giving the nurse a piece of my mind too!

In a way, it was a blessing that Sharifah decided not to give the baby to Aida. Imagine, even before Aida brought the baby home, the news had spread that the child was born to an HIV positive mother. In fact, the news was that the baby was positive... when in actual fact, we don't know her HIV status yet.

Anyway, today I went to visit Sharifah and her baby (my little Cek Mek) again. When I got there, I saw 2 pairs of shoes outside the door. At first I thought maybe Sharifah's friends from the college where she used to study, came to visit. But as I got nearer, a nurse came out. She smiled at me, I smiled at her... then suddenly when she saw me grabbing the door knob to open the door, she asked, "Eh, nak jumpa siapa?"

I just pointed my finger inside and said, "Nak jenguk dia lah."

"Ni ke Puan Afizah?" she asked. Amboi, naik famous pulak Puan Afizah ni orang dok sebut dalam seminggu ni...

There was another nurse inside the house. They were actually from the klinik kesihatan who does home visits when there are newborn babies around. They got the report from the earlier klinik kesihatan that Sharifah went to, and since the flat where Sharifah is temporarily staying for these few days is within the jurisdiction of another klinik kesihatan, the nurses from this other klinik kesihatan came over to check on the baby.

Knowing Sharifah's status as an unwed mother, naturally they interviewed her with questions like who'll take care of the baby, where will she be staying, who's helping her out etc. Same questions Sharifah had to answer to so many people already - and Sharifah told all of them that a certain Kak Afizah from Buddies had been helping her out. She thought they would have heard of the Buddies. They instead responded with, "Buddies? Tak pernah dengar pun..." Yep, that's how low profile we are!

I managed to have a chat with the 2 nurses. It was to be their first and last visit to check on Sharifah's baby as tomorrow Sharifah and her baby would be going to the temporary shelter home. That's under the jurisdiction of another klinik kesihatan. The 2 nurses were interested to know more about the voluntary work that we Buddies do. They never knew such an NGO existed. They didn't ask Sharifah too many questions the moment they saw the person who was supposed to be looking after the welfare of Sharifah and her baby. Probably before this they were thinking "Entah siapalah Afizah ni... boleh harap ke tidak?"

Their main concern of course was that Sharifah may have just made up the story that her own mother was coming over. For all I know they may even have been worried that this lady who had been helping Sharifah may have other plans up her sleeves (like wanting to sell Sharifah to Thailand and then sell the baby to interested parties maybe??!)

I guess I don't look like an ibu ayam to them... they ended up thanking me when they were about to leave...

Our Cek Mek Molek was awake then, so again I took the opportunity to hold the little darling in my arms. I even talked to my little Cek Mek. She didn't say anything of course, but I bet she must have wondered apalah orang tua ni dok merepek...

One final night for Sharifah and Cek Mek at the flat. At least tonight Puan Nur is around to spend the night with them. Tomorrow we (Puan Nur and I) will be sending them over to the temporary shelter home.