Becoming Sharifah's temporary mom and Cek Mek Molek's temporary grandma had really exhausted me - both physically and mentally. For the past 2 weeks I had been doing lots of thinking and running around trying to settle their problem. Yes, there was a break in between for the retreat in Cameron Highlands, but with so many people there that weekend, and the traffic jam, I didn't really get the much needed rest there.
Yeah, yeah, I know... I should take care of myself and not tire myself too much over my voluntary work. But when an unwed 19 year old HIV positive girl gives birth to a baby here in Ipoh - when she has NOBODY else in Ipoh but me, I simply didn't have the heart to simply let her be. Imagine, if I had not sent her to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning of 3rd June, and she ended up giving birth at the flats - alone... don't you think I'd end up with even more problems? To me, getting out of my house at 2.40 am to send her to the hospital was definitely a better option.
And if I didn't help find her a temporary place to stay in Ipoh, and she didn't get the necessary moral and emotional support, she may have just skipped her hospital appointments and end up giving birth at unthinkable places... and then suddenly I hear there's a "kes buang bayi" somewhere... imagine how I would have felt, knowing I could have done something about it?!
My main weakness, I have to admit, is dealing with babies born to HIV positive mothers. I tend to pay more attention to them because it always breaks my heart when I learn about a child infected with HIV - so I try my utmost best to take all the necessary precautions before they are born to reduce the chances of them getting infected. But I have dealt with quite a number of babies before this, somehow my little Cek Mek this time managed to steal my heart! Probably for the other cases, I didn't have to worry about who was going to take care of the babies. The other out-of-wedlock pregnancy I handled before, that of Zana's, I managed to send her to a shelter home before she gave birth, so the responsibility of taking care of her had been passed to somebody else before she gave birth.
In Sharifah's case, by the time her case was passed to me, the due delivery date was too near for me to arrange for her transfer. With my little Cek Mek deciding to see the world even earlier, it was a good thing I decided to wait until after delivery before transferring Sharifah to a shelter home. Imagine if I had arranged to send Sharifah earlier thinking there was still ample time before she delivered, and suddenly she gave birth IN MY CAR on the way, adoiii... I wouldn't just be a bidan terjun... I'd be a bidan terjun masuk parit!!
Well, the case of Sharifah and my little Cek Mek is now settled, albeit temporarily. With the running around, and the current kind of weather, I guess I did look a bit pooped out. Even at my office a few days ago when a business client came in to see me, he commented I looked tired. I just smiled, I didn't tell him anything about my voluntary work.
With Sharifah and my little Cek Mek over at the shelter home, I decided to have a good rest over the weekend. I didn't want to do anything related to work - be it office or voluntary work. I just wanted to stay home and do nothing.
But guess what? On Saturday, I tried to get a good afternoon nap - I couldn't sleep a minute. I just sat back to relax... I got bored. Makes me miss visiting my little Cek Mek. How lah to dok diam-diam like this?
So I got up and decided to update the Education Sponsorship for Children account. I have been putting aside all other cases since Sharifah gave birth - now it's time to pay attention to the other cases.
Yes, a few of my PLHIV clients, namely Asiah, Murni and Maria, did call me last week. But nothing serious - they just needed to ask questions which I could easily answer off hand. No big deal.
Right now, first thing is I need to disburse the monthly sponsorship money to all the children under the sponsorship programme. I usually disburse the money some time mid month, so I guess, Sharifah's case was settled just in time.
Next, I need to visit Sofie again. To all my blog readers who had contributed some money to Sofie through me, please forgive me for I have not done the necessary yet. I will try to get things moving this week.
Ya Allah, no other emergencies this week... please?
And oh, there's something else I need to do. I haven't started anything for my ICAAP poster yet... HELP!!!
8 comments:
Let me help with the ICAAP poster..I boleh suruh my artists friends buat..you nak lukis nacam mana? Che eh! hehe
Mamasita,
Based on the topic I'm presenting, my poster will likely have more words than pictures. Silap haribulan I will just ikut the exact words I used when I submitted my abstract earlier. Cuma tambah satu dua gambar maybe just to spice up the poster a bit.
Aunty Pi, you just don't know when to rest eh? My Mama is in non-profit org too so we're used to being left with the babysitters for long periods of time. I heard another long trip is coming up....can you come babysit us? We promise to be cuddly and loving...purrr...purrr... love, Angelina & Brad
Dear Angelina & Brad,
You sure you want me to babysit you? I've been known to be a 'kaki sakat' you know... grrrowwwll!!! I am only kind to helpless creatures... ;)
Pi...
Day by day, after case by case....i don't think u tahu nak just rehat aje...u were born like that..insan berhati mulia.........!!!!
Sherry
Sementara masih larat ni buatlah apa patut dulu. Nanti bila kepala lutut dah longgar, tangan dah terketar-ketar, tak larat nak terkejar-kejar, mau tak mau, memang perlu rehat lebih lah kan?
Kak Pi.. sorry didn't respond earlier.. Anom dah cari dah, tapi rupanya tak tangkap la gambar the posters. Ingat tangkap..but I remembered mostly posters yg ada kat Mexico tu -- are mostly wordy -- maybe if you want to make it more interesting, you could use the mind mapping technique/flow charts -- it'll be easier for people to understand.. kalau terlampau banyak sangat words -- tak terbaca..
Pictures also help.
Hope this helps..
Anom,
Thanks. I think what happened was that the abstracts were submitted for oral presentation (because of its wordy nature) but got accepted for posters instead. Like mine lah. Probably I'd be using the same limited number of words I used for the abstract and include some pictures just to spice it up a bit.
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