Young, single and ... (part 4)

Yesterday I attended a workshop on the subject 'Hak wanita dalam perundangan Islam.' It was for a limited number of participants and so it was a small group. When each of us had to introduce ourselves, I was sort of the odd one out - the others were from Perak Women for Women, or Persatuan Ibu Tunggal, or university students, or JKM. Suddenly this lady introduced herself as someone from a support group for the HIV infected. So during lunch break, quite a number approached me to ask about the work that I do. A few of them, especially from Persatuan Ibu Tunggal, thought they had so many problems in their lives, but when they heard about the HIV women I've been dealing with, they became so thankful that their lives weren't that bad.

Anyway, during the workshop, I mentioned about Sharifah (didn't mention her name lah). So during the tea break, one lady who looked so familiar approached me and told me that she wouldn't mind taking care of the baby if Sharifah and family wanted to give the baby away. She thought the baby is sure to be infected and yet she still offered to take care of the baby. I explained to her that the baby may be safe if we take the necessary precautions. The lady runs a shelter home for unfortunate kids including the disabled. No wonder lah she looked familiar - I've visited the home before they shifted to another place. I took her name card and told her I'd get in touch with her after I discuss further with Sharifah's mom.

Last night, I finally got to meet Sharifah's mom. Sharifah has an appointment at Ipoh GH today, and since I had requested to meet up personally with her mom, Puan Nur (the mom lah) came along. Puan Nur is oh so young. I ended up having both mother and daughter calling me kakak!

Today I called the lady who agreed to take care of the baby. To my surprise, she also offered temporary shelter for Sharifah as well, although her home doesn't cater for HIV people. I quickly called Sharifah to inform her and Puan Nur. Puan Nur was out to buy lunch. So I just conveyed the message to Sharifah and told her to inform her mom and get back to me if they agree to the arrangement.

Within 15 minutes Puan Nur called me back. She was happy I managed to get a place in Perak for Sharifah. KL to her is rather far, but if she had no choice, she'd still send Sharifah there.

So that problem is now settled. Now we'll just have to wait for Sharifah to deliver the baby. That will be in about 2 weeks time. Meanwhile Sharifah will be staying in the vacant flat house, courtesy of the kind hearted owner of the unit. Puan Nur is going home today as she needs to take care of her younger children at home - and had asked me to please look out for Sharifah until the date of delivery.

So now it's like I am the one waiting for the arrival of my cucu... ;)