A day of phone calls!

After being told by the hospital welfare officer last Friday that Cek Mek's matter had been reported to the state welfare and that they'd be sending their people immediately to "save" the baby from the shelter home, I asked her what I had to do if I wanted to bring Puan Nur and Sharifah to see the baby during the weekend. The officer said we would have to deal direct with the new shelter home which is under the welfare department. So we (Puan Nur and myself) decided to wait and see. The way the officer said it, it was as if the welfare officers would fetch the baby on Friday itself.

I immediately looked for the new home's address and phone number. But I didn't want to call on Monday as I felt it was too soon. So I called this morning, and to my surprise, the lady who handled new intakes of occupants said so far there are no new cases, certainly not involving a baby.

I had wanted to call the hospital welfare officer I spoke to earlier, but she's not around the whole week as she's attending a course elsewhere. So finally I decided to call Kak Ana. And whaddaya know? My little Cek Mek is still there with her. Kak Ana didn't even know heads or tails about the matter being reported to the state welfare. She said the hospital welfare officer did call last week, wanting to speak to Sharifah, so Kak Ana just told her that Sharifah had gone home with her mother. That was how the officer found out the baby was at the shelter home without her mother.

After discussing with Kak Ana, she was of the opinion that if Sharifah wants to take the baby home, she'd better do so before the welfare officers come to get the baby. Because once the baby has been handed over to the new shelter home, it will not be so easy for Sharifah to get the child as and when she likes. Decision and action must be taken by this week.

I told Kak Ana I'd have to discuss the matter with Puan Nur and Sharifah first. For the moment, Sharifah's fickle-mindedness is not making things easier. Nak bela, nak kerja dulu, nak bela, nak kerja dulu...

So, I sent a text message to Puan Nur, asking her what would be the best time to call as I didn't want to be calling her to talk about these issues while she was at work. She told me to call about 3 pm.

There was another matter I needed to handle this morning... our outreach team intend to do rapid testing for some of the sex workers during our outreach next week, and although we still do have some rapid test kits at our center, we were running out of the diluent needed. So I called the assistant director of the state AIDS/STD unit, whose name card I obtained during a meeting I attended some time back (that was my main purpose of attending the meeting - to get more networking). I asked if I could go and meet him at his office later in the afternoon, but he said he'd have a meeting in the afternoon and so he asked me to come in the morning. Thank goodness things aren't so hectic at the office, so I took off immediately. Not only did I manage to get a whole box of rapid test kits together with the diluent, we also got to discuss some other matters. I was even introduced to the matron, and so I've got more contacts now.

Right after I got back to my office, a call came in. It was the manager of the horse farm where we intend to have our family day, and he was asking for the latest update of our program so he could make the necessary arrangements. I promised him I'd get the person in charge to call him by tomorrow.

As I was about to go to the Buddies center to send the rapid test kits, a call came in from an unfamiliar number. The number looked like it was an official government office number, so at first I thought it could be people from the state welfare department (since my name was included in the report sent to them). I was thinking, alamak... takde chan la nak ambil baby balik this week, if indeed Sharifah decides to bring the baby home now.

But no, the call came from the state secretariat. They were in the process of compiling all the names and particulars of various NGOs. Not too sure whatever for... but I hope they'd consider giving us funds. :) But if they ask what they can do, I may just tell them that it's high time Perak has a specific shelter home for HIV women and children. At least I don't have to pening kepala when I get cases like Sharifah's and Cek Mek's.

At 3 pm sharp, while I was at the center, I called Puan Nur. The moment she answered, I said, "Waktu sekarang pukul 3 petang." And she responded with, "Ya, tepat pada waktunya!" Got to lighten up a bit kan? (yang sebenarnya I dah mabuk phone call hari ni... semua serious matters pulak tu. Ni tak masuk lagi business calls I get at the office)

I informed her of the latest situation. Apparently on Monday, Puan Nur and Sharifah tried to call Kak Ana but their calls were not answered. They thought Kak Ana purposely didn't answer because she was angry with them! They must have called her handphone. Her handphone is usually in her handbag and would usually be answered only when she's out elsewhere.

I told Puan Nur that if they do want to take the baby home without much complication, then they'd have to take action by this week. Puan Nur said she'd have to discuss the matter with Sharifah first, and she promised to get back to me latest by tomorrow. Sharifah is the one who's very fickle-minded now, so I'm not sure yet what decision they'll take, but whatever it is, I hope they'll consider Cek Mek's interest above all rest.

Right after I got off the phone with Puan Nur, another call came in! Adoi, tak sempat restlah my phone like this. The call came from the lecturer of the private college where we'd be organising the HIV/AIDS awareness programme next week. He just called to confirm the time for the talk, and to also confirm that they'd be preparing the laptop, LCD projector etc. So all I have to bring is the CD or thumb drive for the presentation.

Just as I got home, another call came in from an unfamiliar number. It was Sofie... she called from a public phone as she doesn't have enough credit for her handphone. The handphone is for me to call her, not the other way round. I had told her earlier that if she needed to talk to me, just get any of her children to call me from a public phone and I'd call her back on her handphone. The fact that she herself called from a public phone to me is good news. It meant she was strong enough to walk to the public phone! And she sounded very lively too.

Sofie has finally got herself another house to rent, thanks to help from blog readers. She has already paid the deposit, and will move by next week. Hopefully by moving to the new house, her niece will no longer say things that hurt her and her kids. I will still need to monitor her and the children, to ensure they at least get enough to eat and that they are not deprived of education. And I must make sure she doesn't ask her 15 year old son to work. Let the boy concentrate on his PMR.

At least I see some light in Sofie's case.

But my telinga very panas lah today... too many phone calls...