Raya Rounds - #3

Sunday, 27th September 2009 - By 9 am I made a move from home as I had promised to pick up Shila and her daughter at their home at 9.30 am. I made it to their house at 9.30 am on the dot! I had also earlier tried to call Jah to ask if she wanted to join us (she usually never says no to invitations to jalan-jalan anywhere). But my calls didn't get through and my SMS was not replied. Since her house was just on the way, Shila and I decided to simply terjah her house.

Oh well, she wasn't home. She had been at her in-law's house since Raya. Too bad then, the kaki jalan was not able to join us for our trip to the shelter home.

I purposely invited Shila to come along. There were times when she would whine about her life... how unlucky she was etc etc. I wanted her to see for herself the group of people who were left by their family members at a shelter home and the shelter home ended up as their permanent home because their family members never came back for them. I wanted Shila to remember to be thankful for the family support that she has.

We reached the home at about 10.40 am...

Anita was cleaning up the tables at their yet-to-be-completed dining hall. She held her one year old baby while working. Wiping the table and having a good morning towel around her neck, Anita looked like she was running a mamak restaurant. According to Kak Ana, Anita is quite hardworking when it comes to doing all the household chores. She doesn't have to be told what to do. Very unlike Sharifah who stayed there earlier - Sharifah was quite lazy if compared to Anita. She even wakes up late. Their problems may have been the same (out of wedlock pregnancy & childbirth) but both came with totally different upbringing - Sharifah the manja type while Anita was brought up without much family love and care.

I took Anita's son from her arms. The boy seemed quite comfortable sitting on my lap. He is so used to being held in his mother's arms, as long as you hold him, he's quiet. By right he should already be able to walk, but because Anita had been rather overprotective of him, the boy has yet to walk. Kak Ana has told Anita to let the boy roam free so he'd learn to walk sooner rather than just berkepit celah ketiak mak...

After a while, Kak Ana called out another girl to take the boy to his room so he could take a nap. He looked rather sleepy.

Then out came Kak Ana's daughter with none other than... yep, my little Cek Mek!!

Cute little Cek Mek with not cute at all Cek Pi. Notice the peha berlipat and pipi labuh? (Cek Mek's lah, not Cek Pi's!)

Frankly, I think Cek Mek must be one of the easiest baby to take care of. Other than making sure the girl is given her medication on time, she is so, so tak banyak ragam and not cranky at all! Yep, still with her muka sadin, but when I asked her to "senyumlah sikit", she did smile! Woo hoo! Apa lagi, cairlah Opah Pi... hehehe... And when Kak Ana was telling me about her, the little girl actually did some goo goo ga ga stuff, like saying, "Hey, why are you all talking about me?!"

After a while, Anita came over to invite us to the dining hall where she had prepared some drinks and raya cookies. Well, most of the Raya cookies were donated by visitors but Kak Ana did make some with Anita and one or two others helping out. I brought some cookies as well, but the bulk of the things in the box I brought down from my car were actually for my babies... milk powder, baby food, baby biscuits etc. Nak bagi cucu makanlah katakan...

Anyway, the home, which provides shelter for about 50 occupants, mainly the mentally handicapped, still needs lots of funds to complete the necessary renovations and to cover for their monthly expenses. This year they have been getting less donations as compared to last year, and so far nobody has invited them for any raya functions whatsoever, unlike when they were earlier housed in Sabak Bernam (the landlord wanted back the land so Kak Ana had to find a new place).

This is the yet-to-be-completed dining hall...

Here it is from a different angle...

But it is still being used anyway as they don't have enough space inside the house.

Inside, they are repainting the walls...

Those who would like to help out, you can call the home at 05-6237530 and speak to Puan Rohana Saidin. Or you can bank in your contributions to their account:

RUMAH TITIAN ASHRAFUL ROHANIAH
CIMB 08021252940051

Tomorrow? Oh, no house visits tomorrow. I need to continue with my puasa enam. But I will probably continue with my raya rounds when I really really raya next weekend, insyaAllah!