THEY WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full knowledge thereof." - Al-Baqarah (2:215)
Malaysia Flag Pictures, Images and Photos

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Various updates

We had our Board meeting last night. It was the first meeting for the year so there were quite a few things to discuss. Amongst others were setting the date for our coming AGM in March & setting the deadline for submission of reports by the various coordinators to be included in our annual report.

So yep, it’s report writing time again! Me? Just like last year, other than the Chair’s report, I will also have to write up the report for our Children Education Fund and Education Sponsorship for Children program. And oh, since most (if not all) photos of activities were taken using my camera, I’d have to prepare the photos of activities as well. Paperwork is the part I dislike most, especially since I have enough paperwork to be done at my office. I prefer doing groundwork like house visits & all. But having said that, when a report has to be done, I don’t like it if it’s done cincai-cincai either, especially since the reports will be given to various people/organisations, especially donors.

Meanwhile remember Azimah (the unwed mother) and Halimah (the pregnant lady) from my clinic duty last week? I had initially postponed assigning a buddy to them. I wanted to discuss during the meeting if there was anybody else amongst the female volunteers who could be assigned as their buddies. But in the end, I still ended up as their buddy. However, we also agreed that 3 of my older and not so problematic clients be handed over to other volunteers. So I “gave away” Jah, Murni and Zainab. I can bet you they will still be calling me anyway, but at least I know these ladies don’t mind if other volunteers call them.

Frankly I think we are short not only of female Malay volunteers, we are generally short of female volunteers. Besides, most of the PLHIVs needing our services are the females. Many of the HIV+ males usually would just say they’re doing okay and don’t need a buddy. Even the ones agreeing to be assigned buddies, would usually just opt to contacts by phone calls only. It is especially obvious during our annual Family Day, majority attending the event would be the female PLHIVs and their children.

But guess what? We’re organising a gathering for the male PLHIVs this coming Sunday. We were supposed to have one for the females in the afternoon, and one for the males at night. Ended up we’re calling off the gathering for the females but will go on with the gathering for male PLHIVs. Frankly for the females, those who’d come would probably be MY clients and the few I asked either need to work or have other matters to attend to this coming Sunday. Besides, most of my clients already know each other and already have each other’s contact numbers. But they still seldom contact each other because they all claim “credit habis”.

I do hope the gathering for the male PLHIVs will be a good start to get the male PLHIVs to form a peer support group.

I will not membusykan body at the male PLHIV gathering so I have made other plans for the weekend. This Saturday insyaAllah I will be doing the second round of this month’s McPi McDelivery – this time to Sofie’s house. I’m purposely visiting on a Saturday this time because Ika, Sofie’s daughter, has complained that I always visit on a weekday afternoon when she’s at school. Tak aci, she says, that her brothers all get to meet me and she can’t. So okay, once in a while I visit on a weekend when she’s home.

Before that I may need to shop for a bicycle first. Rosnah’s daughter needs a bicycle to go to school. I hope to deliver the bicycle on Sunday. So yep, probably tomorrow I’d shop for a bicycle and keep it at our centre. Then Saturday, after my pasar tani routine, off to the minimarket to get the supply of groceries for Sofie’s family and straight away deliver to Sofie. Then Sunday, get the bicycle from the centre and deliver to Rosnah.

Confirm lah my car jadi delivery van this weekend!

8 comments:

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Mai kopi secawan! Oh, you don't McPi McDelivery to Sydney, eh? Sorry...wrong number. Eh...I can still dream of McDreamy.... purrr...meow!

Pi Bani said...

C-i-S,
Wei, nak kopi, bancuh sendiri la, you lazy cat!

Don't mind doing delivery to Sydney... IF cost of travelling (plus shopping money) is paid for... hehehe...

mamasita said...

Are you sure you don't need to change your car to a pasar tani pi-ckup truck?
Bawak groceries, basikal, pisang, school stuffs, clothes..etc..macam2 ada..

Pi Bani said...

Mamasita,
Tu yang I sayang I punya Kenari ni... dah banyak dah jasa dia. Angkut orang sakit, angkut lawn mower, angkut groceries apa bagai. Turunkan seat belakang tu macam2 boleh sumbat (tapi almari, sofa semua tak leh la!).

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

i thought Jah was one of those rare ones who are less problematic. Why gave her away la?

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
THAT is precisely the reason la... she's one of the less problematic ones. The problematic ones no point giving them away, they'd come back to me anyway!

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hey Pi, I supposed all the characters mentioned in your posts had their name changed to protect their privacy kan? And I’m sure u guys have this buddy/clients confidentiality code of conduct like the medical profession? Else u get in trouble :)

Hmmm, u must be the top gun there I supposed, giving all those clients with the least problems to all your juniors…hehehe.. u memang loves those challenging ones to give u some excitement!!!Ya bring it on!!!

Cheers, have a great weekend doing your rounds!

Tommy

Pi Bani said...

Tommy,
If you noticed I already put a note on the sidebar.
----------------
NOTE TO READERS:
Due to confidentiality, all the names mentioned in any of the HIV stories that I highlight in this blog are not real names. However, be assured that all the stories are in fact real-life stories.

----------------

Of course we aren't supposed to disclose all their personal information. I'm not even telling where they live. The stories are just for awareness purposes so that my blog readers know the real life stories of the HIV+ people.

Top gun? This is not a matter of top gun or not... it's a matter of who they feel more comfortable to talk to. And most of the Malay/Muslim ladies prefer to do so to a fellow Malay/Muslim lady - and we only have 2 on board amongst the volunteers.

In other words, not much choice leh...