Poor Sofie…

It had been more than a month since I last went to visit Sofie and her children. The last visit was about a week before Raya. By yesterday Raya was already over, so I didn’t get to visit them during Raya month.

Yesterday I finally managed to slot in some time to visit them. It was end of the month anyway, time for grocery delivery. So yes, first thing was to buy the groceries. I still have ample funds donated by friends to be used for this purpose.

This time I decided to visit in the afternoon. When I got to their house, Sofie’s youngest, Ika, was already smiling at the door, with a cup of ice-cream in her hand. Her brothers were not back from school yet. So only Ika helped to unload the groceries from my car. I took care of the heavier stuff while Ika carried the smaller and lighter stuff. Sofie herself was limping. She had been working hard to earn some income for her family.

Somehow the news I got this time wasn’t pleasing to my ears, particularly on Azman, Sofie’s second son. The boy who is sitting for his PMR this year, according to Sofie is already planning to stop schooling and work after his PMR. Even during the year he had already skipped school from time to time, giving all sorts of excuses. His interest is simply not in school. Before this he did mention to his mother that he wanted to go to a particular sekolah pondok. Now he says he wants to work. Sigh…

I had been trying my best to stress to them on the importance of education for the betterment of their future, but I guess these kids don’t think long term.

I asked Sofie if Azman had any special interests. His older brother too had earlier on been planning to start working immediately after his SPM, but I told him to at least take a short course or something in a field where his interest lies. Good to know that now he plans to register at a nearby Kolej Komuniti.

According to Sofie, Azman loves cooking. And at one time when Sofie got fed-up and told Azman that there was a vacancy at a canteen to help wash the dishes, Azman didn’t want the job. He wanted a job where he could help with the cooking. Hmmm… so maybe he can take up a course related to that… like hotel & catering maybe? Or any culinary related courses.

There was another piece of news about Azman that wasn’t pleasant to my ears. Recently he befriended another 15 year old boy who managed to “borrow” an uncle’s motorbike, one without road tax. With Azman as main rider and the friend as pillion, they rode the motorbike in town only to confront a police roadblock. Knowing well they were in the wrong, they tried to escape… only to end up in the drains. Needless to say, they got caught.

When the police called up Sofie to tell her to come to the police station, Sofie got so fed up initially she told the policeman to just let Azman sleep in the lockup. She was unwell, she was tired. But the policeman managed to coax Sofie to come. According to him, the uncle of the friend who owns the motorbike was fuming mad at the police station and he was putting the blame totally on Azman (as though Azman would be able to get the motor without his nephew’s help).

So yes, Sofie did finally go to the police station. There were some damage done to the motorbike, for which Sofie had to pay for, which came up to almost RM100. For someone like Sofie, that’s a big amount. But the uncle (and his wife) did not stop there. They had been pestering Sofie to pay for repairs to the engine as well. Thank goodness one of the policemen told Sofie that the engine had already been problematic all the while, so Sofie refused to pay for that. Apparently the boy (Azman’s friend) is a “regular” at the police station, with various types of offences.

Whatever it is, since Azman is under-aged, didn’t have a license and the motorbike he rode didn’t have a road tax, he wasn’t offered a compound notice. The notice he got was to appear in court. Only then will Sofie be able to appeal for some leniency. Sofie had already told Azman to work part-time after his PMR so he’d be able to pay for whatever fine that will be imposed.

Too bad Azman wasn’t home when I visited yesterday. I would have given him a piece of my mind.

I know Azman is not a bad boy. Yes, he may be a bit of the mischievous type, but despite not having any interest in his studies, I find that he is ever willing to help out with any other activities. As a matter of fact, he came with me to one of the exhibitions and he was of great help. And I do know he does care about his mother.

I don’t know how he got involved with the problematic friend. I may need to talk to him face to face after his PMR. Probably the best thing is to keep him busy with activities which are of interest to him. Maybe sign him up for a culinary course.

Poor Sofie… she already had enough problems before this…

Today’s cases…

The moment I walked into the HIV clinic this morning, SN told me about the guy whose transportation to a shelter home in Penang was sponsored by us some time ago. The guy ended up leaving the shelter home just like that without even notifying the management of the place. I guess all he wanted was a place to stay where he could do as he liked without being subjected to rules and regulations.

According to SN, the guy passed away last Sunday. I asked SN who claimed his body since he was homeless. SN never thought about that. She said she’d check with the mortuary to find out.

There were supposed to be 3 new cases today but when I first got to the clinic, none had turned up yet. But it didn’t take long before the first case was referred to me. One of the junior nurses at the HIV clinic came in and behind her was a guy on a wheelchair helped by another nurse from a district hospital where the guy had been hospitalised for the past month.

Nizam was initially hospitalised for Hep C and TB, and subsequent tests found him to be HIV infected. In addition, he was also diagnosed with cerebral toxoplasmosis.

Well, he didn’t talk much. Even the questions I asked, he’d just give me a single word answer. I ended up just giving him our brochure and the number to call in case one day he needed to talk to someone.

The next case referred was Lim, a guy in his early 50’s who couldn’t speak much Malay. I was on duty alone today so didn’t have any Chinese-speaking volunteer to help me out. Luckily Lim came with his brother who could at least speak broken Malay.

Lim had been diagnosed HIV+ since 2 years ago when he was working overseas. He had already been on HAART before he came back to Malaysia and so his case wasn’t really a new case. I didn’t really have to brief him about HIV as he was already well informed. But with his asthmatic problem in addition to his HIV, is unable to work and while he is currently staying alone in a rented house (he is unmarried), his financial needs are being covered by his siblings. Since the siblings aren’t well off either, the brother was hoping some sort of welfare help could be arranged for Lim.

Next case referred was another single Chinese guy, in his late 50’s. Again, this wasn’t a newly diagnosed case. Tan had been diagnosed since more than ten years ago and had been going for his follow ups in KL but when he moved back to Ipoh to stay with his mother, he didn’t bother to get a referral letter and so didn’t go for any more follow-ups until recently when he finally decided he’d better arrange to see the doctor so he could start on his HAART soon enough if his CD4 level plunged.

While I was still talking to Tan, SN walked in with another guy to be referred to me. Again, this wasn’t a newly diagnosed case. But according to SN, he needed to talk to someone about the future of his wife and children.

Imran was diagnosed HIV+ since a few years ago and had been on HAART for 3 years. Ever since diagnosed, Imran had been working hard to earn some income for his family and did so quite successfully by setting up his own small business, with the help of his wife. However, of late he had been unwell, easily feeling tired… sometimes to the extent that he had to close shop as early as noon. This had affected his business and so Imran is worried what would happen to his wife and children should he die in the near future. With 3 children, all still in primary school, they have a long way to go to complete schooling.

I assured Imran that we should be able to help out with the children’s schooling. Just as I was about to suggest that he employs someone to help out with his business, Imran mentioned about wanting to employ a worker so that the business can still continue even when he’s not around, but for the moment he doesn’t have enough capital to do so. He had gone to a bank to apply for a loan. Loan was approved but he needed a guarantor, something he couldn’t get. I suggested to him to seek assistance from agencies like MARA to help out.

I could see that Imran wanted to say more to me, but by this time he already had tears in his eyes. He somehow felt that his time will come in the not so distant future and he’s afraid he won’t be able to put the business on track for his wife to just take over when the time comes…

Kondom bocor?

Just as my friends and I were about to make a move from Ipoh for our Belum-Temenggor trip last weekend, a call came in on my handphone with the MI ringtone.  It was Mrs K. At first  I thought it could be another one of her attempt to try and borrow money, but then I remembered, although she’d fail in her attempt each time, usually when she tries to borrow money, she’d use SMS. When I answered her call, she asked…

“Kak, nak tanya sikit lah kak. Malam tadi saya adalah bersama dengan Abang *** (hubby’s name). Pas tu kondom bocor lah kak, macam mana ni?”

*Just for the record, Mrs K had so far been tested negative although Mr K had been diagnosed HIV+ for more than 4 years now.

Oh dear, that was the second time she asked me the same question. Don’t they ever learn?

Told her what is done cannot be undone. She will have to wait a while and then go for testing. Mrs K was thinking that it would help if in the meantime she takes any antibiotics or something to that effect.

She then told me the whole story. Apparently Mr K is back into drugs and always short of money and Mrs K finally had it and asked for divorce. Mr K got angry and beat her up. As a result, Mrs K filed a police report and when she got home and told Mr K what she did, he pulled her into their bedroom and forced her to have sex with him.

Hmmm… I doubt it was a case of “kondom bocor” after all. They probably didn’t use condom at all.

When Shah, their eldest son, found out that his mother asked for divorce, all he said to her was that she should have done so long ago. Shah had always been angry with his father. To him his father was the cause of all the their family’s troubles.

Mrs K did mention that Mr K would be leaving the house that day (the day she called me) because he was afraid one of Mrs K’s brothers may come and beat him up. I’m not sure if that really took place since I have not heard any news from Mrs K since then. I don’t know if she tried to call me when I was in Belum… there was no phone reception most of the time anyway.

I will need to call her one of these days to find out more.

 

Belum? Sudah!

Day 1: My friends from KL promised to be at McD near the Ipoh Selatan exit at 8.30 am for them to stop for breakfast and for me to join them before heading to Banding Island. Since they weren’t too familiar with Ipoh, I figured I might as well give them the easiest landmark to look out for once they take the exit, and McD was simply so easy for them to spot after the exit.

By 9.30am, we made a move to Banding Island and made it there in about 2 hours. There we met up with the rest of the gang with the last one arriving at Banding at about 12.10 pm. Tom of Belum Eco-Resort was already there and since another group was there earlier, they went first in the 2 boats waiting to bring us to the resort. My group had to wait for the same boats to come back to fetch us.

We finally made a move from Banding jetty at 12.58pm…

Reached Belum Eco Resort at 1.16 pm…

left our bags at the houseboat which was our choice of accommodation…

and immediately went up to the dining deck for lunch.

After lunch, we went to the houseboat to freshen up and to do our solat jamak zohor/asar and by 2.56 pm off we headed to Pulau Talikail. Got there in about 10 minutes and started our trek up to the lookout tower.

The climb up took us about 40 minutes. After all the huffing and puffing, it was worth the climb! The view from up there was magnificent!

We spent about 20 minutes up there. Couldn’t stay too long as there were another 2 groups behind us and we could already hear the thunder. Getting down back to the boat took us about half an hour.

It was free and easy back at the houseboat while waiting for dinner time. After the climb up to the lookout tower, all the adults wanted to do was to rest. But the kids (the duracell bunnies) never seemed to get tired. They wanted to fish, they wanted to swim, they wanted to kayak. Oh dear! But nope, none of them got what they wanted. Not on day 1.

We had steamboat for dinner…

and after dinner we were shown a documentary on rafflesia.

Day 2: We woke up to a beautiful scene so serene…

The kids again begged… err no… pestered their parents to do this and that, but there was another island hopping trip in the morning, so the parents didn’t budge. After breakfast on day 2, we were in the motorboats again.

First stop, the rafflesia site, hoping to see a blooming rafflesia. The trekking wasn’t as strenuous as the climb to the lookout tower on day 1, but thank goodness I still decided to wear my trekking shoes. We still had to do some climbing here and there, it was quite slippery at certain parts, and there were leeches!

We got to see dead a dead rafflesia…

but no sight of any blooming rafflesia. We did however see rafflesia buds, which I wouldn’t have known what they were had I not come for this trip.

Our next destination was an Orang Asli village.

After a while, we left the island and headed off to our next destination. On the way we saw beautiful sceneries such as this one…

The only scene spoiling the trip was this… sheesh!!

Our next destination was the waterfalls. Saw all sorts of trees and plants while trekking to the waterfall site. It took us about half an hour from the boat to trek to the waterfall site…

Had a splashing time at the waterfall, albeit for a mere 35 or 40 minutes before we had to head back to the boat. While waiting at a shelter, for the gang behind me to catch up with us, a guy who I think works with WWF, came to us and said he wanted to show us something which can rarely be found… lantern bugs!

After the waterfall, we headed back to the resort. Got there at 2.30pm and immediately headed for lunch. Then back to the houseboat for our prayer and a short rest. The kids of course found the “rest” to be a waste of time. They wanted to swim! Thank goodness while they were pestering the parents, it rained!! So they didn’t have a choice, and the adults managed to get a short nap!

As promised, after the rain subsided, the children were given a chance to swim in the lake, with adult supervision. I wasn’t one of the adults supervising the kids… I had other plans for myself. I (with 3 others) went kayaking around the island…

and saw a beautiful rainbow while doing so…

After dinner, there was another documentary, this time on Royal Belum. Then it was back to the houseboat… chit chat… and zzzzz….

Day 3: Managed to catch the sunrise at Tasik Temenggor…

Breakfast is usually served after 8 am, and since I’m not the type to sleep after my subuh prayer, I decided to go kayaking once again before breakfast, this time bringing along my camera with a recharged battery (the day before the battery was already weak so I didn’t bring it along in the kayak with me). Besides, I had asked Steve, the owner of the resort, if there were any hornbills around, and he specified that the birds are usually seen at a certain part of the island in the morning around 7.30. So together with my same kayak partner, we went to that section of the island at about that time… and yes, we finally saw a few hornbills. Too bad my camera wasn’t good enough to shoot long distance objects…

Back at the houseboat, the kids finally got to do some fishing.

Well, somebody else went fishing and got the attention of a dragonfly instead…

For our journey back to Banding jetty, the owners of the resort decided to bring all 30 over guests at the resort in a houseboat (not the one I was staying in, but the one beside it). Since the houseboat takes longer, we had to make a move from the resort earlier. We departed from the resort at about 10.20 am…

(The one you can see in the picture was the houseboat we stayed in for 2 nights)

and reached Banding jetty an hour later…

I had a wonderful time. It was really worth the trip.

For those of you who love nature and adventure, I’d recommend you go there too.

Remembering 9/17

Year in, year out, people seem to remember 9/11.

Remember 9/17? Way back in 1982? In Sabra & Shatila?

Visiting the OA village… and a day at the clinic…

When the organisers of an upcoming awareness programme first went to visit the Orang Asli village where the event is supposed to be held, reps of a few NGOs who are participating went together with them to check out the place. However, I only got the info after the visit, so I wasn’t able to join the first visit.

Yesterday a few members of the organising committee decided to make another visit to settle some things, and I was invited to join them since I missed the first one. The plan was that we were to meet up at the office of the Legal Aid Centre at Ipoh old town at 9.30 am and from there we’d all go in one 4-wheel drive.

Under normal circumstances, I should be able to get there in less than 15 minutes. So, when I made a move at 9 am, I thought I’d be early. To my dismay, there was MAJOR jam in town, something seldom seen in Ipoh. Apparently quite a number of roads were closed due to the Hari Malaysia rehearsal, including the road leading to the Legal Aid Centre office!

There was no way I could turn back once I got into the jam, so I just had to bear with it and continue driving towards the area. I called up the lawyer who had invited me to join them earlier, and apparently he too was caught in the jam, so he told me to just find a parking space and walk over to their office.

With everyone else having somewhat the same mission, finding a parking wasn’t easy either. I ended up parking my car at a spot which wasn’t a proper parking space. I figured as long as the car wasn’t obstructing anything or anyone, I couldn’t care less. Then I walked over to the office, thinking I was already late. It was already 10 am by then. Crossing the road was a breeze though since cars weren’t allowed into that road.

It turned out the lawyer was even later than I was! He only made it to the office 15 minutes later than me. Anyway, to cut a long short, we (5 of us) finally made a move after 11 am (and I managed to park my car at a proper parking space before we left). The Orang Asli village we were going to, Ulu Geroh, is accessible by car, tarred most of the way, but there was a certain stretch passing through a palm oil plantation where it is advisable to use 4WD or at least vehicles higher than normal cars.

But I loved the journey. The sound of water flowing in the river was so soothing! White water rafting and body rafting is quite famous in this area… 

Whatever it is, I am now trying to arrange with a lady from another NGO to go in their 4WD. She will probably be the only one representing her NGO at the event, but doesn’t dare drive at the kampong, while I dare drive but don’t have a 4WD. My car may be able to make it if I am super careful, but I dare not take the risk as the very next day I will be using my car to drive to Penang for the National Aids Conference.

Let’s see how it goes. We still have another 2 weeks to make the necessary arrangements.

This morning I was on clinic duty. When I first went to the doctor’s room, the nurse did say there were a few new cases so I just went over to the support service room to wait. I waited and waited and waited… by 11 am there was still no case referred. I was getting sleepy waiting in the room. Finally the nurse came in to refer one guy to us. When she passed me the file and I saw the name of the guy, I thought the name looked familiar. Indeed, he was the one who had called me earlier to ask what he needed to do to get an appointment at the hospital.

You see, Nordin had known about his HIV infection since 10 years ago when he had to do a medical examination during one of his job applications. But the doctor at the private clinic just informed him he was HIV+, no referrals whatsoever given for him to follow up. Nordin himself, feeling okay, didn’t bother to take further action.

It was only recently when he started feeling unwell, he decided to get the necessary treatment. But he wasn’t sure how to go about. That was when he decided to call us.

To get an appointment at the HIV clinic, he’d first need a referral letter. So, since he could afford it, I advised him to go for a blood test at a private lab, specifying he wanted the HIV test, and then when the results are out, to get a referral letter from the doctor there. And so he did just that, and finally managed to get the referral letter. Today was his first appointment at the hospital.

With a CD4 of 128, chances were Nordin would have to start with HAART immediately. When asked who else knew about his HIV, he mentioned that only his younger sis knew. His work colleagues were concerned that he had lost weight but none of them suspected he had HIV. Apparently they all thought Nordin “kena bomoh” as that was what a former supervisor threatened to do to Nordin before he left his job. Nordin of course had no problem with his colleagues thinking that way. He’d rather have them think as such rather than suspect he has HIV…

Well, that was the only case referred today. Didn’t get to see the other case as the guy was immediately sent to the ward while one other person didn’t turn up at all.

Back to busy mode

I received a text message on Saturday from Fuzi’s eldest daughter, Wina (using Fuzi’s phone) asking if I could help buy a pendrive for her. She has got a free netbook from school but needs a pendrive to store her work. Wina is under our sponsorship programme, so buying something for school work is not a problem at all. At least she’s using the computer for work, as compared to Sofie’s eldest son Azlan who also got a free netbook for himself but his siblings seem to be using it only to play games.

So this morning I went to buy a pendrive for Wina and later in the afternoon I went to visit the family, my second Raya visit this year after visiting Zalia on Saturday.

The moment I got to Fuzi’s house, I saw all her 3 boys playing outside. Hmmm… weren’t 2 of the boys supposed to be in school? I found out from Fuzi later that Ijam, the one in primary school, has been given alternate days off this week in view of the UPSR exams. As for his older brother, Hafiz, who is in form one, he wasn’t affected by the UPSR exams, but seeing that his brother got the day off, decided to ponteng. Ahh, no wonder he disappeared the moment he saw my car – he didn’t want to hear my advise (read: nagging) about the importance of education bla bla bla…

Fuzi had always been “blackmailing” him, saying that if he got into any more trouble in school… “Nanti mama minta makcik Afizah hantar kamu pergi rumah anak yatim!”  So I guess today he decided to stay off my radar…

Anyway, Fuzi mentioned that the children had been pestering her, saying that they wanted to go jalan-jalan for Raya. Since they didn’t have any other family nearby, Fuzi called up Sofie to ask if it was okay for her family to visit hers. Sofie welcomed the idea of course, since she herself couldn’t afford to go back to her own kampong up north. Good to know that Fuzi and Sofie are taking the effort to visit/call each other. I hope my other clients too will follow up on one another after we introduce them during our family day outings or any other gatherings.

I myself have yet to visit Sofie’s family after Raya. I don’t think I’ll be able to visit this week either as I already have other plans. I think I will visit her next week, bringing with me supply of groceries for this month.

Tomorrow I will be joining the organisers of an awareness programme at an Orang Asli village to recce the place before the event in early October. On Wednesday I will be on clinic duty. On Thursday I have some personal stuff to settle. And on Friday I will be going off for a short break during the 3 day weekend – away from the city and back to nature…

Living separately again…

Having completed my puasa 6 yesterday, today I started my post-Raya house visits. Initially I was planning to start my visits on Monday, but Zalia contacted me saying that she had got all the documents ready (to apply for financial assistance for her 2 year old daughter) and asked when I could come to get them from her. She’d be heading back to her foster mom’s home next week.

Remember Zalia? The young mother who had a misunderstanding with her own mother? She was staying with her foster mother in a rented house in Ipoh while her 2 year old daughter stayed with the little girl’s grandparents. As per my posting here, I managed to send Zalia back to her parent’s home and so she was reunited with her daughter.

But when I went to visit just before Raya to deliver diapers and milk for her daughter, to my surprise, Zalia’s mother told me that Zalia had moved out to stay with her foster mother again, only this time she took her daughter along with her, and in another town. But Zalia’s mom did tell me that the two would be coming home for Raya and so I left the diapers and milk with the mother.

Today when I went to visit, I could see that the mother wasn’t happy with Zalia’s decision to stay with her foster mother. But she just simply didn’t want to say it out in front of me (she may have told Zalia straight in the face when I wasn’t around, I don’t know for sure). When Zalia went to her room for a while to get some documents, her mother complained to me, “Raya hari tu pun dia balik sini entah Raya ke berapa entah. Bukan balik sebelum Raya.”

I asked Zalia what she does at the home of her foster mother. Is she working or something? “Takde lah apa, tolong jaga mak angkat sakit.”

Hmmm… by the looks of it, I think the 2 simply couldn’t stay together in the same house. Zalia is stubborn and couldn’t stand her mother’s nagging, while her mother couldn’t stand the fact that Zalia didn’t want to listen to her, even when it’s for her own good. Zalia’s father? Well, he’s silent most of the time.

I just hope that the situation wouldn’t get back to square one when her case was first referred to me. At that time they weren’t even speaking to each other and Zalia was afraid to go home even to meet her own daughter. Now that she has taken her daughter with her, I hope Zalia will still bring the little girl to meet her grandparents and young aunts from time to time.

For the moment, since I managed to get supplies of milk & diapers for her daughter until the end of the year, I will continue to deliver the stuff to her parent’s home here in Ipoh. If Zalia wants them, she will have to go back to her parent’s home. That way I can be sure she takes the effort to go home at least once a month.

But I can’t be too sure about the situation once the last of the supplies are delivered by the end of this year…

Back to work… sort of…

Alhamdulillah, this time during my Raya break there were no “disturbances” relating to my voluntary work. My clients and fellow volunteers this time allowed me to raya in peace. :-)

After a whole week of break, it’s time to get back to work. But nope, I’m not planning for any house visits yet until I complete my puasa 6. During my Raya visits my clients would be happy to serve me food and drinks, and it wouldn’t be nice to turn them down. So, no visits until next week at least.

However, first day after the break, SN has already called me as there was a case needing a shelter home. Thank goodness she didn’t ask me to arrange for the guy’s transportation. She only asked if we could cover his transportation cost to go to the shelter home. That shouldn’t be a problem, since we do now have the Clients Welfare Fund, and with the recent RM20K cheque that we received during Ramadhan, I think we can put aside a certain amount for that particular fund.

Fuzi sent me a text message seeking my approval for her to buy reference books for her daughter who will be sitting for her PMR this year. I have always told my clients whose children are under our Sponsorship Programme to inform me if there were any needs relating to the children’s education, and buying reference books would definitely be approved. What usually pisses me off is when clients ask for money for other matters like Mrs K who asked if there was any duit raya… (she also used to ask if she could borrow money to pay for all sorts of things) or Rosnah who once asked if we could help her financially to get her car repaired! In contrast, there are some clients like Sofie and Nuri who had to fork out some money to buy schooling stuff for their children but never told me about it to enable me to reimburse them with the money. When asked why they didn’t inform me, they’d say, “Seganlah. Dah banyak sangat dah akak tolong.”

Since there will be no visits this week, and I will only be on clinic duty next week, this will still be a quiet week for me. I’m taking the opportunity to settle some admin matters. We didn’t have a board meeting last month.

I plan to visit a few clients early next week. No visits on Wednesday as I will be on clinic duty, and then I will be taking another short break during the long weekend of 16th – 18th September. The very next week, on the 23rd, I will have to bring my mother for her appointment in Putrajaya. The next week ie the final week of the month, I have 2 meetings (including our own board meeting), and a clinic duty to attend. And then the first week of October, I will be away for 3 days as I have already registered for the National AIDS Conference in Penang.

So yes, busy weeks ahead. I’d better make full use of the peace and quiet this week…