This and that…

When Hana told me during last week’s Raya event that her daughter would need to come to Ipoh GH for an appointment at the heart clinic, I told her to call me when she gets here. She was concerned because the letter mentioned that she’d have to pay RM100 deposit. She was also told to bring along some AA batteries to be used for whatever equipment her daughter was supposed to use. I didn’t quite understand whatever procedure her daughter needed to go through and why she needed to pay the RM100 deposit. As far as I knew, as long as she could produce a letter from the daughter’s school to confirm that the girl is indeed a student of a government school, then she shouldn’t be worrying about any payment. So I told Hana to call me if she needed any help.

I then totally forgot about it until Hana called me yesterday afternoon and mentioned that she had just arrived at the hospital. Lucky I was free to run off for a while to see her, so off I went to the hospital. By the time I arrived, the daughter had gone in while Hana herself was waiting outside. If I were Hana, I would have probably gone in to get a clearer picture of whatever procedure her daughter had to do. But that’s Hana, she has to be told what to do.

After about half an hour or so, the girl came out. All done she said. She was given a small gadget the size of a credit card for her to use for one week, after which the gadget will have to be returned to the hospital. Ahh, so that’s why there was a need for deposit… to make sure the item is returned. Once the item is returned, Hana will get back the deposit. But apparently, Hana didn’t have to pay any deposit, neither was there any need for the AA batteries that she brought along. So no worries at all. Hana will just have to come back to the hospital after a week to return the item.

This morning SN called me from the HIV Clinic. She wanted to find out if I could find a PLHIV willing to share his/her experience with the participants of a seminar they’d be organising in early October. Coincidentally, during my last clinic duty I met up with a PLHIV who is very open and had indicated his willingness to share his own experiences with the public. So yes, I immediately called him up and he agreed. One matter settled.

SN also asked if we’d mind joining up with them in an HIV/AIDS exhibition at the hospital in December this year in conjunction with this year’s World AIDS Day. Oooh, as the Malay saying goes… pucuk dicita ulam mendatang. We don’t seem to have the manpower to organise such exhibitions by ourselves, so whenever we get such invitations, we don’t normailly turn them down.

The last time we organised something for World Aids Day was in 2009 when we had an awareness campaign at an Orang Asli village. Finally this year we can join up with the ID clinic to organise something.