The exhibition in TLDM

Saturday, 16th October 2010 – As early as 6.30 am, I was already out of my house. I had earlier told 3 other volunteers who was supposed to come along, that we’d be making a move from the center by 6.45 am and I also reminded them to be punctual. By the time I got to the center (which is just about 5 minutes drive from my house), 2 of them were already there. We only had to wait for one more, and she too arrived on time.

We made it to TLDM at 8.15 am and managed to set up our booth before 8.30am when the exhibition was supposed to officially start. Since the event was co-organised by TLDM, JAKIM and Malaysian Aids Council (MAC), and MAC themselves set up their own booth, I didn’t bother to bring along any posters related to basic info on HIV/AIDS . Besides, many of the posters we have, we got from MAC. So why display the same thing, huh?

I decided to just display our buntings, brochures, bookmarks and 2 posters which I got done just this week… one on what may go through the minds of HIV+ people… “From negative to positive – Breaking down barriers in the mind”; and the other poster describes the kind of activities/services that we do.

There were quite a number of exhibitors – other than Buddies and MAC, there were booths representing Jabatan Kesihatan, Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, Majlis Agama Islam, Pertubuhan Komuniti Intan (PKI), PDRM and of course, the navy themselves.

And oh, not forgetting, Agensi Anti Dadah Kebangsaan (AADK) who came in their bus…

The exhibitors were also offered for a tour of one of their surveillance vessels, the KD Perantau. They organised 2 trips, so the exhibitors could take turns to man the booths.

Anyway, usually during exhibitions, we would have extra brochures to bring back. This time we finished ours before the exhibition ended at 4 pm! And the navy personnel who came to visit did seem a lot more interested in what we do.

I also found it very heartening that 2 JAKIM ladies showed interest in what we do. They have it seems, visited PLHIVs at shelter homes, and they found it interesting that we Buddies visit the families at the PLHIV’s own homes.

Unlike the usual exhibitions where we’d get the volunteers to work in shifts to man the exhibition booths, it wasn’t an option for this exhibition as it took almost 1 1/2 hours to get from Ipoh to TLDM. We came in just one car… just the 4 of us, so the same 4 had to be on duty the whole day.

It was rather tiring, but based on the responses we got, it was worth the trip. By 4 pm sharp, we packed up and made a move. For the next 1 1/2 hours, the 3 volunteers could just sit back and relax (and sleep in the car)… while I… still had to concentrate on the road!! Sigh.. the “perks” of being the chairperson…

Busy weekend

The exhibition in conjunction with International Women's Day went into full swing over the weekend. With more crowd anticipated, many activities were held during the weekend.

I had however promised Kerp that I'd be attending his wedding reception in Kelana Jaya, so Saturday was my off day. After all the obstacles Kerp & Pinky (his wifey) had to go through, I made it a point to attend. I still went in the morning to Kinta City Shopping Complex to help set up the Buddies booth, and once the volunteer on duty arrived and after briefing him on what to do, I left things to him.

It was about 10.20 am by the time I made a move from Ipoh. I had promised an alumni senior of mine that I'd notify her once I leave Ipoh. She wanted to pass some goodies for me to distribute to the poor HIV families under my care, and she thought it would be better if she caught me before the wedding reception. I told her I'd usually reach the Damansara Jaya exit in 2 hours, and since yesterday I needed to take the Subang exit, I told her it would probably be 2 ++ hours.

But hey, I actually made it to Subang toll in 2 hours. I stopped after the toll, and noticed there was a text message from my senior, to say that she was waiting for me by the roadside in front of the CGC building. Got from her some clothes, pillows and a pair of ladies shoes.

Then off I went to Dewan MBPJ Kelana Jaya, where the wedding reception was held. The moment I got to the parking lot, I saw Raden Galoh and her family. RG too wanted to pass 3 bags of toys to be given to the infected/affected kids under Buddies. Ahh... great! I always prefer to make my trips to KL or anywhere else more than just a single purpose trip. This time, other than getting to attend Kerp's wedding reception as promised, I also managed to get a load of stuff to be given away to the poor HIV families.

Sorry, I didn't bring my camera along to the wedding, so no pics from me. But I did get to meet quite a number of fellow bloggers, among them were Dato Rocky, Kak Ena, Kak Ton, Mat Salo, Shah, Zorro, Elviza and of course, Raden Galoh. Many of Kerp's wheelchair friends also came.

I left right after the arrival of the royal guests, HRH The Regent of Perak & his consort. (Oh, bukan tak hormat my raja, but I had already eaten and was already outside the dewan when he arrived).

By about 4.30 pm, I was already back in Ipoh. It did occur to me to just drop by Kinta City for the exhibition, but I finally decided not to. I needed some rest myself. Besides, today, the last day of the exhibition, I was on the morning shift.

But hey, I still managed to mow the lawn (yep, using my brand new "kerbau") this morning before going for the exhibition!

Together with me on the morning shift was a young "temporary" volunteer. Temporary? Well, she was interested to become a volunteer, but she will only be around until August or so, as such we can't really take her in to meet our PLHIV clients and all (due to confidentiality issues). But taking her in to help with exhibitions and awareness campaigns wouldn't be a problem at all. And it would be good exposure for her!

2 volunteers and 2 buddy bears

Right behind our table, there were handcrafts... nope, these were not made of rattan, they were actually made using recycled magazines! Anyone interested to find out more, or if you wish to order (manalah tau, nak buat bekas hantaran ke, or nak buat souvenir items ke), you may contact Rita.

Performances on stage began at about 11.30 am or so. The Pink Champion of Perak (support group for breastcancer) started off with a mime.

Then the DJ called for 5 women to come on stage for a game. The game? Since the theme of IWD is "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities - Progress for All", the women were supposed to spell Progress for All... backwards!

Next up, JAZZERCISE!

The jazzercise instructor and her team performing.

And this was the scene when she got members of the audience to join her on stage!

Oh no, I didn't join the jazzercise! Didn't want my body to shake on stage in front of everybody! Shy lah! After all, I had my share of exercise for the day when I mowed the lawn at home earlier in the morning!

But I did join the next event called "Drum Circle" organised by KAMI. Right now I can't for the life of me remember what KAMI stands for, but it's a family support group for mental illnesses. By this time, my shift was just over, and 2 other volunteers came to our booth to take over.

Yep, that's me on stage with a kompang just waiting for instructions.

Then a few of us exchanged intruments. First the kompang, then I got to hentam the... errmm... whatever-you-call-it drum.

There were a few other performances after that, but since my shift was already over, and I figured I needed some rest after a stretch of activities for the whole week, so by 3 pm I left.

Tomorrow, after office I'd better go to my NGO center to make sure that all the reports for our coming AGM are ready to be distributed. We need to send out the notice and reports to all members ASAP as our AGM will be at the end of this month.

I'd also better check out on Halimah... if her baby has been discharged from the hospital. She did mention to me that the baby had some "jangkitan kuman", but I don't really know what kind of infection she meant.

A blog reader has also donated some money through me to be given to Lin, who needs to go through an op in early April to remove her fibroid, so I'd better make sure I pass the money to her soon so that she doesn't worry too much about her finances for the time being.

Ah yes, back to normal routine...

The Exhibition

22nd November 2009 - Meru Valley Golf & Country Club organised the Ipoh International Friendship Night. With the aim of bringing together foreigners working or staying in or around Ipoh, and familiarising them with the various community associations and programmes in Ipoh, an exhibition was held as their pre-dinner activity between 4.30 to 7 pm.

Buddies were invited as well, and so about 3.30pm, off I went, first to our centre to collect all the necessary stuff - buntings, posters, pamphlets and bookmarks. Another volunteer was already at the exhibition hall when I got there. She was also representing another organisation and they had actually got there earlier to set up their table... which happened to be right beside ours.

Set up the buntings behind our table, put up the poster in front of our table, and placed some pamphlets and bookmarks on the table to be distributed to visitors.

2 other volunteers then came with a few of our Buddy Bears. Ah yes, our Buddy Bears are never left behind during our exhibitions.

Here are some of the other exhibitors...

And here's the scene of the golf course from where our exhibition was held.

Well the exhibition today was not an HIV awareness campaign, but more of to introduce ourselves to the public, in particular the foreign community in Ipoh.

And oh, to strengthen our networking with the other organisations as well... that's important too!

The Exhibition

Since our exhibition is held on a long weekend and many of our volunteers already had other plans, we only managed to rope in a few Buddies to volunteer for the exhibition at Ipoh Parade yesterday. As a matter of fact, for the morning shift, only our honorary secretary and myself were able to make it. Another colleague informed us he'd only be able to make it a bit later. Thank goodness the event was jointly organised with the Perak Family Health Association (PFHA); and they brought along members of a youth club under their wing, the Inteyo Club. So yaayyyy!! We had energetic youths helping out with the exhibition.

When I got to Ipoh Parade, my colleague was already there with the buntings and brochures. I was just in time to help set up our buntings. Just as I sat down to prepare a piece of paper to enable the public who'd like to become volunteers to sign up, I saw a familiar face. Whaddaya know... a school senior of mine whom I seldom got to meet despite her staying in Ipoh.

At the Buddies table, my school senior, my fellow volunteer and the lady in blue is from PFHA.

The PFHA also offered blood pressure measurement for the public and free blood sugar tests for the first 100 to register while the youths from Inteyo Club got the public to fill in a survey to find out the public's knowledge and opinion on HIV/AIDS - offering free gifts for those who agreed to do the survey.

Blood pressure and blood sugar tests.

The youths from Inteyo Club getting the public to do the survey.

On our side, we distributed our Buddies brochures and also some brochures on HIV/AIDS info provided by Malaysian AIDS Council. And oh, red ribbons too in support of people living with HIV. There were also quite a few who were interested to become volunteers. By the time I left about 2.30 pm (after the 4 volunteers for the afternoon shift arrived), I saw 7 names on the list. Hopefully there were more by the time the exhibition ended at 5.00 pm.

2 of the guys who came for the afternoon shift, enabling me to finally leave...

Overall, I think okay lah... instead of having the public run away at the sight of the word HIV/AIDS, there were some who showed interest. Of course there were still some who didn't want to get caught looking at the posters for too long... especially the poster with graphic demonstration on the right way to use a condom... hehehe...

The HIV/AIDS Exhibition

When Community AIDS Service Penang (CASP) invited us to join them for an exhibition in Ipoh in conjunction with World AIDS Day, we simply couldn’t say no. I mean, if they were willing to come all the way from Penang to do the exhibition in Ipoh, we have no excuse whatsoever not to join them as we are based in Ipoh!

So yes, we joined them for the exhibition today at Kinta City. I volunteered to man (or should that be woman?) our booth during the first shift, so had to drop by our centre first to get our brochures and buntings. When I got to Kinta City, the CASP people were already there.

I’ve given talks at schools before, and I’ve also manned the HIV/AIDS booth at a university before. Students show a different kind of response to the kind of information we disseminate to them. It’s either they stop by to ask questions or they just walk by without showing any interest.

Today, we did our exhibition at a shopping complex, dealing with people from all walks of life. As our exhibition was at the entrance to the supermarket there, people who wanted to go to the supermarket would have to pass by our volunteers. And today, I saw all sorts of responses from the public to the kind of information we try to disseminate to them.

There were some, who’d politely take the brochures that we hand out to them, and then they just move on.

There were some, who showed more interest and asked us questions before they moved on. Some were kind enough to put some money into the donation box.

There was one guy, who never knew that a support group such as ours existed in Ipoh. He has some HIV+ friends who felt isolated and he himself admitted he never knew how to react whenever he met them. After our explanation, he felt much better and promised to get his HIV+ friends to contact us.

There was one boy, just about 7 or 8 years old, who proudly wore the red ribbon we handed out, and insisted he wanted our brochure so he could read it.

There was one young lady, who suddenly just stood there in front of me, whose face looked rather familiar. Aiyo… Daphne Ling leh… no wonder lah look familiar… ;)

On the contrary…

There was one guy, who was watching the powerpoint presentation prepared by CASP, when approached by a volunteer to be given a brochure, quickly said, “No! No! No!” and then he quickly walked off. He was probably afraid people may think he has HIV if he took any of the brochures or if he talked to any of us.

And then there were some, who didn’t dare come near when they saw the word HIV/AIDS. And particularly more, when the CASP volunteers wore posters which said, “I have HIV/AIDS. Will you hug me?”

Sorry, pics not clear. Taken using my handphone camera.

Actually the volunteers donning the above posters DON’T have HIV. They just wanted to show the public that there’s no harm coming near an HIV infected person.

There was one family, when approached by the volunteers, frantically said, “Jangan ganggu kami, jangan ganggu kami. Kami tak mau!”

One of the volunteers from Penang told us how during one exhibition elsewhere, one lady who had just finished shopping; was pushing a trolley full of goods. As she was leaving, she was approached by a volunteer carrying the HIV/AIDS poster. The moment she saw the volunteer, she actually RAN! And because she ran, she lost control of her trolley and everything just fell on the floor!

Just shows that many people are still THAT scared of HIV/AIDS.

And oh, I forgot… there was also one young guy, who came over to me, and asked, “Sini boleh bayar saman ka?”

Aiseh… TARA BACA KA?!