Update on Fuzi and Yah

My posting on 6th April 2007, "More house visits, more welfare woes", highlighted the financial problems faced by Fuzi and Yah and the kind of excuses they received from some welfare officers.

Here are some updates:

I called Fuzi yesterday and asked if she had received her March financial aid. Fuzi said since it was still not banked in on Thursday, 12th April 2007, she went personally to the welfare office and finally got it there and then. It was almost the middle of April, it was only RM115, and she had to go personally to the welfare office about 25kms away from her house to get the money. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

As for Yah, well, the officer did say that she should start getting financial aid in May, so let's just wait and see.

Now for some good news.

After my posting, a couple approached me by email with the intention of giving monthly donations to these 2 families. They will be transferring a fixed monthly donation direct into the bank accounts of the 2 ladies. The couple wish to remain anonymous and I shall not mention the amount, but suffice to say the amount is more than the "Bantuan Am" usually approved by the welfare department. The first round of donation has already been transferred to the bank accounts of both ladies. On behalf of the 2 families, I'd like to thank the couple.

Phew... at least now I don't have to worry too much about Fuzi's and Yah's monthly financial needs, so I can pay more attention to other families who need help.

Of course, I will still contact all my PLWHA clients on a regular basis whether or not they have problems. That means I will still visit Fuzi and Yah from time to time even though somebody is sponsoring their financial needs.

The problematic young woman - Part 2

After sending off Zana to a shelter home in KL, I thought I had her problem settled. Initially it looked that way. Zana would SMS me from time to time telling me of her latest developments. And what a shock I had one day when she told me that she went for scan and was informed that she was carrying twins! Whoa!! Earlier on I was worried about ONE additional life at stake if we didn’t take precautionary measures, now we’re talking about TWO!!

Things went quite well, until one day when Kak Hawa (the lady in charge at the home) got ill and was told by the doctors to take a break. She was overworked! Kak Hawa is the motherly figure at the home, and respected by everyone there.

It was during Kak Hawa’s absence that things began to go a bit haywire. The occupants at the home did not seem to get along well with Zana (or each other for that matter!). Zana had just delivered her twins (both boys) at that time. I got a call from someone at the home asking me to arrange to take Zana home after she and her babies get discharged from the hospital.

Oh dear!! It had to come at a time when I was busy with other PLWHAs in Ipoh. It was fasting month and I was arranging to get donations of raya goodies for the poor PLWHA families. There was no way I could go to KL at that time. And even if I could, where was I to send her? I spoke to Zana and she said her mother would only let her come back if she did not bring along the babies. Zana herself didn’t want to give her babies away. So how?

Again, I got desperate and sought the help of the same people from MAC. Zana and her babies were about to be discharged from the hospital and we had to find a place soon. So the people from MAC arranged to send her to another shelter home. Only this time, there were no other Malays/Muslims at that home and Zana would not have any fellow Muslims to celebrate Hari Raya with.

When Kak Hawa got back, she was furious to find out that Zana was sent to the other home. I told Kak Hawa that the best way to bring Zana back there was for Kak Hawa herself to speak to Zana as she was the only one Zana had any respect for. Eventually Zana herself wanted to move back as she felt rather lonely at the new home without any fellow Muslim/Malay to celebrate Hari Raya with.

Thank goodness, another problem settled. At least for the time being. I did visit Zana and the twins after Raya. They seemed to be coping well. Or so I thought.

After some time Kak Hawa called me up telling me that the other occupants at the home were beginning to complain about Zana again. She was too busy SMS-ing her boyfriends sometimes she’d just leave her babies crying for some time before attending to them. Oh, she loves her babies alright, it’s just that the motherly touch seemed to be lacking. Kak Hawa had to resort to confiscating her handphone.

This time Zana herself wanted to come back to Ipoh. Kak Hawa and I made arrangements for me to fetch Zana and send her back to her parent’s home. We were made to believe that the family was ready to accept her and her babies.

Apparently when Zana told her mother she wanted to come home, she didn’t tell the mother she would be bringing the twins as well. One day before I was supposed to fetch Zana, Kak Hawa called me up to say that Zana’s mother would only let Zana come back if she didn't bring along the babies. Apparently, Zana’s father never knew about Zana’s pregnancy and so, bringing the babies home would definitely create chaos at home. So, Kak Hawa and I thought that maybe I should just bring Zana home for a few days for her to see her family, especially her daughter whom she had not met for 8 months. Then Zana would have to go back to KL to the shelter home to be with her babies.

On the very day itself, after attending a meeting in KL, I went to the shelter home to fetch Zana. I met Kak Hawa first, then we both went to see Zana. She was attending to the twins with the help of another occupant of the home. Boy… the twins looked chubby and adorable!

We were told by both Zana and the other lady that Zana just got a call from her sister in Ipoh. The sister was passing a message from Zana’s mom to tell her NOT to come home because her father was really furious! Then Zana’s sister just switched off the phone without explaining why the father was furious. We just suspected that maybe Zana’s mother was trying to tell him about Zana and the babies. But we don’t know for sure.There may be other reasons.

So, no, I couldn’t bring Zana back to Ipoh. Not yet anyway. But despite Zana's attitude problems, we're not about to give up on her yet. It will be an uphill task especially when dealing with people's attitude (in this case Zana's and her family's), but we still got to try. Kak Hawa will still try to guide Zana while my next task is to talk to Zana’s family.

Yikes! This is the part I dread most…

The problematic young woman - Part 1

When I first met Zana during one of my clinic duties, she was rather quiet. She didn’t say much, but she did say she had support from her family. That was more than 2 years ago.

Zana is 25 years old. She was married to a guy who eventually became hooked on drugs. They were blessed with a child. The girl is now 5 years of age.

When Zana’s husband died about 2 1/2 years ago, they suspected he had AIDS. So Zana’s family told her to go for tests, together with her daughter. Her daughter was tested negative, but Zana was not as lucky. She was then referred to the HIV clinic, and that was when I met her.

I was assigned as Zana’s buddy, and after the clinic, I managed to call her once to find out how she was doing, and she said she was okay. No problems whatsover, so she said.

After a few months I could no longer get through the number she gave. So I lost contact with her for a while. That was some sort of a blessing for me I guess, as at that time I was too busy with Rose, who was getting weaker and weaker by the day.

Just one week after Rose died, I received one SMS from an unfamiliar number. It was Zana, who said she had some problems and needed to see me. So I promised to meet up with her the next day, at a food stall near her home.

Zana said her handbag got snatched, and so she lost her handphone, her hospital card and other important documents. No wonder I couldn’t get hold of her earlier. And because of that too, she missed her hospital appointments, as she had forgotten the exact date of her appointment. Being somehow a bit immature, Zana was afraid she may get scolded if she went to the hospital without her hospital card etc, and especially so since she missed her appointment. She asked if I could help her out as she needed to see the doctor. It was during this time that I found out that Zana was no longer staying with her parents. Instead she stayed with her so-called mak angkat, in the very same kampong. However, Zana from time to time would go back to her parents home to visit her daughter, who was being taken care of by her (Zana’s) parents.

I made arrangements with the staff nurse at the HIV clinic to fix another appointment for Zana. But as I mentioned earlier, Zana is rather immature, and careless too if I may add. She lost her handbag again, together with her new hospital card. So she decided to give her appointment a miss because she’s afraid she may get a scolding from the nurse.

I just so happened to check on her that morning to make sure she didn’t miss her appointment. But to my disappointment, when I called she was at home – giving the excuse that she didn’t feel well enough to go. I offered to fetch her at home and drive her to the hospital. She didn’t have any other excuse to offer, so she had to follow me.

When I fetched her at home, somehow I suspected that she may be pregnant. Her husband died quite some time ago and she had not remarried. Since she didn’t say anything, I just kept quiet.

After her check-up, the staff nurse called me in to discuss Zana’s attitude problem. Zana’s CD4 was already below 200 and she should already be on medication, but the nurse was not too confident that Zana would be the compliant type. Anyway, I noted down the date of Zana’s next appointment so I could check on her when the time comes.

Just a week later, I got another SMS from Zana. This time she asked if I could find a shelter home for her to stay as she needed to get out of the house by the next day. This time I became even more suspicious. When I called her to ask what was actually going on, initially she didn’t want to say anything about her pregnancy. All she said was, “Entahlah kak, diorang nak saya keluar dari rumah ni.” She had told me earlier that her mak angkat knew about her HIV status, so she couldn’t have been asked to leave because of HIV. I pestered her to tell me truth if she wanted me to help her. Finally she admitted, “Sebenarnya saya mengandung, kak.”

Hah! I knew it!! I felt like slapping her (but I couldn’t even if I wanted to as we were just communicating by phone), not only because she got pregnant out of wedlock, but also because she knew very well she had HIV and what the consequences were, and yet.... SIGH!! But come to think of it, Zana was looking for “love” outside as she didn’t get enough love at home. When someone offered her the so-called “love”, somehow she felt wanted. She didn’t think about her future, all she cared about was what she could get hold of there and then.

Well, I guess that was disaster for both Zana and whoever the guy was. Zana got pregnant, and the guy, could have got infected with HIV. We couldn’t get hold of him to arrange for tests as Zana herself had by then lost contact with him.

My main concern then was not just to find a shelter home for Zana, but I needed to bring her to see the doctor again. There was another life for concern here, and I sure didn’t want the baby to get infected. If Zana had kept quiet to the very end, ran away somewhere without getting proper treatment not just for her HIV but also for her pregnancy, chances were the baby would be infected too.

There weren’t any shelter homes in Perak specifically for Muslim women. Well, yes, there were a few, but they were either only for teenagers with problems, or, the ones for women were not ready to accept HIV positive people. I had no choice but to resort to MAC for help. The people there were very helpful in getting a place for Zana in a shelter home in KL, specifically for HIV women and children. Okay, so problem on a place to stay was settled.

Next day, first thing in the morning I called up the nurse at the HIV clinic to arrange for immediate appointment for Zana. The nurse was shocked when I told her Zana was pregnant. She told me to immediately bring Zana to see the doctor. Luckily the specialist so happened to be in that day. It was a Friday and usually the doctor would only be around at the HIV clinic on Wednesdays.

Zana was told to start medication immediately to protect the baby. And as I needed to send her to KL the next day, all the necessary referral letters were passed to me, so I could pass them to whoever was in charge of the shelter home in KL.

That Saturday, I sent Zana to the shelter home in KL. And so began a new episode in Zana’s life, together with a few other infected women and children.

More house visits, more welfare woes

I was at my office on Wednesday afternoon when a call came in on my handphone. It was the general ringtone – meaning the caller’s number is not registered on my phone. Sometimes if I hear that ringtone, when I answer the call, the caller will ask, “Adelyn please?” or “Zul ada?” or “Ms Chong?” Hmmph… wrong number…

But that day, when I answered the call, the girl at the other end of the line said, “Makcik, ni Wina. Susu adik dah habis!”

HUH?? Alamak…

Wina is actually the 12 year old daughter of Fuzi, one of my PLWHA clients. She called from a public phone at her school, which is why the number is not in my handphone. And the “adik” she meant was Iwan, Fuzi’s 10 month old baby boy.

Since Fuzi is not working and she can’t breastfeed her baby, I’d usually visit her on a monthly basis to send some groceries and baby’s necessities. I thought I could wait till next week but looks like they ran out of milk powder earlier than I thought. I promised the girl I’d go visit them the next day.

Then I remembered another lady, Yah, who is also a non-working single mother. She too has a baby, a 9 month old girl. Used to visit her quite regularly, but since her husband died end of last year, Yah and her children moved to her parent’s home further up north – about 130kms away from Ipoh - which makes it rather difficult for me to visit regularly. So I immediately called her up to ask how she’s doing.

As expected, Yah too ran out of milk powder for her baby, so she had no choice but to buy some using the RM160 she gets monthly courtesy of MAC. I asked if there was any news from the Welfare Department as she had already submitted her application personally in early January. Yah said since she did not receive any news from them, she went to the welfare office again some time in February to follow up. Guess what?? She was told they never received her application. Oh dear… then what on earth was she doing in their office in January? Paying them a courtesy visit?!

Yah had no choice but to submit a new application. I asked her for the name of the officer in charge and promised her I’d try to follow up on the matter. I also promised her I’ll try to visit her next weekend as I’ll be away elsewhere this weekend.

Anyway, since Fuzi stays nearer, I went to visit her yesterday. Brought along a whole load of groceries, milk powder, diapers and whatever else I managed to get from various donors. This time I made it a point to drop by a fast food outlet to buy something for the children.

The children were smiling from ear to ear when they saw me… they knew there’d be something for them, not just for their baby brother.

Fuzi’s application for welfare aid had already been approved (of RM115 a month) and she had already received some money in February – handed over by hand. The welfare officers then asked her to open up a bank account so that future financial aid beginning March can be banked in direct. Bank account done in February, and account number submitted to welfare department immediately.

But yesterday was already the 5th of April, and according to Fuzi she has gone to the bank to check, but her financial aid for March was not in yet. Again, I promised Fuzi I’d try to follow up on the matter.

Immediately after visiting Fuzi, I went direct to my NGO centre. A few of the board members would meet there every Thursdays around 4 pm in case there’s anything that needs to be discussed urgently and cannot wait for the monthly board meeting. My colleague who is handling clients’ welfare was there so I told him about the problems of my 2 clients.

He immediately rang up the welfare office. First, for Yah, he had to call the welfare office at the district where Yah stays. Good news… Yah’s application has been approved, and she’s getting RM400 a month under Bantuan Kanak-kanak. Alhamdulillah. But payment is only expected in May. I do hope it won’t be later than that.

Then, another call was made to the welfare office covering the district where Fuzi stays. And the answer we got? The money is there but they are all very busy and nobody has the time yet to channel the money to the various recipients’ bank accounts.

Oh dear me… haven’t they heard of this thing called “system”?

I wonder what their reaction would be if until today their salaries for March is still not in. And what if they enquire the relevant department and the answer they get is “Semua orang busy, tak sempat nak masukkan gaji lagi.” Sure kecoh satu Malaysia!

But since the poor are helpless, such excuses are still being used.

First world facility, third world mentality?

The typical scenario...

Day by day, my NGO is getting more and more PLWHA clients under our care, mostly referred to us by the HIV clinic at Ipoh GH. Although different buddies are assigned different PLWHAs, we (the volunteers) do have meetings to discuss the problems faced by our clients. However, we can’t afford to discuss the problems of all the PLWHAs in one meeting as we have over 100 of them.

As such we divide ourselves into a few care-groups, and each group will meet separately to discuss the problems of the PLWHAs who are under the care of the respective group members.

My group had our meeting last night. I noticed certain similarities between some of my own clients and those of my fellow volunteers.

Typical scenario 1…

Husband an injecting drug user… shared needles…

Then husband starts getting various kinds of diseases… goes for check-up… finds out he has AIDS. Innocent wife asked to go for blood test as well… and finds out that she too has been infected with HIV.

By the time they find out, husband’s CD4 is already very low… already infected with opportunistic diseases… TB, hepatitis…

Husband now already very weak… too weak to work… wife becomes family’s sole breadwinner… working very hard to make ends meet… but they still don’t get enough to cover monthly household expenses. If renting, then land-lord already on the verge of chasing them out of the house… children’s school fees not paid… the ones in secondary school always get scolding from their teachers resulting in the children not wanting to go school unless and until their fees can be paid (I don’t know why but somehow the ones in primary school aren’t that badly affected when they don’t pay their fees).

Typical scenario 2…

Same as scenario 1 but husband has passed away.

Typical scenario 3…

First line same as scenario 1, and then the couple gets divorced without even knowing the husband has HIV.

Both remarry without knowing they have been infected, and the wife only finds out when she gets pregnant through her second marriage. Tries to tell ex-husband so that he can avoid passing the virus to his new wife and possible future children but that good-for-nothing guy denies it came from him and refuses to go for blood test.

And so the virus gets passed on and on and on…