My trip to Kedah...

Yep, I was in Kedah yesterday. Merbok, to be exact. My school alumni had been invited by Tuan Hj Romli Bakar, better known as Paksu, the orang kuat behind the setting up of Kelab Pendidikan, Sukan dan Kebajikan, Kg Bujang; to join a camp they were organising at tebing Sg Merbok, Kg Batu Besi; called Perkhemahan Perpaduan Kanak-kanak Antara Kaum.

As mentioned in one of my earlier posting, I was going to bring along Saiful and Ika with me for the trip.

After a few exchanges of emails amongst a few of my alumni members, I agreed to meet up with Kak Shahid, a senior of mine, at MRSM Merbok, before going to the camp site together.

I left home as early as 6.35 am, equipped with my new toy, a GPS, heading north using the state road to fetch Sofie's kids. Oh they were ready when I got there, not 2 of them, but 3 of them. Sofie's second son, Azman (who was earlier at his school hostel when I asked the children if they wanted to follow me) wanted to join me for the trip too. Sofie felt better that way too, as she didn't want me to be burdened with the task of having to look after the kids. Azman can look after his younger siblings.

Of course we still had our concerns. Ika, the youngest, is known to have "car-sick" problems. Sofie made sure she took her ubat muntah before the trip, and told me the girl would need to take another of the pills before I started my trip home.

We got in the PLUS expressway via Kuala Kangsar, and yep, as expected, before long Ika was already dizzy. We told her to sleep. Good thing Azman joined the trip. He's quite a chatty boy, telling me about all his "adventures", so at least I had someone in the car to keep me awake.

Confident of the route with the assistance of my GPS (I had earlier set the speed warning to shut up after continuously irritating me during my earlier "test run" in town - telling me "you're over the speed limit, please drive carefully" when I was going 60 kmh at a 70 kmh road!), we reached MRSM Merbok at about 9.20 am. Earlier, on the way to MRSM, I did notice a small junction, with the sign "Kg Sg Batu Besi", the kampong where the activities were supposed to be held. But since I had promised Kak Shahid to meet up in front of MRSM, I drove straight to MRSM, which was just nearby anyway.

But when I called up Kak Shahid, she was still in Alor Star (baru nak tutup gate!) and would need another 40 minutes or so to get to Merbok. Since Bee, another friend cum second cousin from KL had just called to inform me she was almost there, I told Kak Shahid I might as well go straight to the camp site. After all, I saw the signboard earlier, so I didn't have to worry about Kg Batu Besi not listed in my GPS map.

So yep, pusing balik to the road where I saw the junction heading to the camp site, and on the way, Bee called again, saying she was in front of MRSM. Duh, I thought she was heading straight to the camp site. So, I waited for her by the roadside, and we went into the junction heading to Kg Sg Batu Besi together. Waaah... I was glad I didn't wash my car earlier.... it was jalan tanah merah...

Anyway, the moment we saw tents, banners, stalls etc, we knew we had reached the camp site.

Met up with Paksu, and he introduced us to Hafiz, his ex-student who benefited from his tuition programme, who is now heading another similar run outfit in Kg Belau nearby. We were also introduced to a group of Canadians, who joined the camp.

The morning games for the camp participants (the children had been camping there since Friday) were about to start, so I handed "my kids" over to Hafiz so they could join the activity as well. The morning activity was held at a nearby mangrove swamp (complete with pelantar and all).

After a while, Kak Shahid called to inform me she had arrived at the camp site. Bee and I decided to walk back to the camp to meet up with her.

We were then brought by Paksu to a cool and shady area as he wanted to explain to us in details about his activities, his plans, etc. Quite a number of my alumni members had been giving cash donations for the running of his place, and so Paksu wanted to make sure he gave us in detail what he had done with the money and what else he intended to do.

It was during the discussions that another call came in on my hand phone. It was Lyana (yep, bini Pak Usop) asking me where I was. She had just arrived at the camp site and was trying to look out for me. I went to look for her, and although I was tercangak-bangak at first, I finally saw the easily recognizable Pak Usop, and so had no second thoughts about which one was Lyana...

So yeah, I finally met up with Lyana and the gang (of course, Emil & Odin were there too!).

I took them to join us listening to Paksu's "briefing".

The man wearing the white kopiah is Paksu.

Apparently while I got up to look for Lyana, my friends were telling Paksu about my involvement with HIV families. Coincidentally, Paksu is planning for some sort of HIV awareness programme some time next year, and upon hearing about my involvement in HIV cases, was hoping I'd be able to help him out. I left him my name card (my NGO name card, not my business card).

Paksu then told us to follow Hafiz who would be showing us their 2 centers, one in Kg Bujang and the other in Kg Belau, both located not too far from the place (but not within walking distance lah, we'd still have to take the cars). Lyana and gang followed us too. My kids followed in my friend's car, while I joined Lyana.

First we went to Kg Bujang, Paksu's house, also used as club center...

Hey, scare-crows now wear helmets, do they?

Then off we went to Kg Belau, where we dropped off a boot full of books, contributed by my alumni members.

At Kg Belau...

There was no tuition on yesterday, but these 2 ayam kampong probably were not informed about it...

And there was even a mini-museum at the Kg Belau center.

Notice the batu giling? Well, Saiful started handling the batu giling, and the way he was holding it, I somehow sensed he knew how to use it properly.

"Tau guna ke?" I asked.

"Tau! Pernah guna kat rumah Mak Yang," he replied.

Ahh... if there was a pertandingan giling rempah between me and the boy, he'd win hands down! My rempah giling would probably end up falling off the sides of the batu giling...

After Kg Belau, we headed back to the camp site. There were supposed to be other activities in the afternoon.

After saying goodbye to Lyana who had to attend a neighbour's kenduri, we had our lunch, prepared by the kampong folks. Then off for prayers at the surau.

Some games were supposed to start at 2 pm, but for one reason or another, it didn't start until about 3.30 pm. My kids were getting restless, they were just so eager to jump into the river. Ika dah tukar baju, asking me to hold her towel for her. So I sangkut the towel on my left shoulder. Saiful took off his jeans (he was already wearing his trackbottom underneath) and asked me to hold his jeans for him. So I sangkut the jeans on my right shoulder.

While waiting for the games to start, saw this guy selambaly walking by...

See the arrow? That's a snake he's holding. Bet if he had found it on Friday, the girls would have had second thoughts about sleeping in the tents!

The games finally started off with the giant terompah game for the children...

Then the pertandingan mendayung perahu for the adults. The YB was there to flag off the race, and he was supposed to be brought to the starting point in a boat. My alumni members, by virtue of being the organisers guests, were also invited for the short boat ride. And Pi being Pi, suka adventure, naturally accepted the offer - got onto the boat, without life jackets whatsoever despite not knowing how to swim! So yep, there was this makcik, with a camera bergantung kat tengkuk, towel sangkut kat bahu kiri and jeans sangkut kat bahu kanan, joining the YB on the boat. And my kids, upon seeing their makcik getting in the boat, quickly jumped in too! I wasn't too worried about the boys, as they were good swimmers. But I was quite concerned about Ika, who claims she can swim if the water is up to her knees... :-)

Participants of the mendayung perahu race getting ready...

The YB starting the race...

Scene of the race from inside our boat...

After the mendayung perahu race was the much awaited pertandingan menangkap itik. At first the race was meant only for the adults as the organisers were concerned about the safety of the children in the waters, but finally they gave in to the requests of the children. Of course, they put nettings around a certain area that's not too deep, and to prevent the ducks from escaping to the deeper side of the river.

Both Azman and Saiful went to register for this, but they only allowed Azman to take part as Saiful was rather small and they were concerned about his safety.

The ducks in the water, still oblivious to whatever was going to happen next...

Then came big splashes of water when the adults started jumping in the water to catch them...

Then came the children's turn... with even more participants!

Saiful, although not a participant, but tempted by the waters, jumped right in to join the other boys. I saw the satisfaction on their faces upon getting all wet in the water! But they were both later complaining, "Masin betul air dia!!" They probably thought it would be air tawar since it was SUNGAI Merbok; not knowing that the river was at a kuala, directly meeting the sea.

Ika was the only one still to fulfill her intention of jumping in the river. She would have probably jumped in too if there were any girls amongst the participants, but nope they were all boys!

After that there was a pertandingan memukul bantal for the adults...

While Azman and Saiful were able to take care of themselves, I took the opportunity to bring Ika to another end of the place where the waters were not too muddy (due to too many people splashing around at the area) and not too deep as well so she could at least berendam for a while in the river.

By 5.15 pm, although the games were not over yet, I rounded up my kids, telling them to change as we needed to head home. I didn't want to go home too late. Their mother may get worried. Heck, my mother would get worried too if I got home so late!

The kids were so tired, they all slept within minutes of getting into the car. We reached the Gunung Semanggol R&R at about 6.40 pm, so I decided to stop for makan-makan and wait for Maghrib.

We made a move from Gunung Semanggol at 7.30 pm, by then the kids were wide awake and were chatting away. Amazingly, even Ika, the one who usually gets car-sick, was also so chirpy. I guess she only gets car-sick if she travels during day-time.

Taking the Kuala Kangsar exit, I finally managed to deliver the kids to their doorstep at 8.30pm. They did invite me to come in but it was getting too late. I promised I'd visit them later after I get their photos printed.

And I myself finally reached home a few minutes after 9 pm...

Oh btw, can anyone guess what "kabat" means?

Today at the clinic...

Today being my clinic duty, I decided to go a bit early to arrange for Saiful's appointment with the eye specialist at the Ipoh GH. SN had told me earlier that there was no need for Saiful to personally come when seeking an appointment date.

After queuing at the "kaunter temujanji", when my turn came, the moment the nurse saw the referral letter I held in my hand, she said, "Oh, kes baru terus pergi bilik 6 dulu. Bawa pesakit sekali." Aduh, luckily there were only about 4 or 5 people in the queue in front of me earlier...

So no, couldn't fix an appointment for Saiful yet. Sofie will have to bring him along to Ipoh for that. Sofie is coming to Ipoh next week to get her supply of ARV, but Saiful will be having his school exams on the same day, so I guess, they will just have to wait until the school exams are over.

I then immediately headed to the HIV clinic to inform SN that I was already there if she wanted to refer any new cases. I needed to go off early today, so if the new cases could be referred earlier the better.

Because it was still quite early, my colleagues were not there at the counseling room yet when the first case was referred. I was quite concerned at first when the guy brought in was quite an elderly Chinese guy (sometimes these elderly ones would only speak in their mother tongue), but when I started speaking to him in Malay, he was quite conversant. Yes, maybe at certain points I had to repeat myself as he didn't quite understand what I was trying to ask him, but overall our conversation went rather smoothly and he too was quite open.

Anyway, this guy's a bachelor, never married and stays alone. He knew of his HIV infection 4 years ago after an accident, but since he felt okay then, he didn't see the need to get any treatment for his HIV. That was until a few months ago when he got TB, started getting weaker, and during the recent Raya holidays, he was so weak he couldn't even get up. And imagine he was staying all alone at home! But he managed to call his sister who stays with her son in another state, and due to his condition, the sister came to stay with him temporarily, at least until he gets a bit better. I promised to assign him one of our Chinese-speaking guys as his buddy.

By the time the second case was referred to us, both my colleagues were already there. SN brought in a couple - the wife pregnant. I was quite surprised when SN told me that the wife is due to deliver next week! Apparently, at the earlier stages of her pregnancy, HIV was not detected during the blood test. It was only during another very recent blood test that she was found to be HIV positive and that was when she was immediately referred to Ipoh GH, not only to the HIV clinic, but also to the O&G clinic.

After going through her file, I noticed that this is her second marriage. She has 2 children, aged 5 and 7, from an earlier marriage. Her first husband, an IVDU, died 3 years ago. One look and you'd conclude that she must have got HIV from her first husband. But if she really did get HIV from her first husband, then the window period (for her HIV infection) is long over and the presence of HIV should have been detected during her blood tests at the early stages of her pregnancy. But nope, it was only detected just recently. So, either she got it from her present husband (who has not been tested yet as of today) OR there were some errors in the result of the earlier test.

Due to the late detection, this lady had not been given any ARV drugs to help protect the baby. The c-sect is already due next week, let's hope there will not be another "Cek Mek" case of baby coming out earlier than scheduled c-sect.

Emotional-wise, I wasn't really sure if this couple had absorbed the whole thing. They didn't look shocked, they didn't look sad, they didn't look like they had accepted their fate either. They looked... BLANK! Maybe things haven't really sunk in yet. Asked if they needed a buddy, the husband said they didn't think so. But I still gave my number anyway and told them to call me if somehow suddenly they feel the need to talk.

There was supposed to be another new case today, but the person never turned up. But SN did want us to see Zali today. Remember Zali, the guy who's still on methadone treatment, whose wife dumped him and the kids as well? He's not working (I don't think anybody dares offer him a job when he's still on methadone) but needs to feed his 2 daughters. After the last time that I supplied him with some foodstuff, the hospital welfare unit did manage to get some assistance for him with the monthly provision of groceries etc, but that was only a temporary measure and I was told that the assistance will end soon.

I never got to see his wife. Neither did SN. Zali always said that his estranged wife refused to come to the hospital. When I offered to meet up with her outside where other people wouldn't suspect anything, Zali gave all sorts of excuses. When I asked for her number so I could speak to her myself, he'd always say, "Nantilah, biar saya cuba cakap dulu dengan dia." And recently, when SN asked him why not send the kids to his wife who's working and would at least be able to support them financially, he told SN that he was the one who refused to give the kids to their mother.

Maybe all the while it's not the wife who had refused to see us. Maybe Zali was the one who didn't want that to happen. He wouldn't even give us her phone number.

Well, even if that wasn't the case, I still feel that Zali is being very selfish. With his no-income and methadone-dependent status, I'm sure he knows pretty well he is not fit to take care of his children. The children deserves a better future. If his wife had attempted to bring matters to court to gain custody of the children, I'm quite sure she'd win hands down. But obviously she hasn't done that, or has she?

Anyway, Zali was supposed to come to the clinic today and I so wanted to talk things over with him for the children's sake, but he never turned up.

Maybe for the sake of the children, I should refer this case direct to the welfare department for their action...

Rambutan anyone?

It's Sunday... guess what I did today?

Mow the lawn? Nope, did that a few days ago.

Join the crowd at the Perak Stadium for the 1Malaysia thingy? Nope, I usually stay away from big crowds (except in Makkah/Medinah).

I actually climbed a tree. Seriously, I did!

A rambutan tree to be exact - the rambutan gading tree. Usually I'd just use a pole to get the ripe fruits, but there were so many of the ripe rambutans high up on the tree, not reachable with the pole... even after getting on a ladder.

Since today I didn't have to worry about rushing for time to go to the office, I decided to climb the tree and cut down the most tempting-looking branch - the one with the most of those ripe yellow rambutans.

Oh, I didn't climb too high up lah... got up the ladder onto one of the branches... found myself a comfortable and rather safe position before I used my golok to cut down the branch. And yes, managed to get a few basket-loads of rambutans. Gave some to my neighbour and some to an aunt who stays nearby.

I reserved a small basket for my blog readers. So here, help yourselves...

:-)

Of pisang abu, jagung rebus and Sofie's children

With limited time and so many things to do at home in the morning before I go to my office, I usually can't settle too many things in a day. Mana nak mesin rumput... mana nak tebang pokok pisang... mana nak kait rambutan gading... mana nak tebas semak-samun...

I actually needed to cut down quite a few banana trees as the bananas were getting almost too ripe. Some had even been eaten by the birds...

So, no more postponing, yesterday I cut down 2 of the banana trees. I put aside some of the pisang abu for own consumption at home, while the bulk of the bananas were put in my car. My intention yesterday was to send the bananas over to Lin at her goreng pisang stall.

But later I found out Lin was not in town for the week, so the bananas spent the night in my car.

I had planned to go to Sofie's house this week to get Saiful's referral letter (for his appointment with the eye specialist at Ipoh GH), so I figured I might as well go today. SN told me last week that Saiful's presence is not necessary for an appointment to be arranged, so I thought I'd take the letter and make the necessary arrangements. My clinic duty will be next week so I intend to go to the eye clinic on the same day to arrange for Saiful's appointment.

And yes, I did go to Sofie's house today. Only Sofie, her eldest son Azlan and Saiful were home. Sofie's 2nd son Azman stays at his school hostel (in the same town), while Ika, her youngest was at school. Azlan had just sat for his PMR this week.

After getting the referral letter and a copy of Saiful's birth cert, I asked Sofie if she wanted some pisang abu. "Saya terima aje," said Sofie. I told Sofie, that since I brought quite a lot, if Sofie and her children can't finish them, she can give the bananas to her sister (the one Sofie used to stay with). Her sister earns extra income by making a variety of kuih to be sent to school canteens, so she can use the bananas to make pisang goreng or lepat pisang or cokodok or whatever other banana-based kuih to be sold.

I was happy to note that Sofie seemed much better health-wise. If previously she was always lying down whenever I visited her, this time she was well enough to go to the kitchen to make a drink for me. When I was there, Saiful too came to the front with a spoon of salt and asked his mother, "Banyak ni cukup?" "Bolehlah tu," replied his mother.

"Buat apa?" I asked.

"Rebus jagung," he said.

So yes, other than the drink prepared by Sofie, I was also served Saiful's jagung rebus.

I don't usually make it a habit to let my poor PLHIV clients serve me drinks and food (they need the food more), but when they do serve me something to eat/drink, I do make it a point to eat/drink, at least a little. I don't want them to feel as though I was afraid to eat/drink anything prepared by them. Besides, when they serve the food, it was not meant for me alone, they ate together with me. It felt more family-like, eating and drinking togeder-geder with them... :-)

Anyway, I told Sofie I intend to attend a programme up north in Kedah next Saturday. The programme, organised by my alumni, will be held at a center set up by a man who has done wonders - providing tuition, educational and recreational support for hardcore poor children.

There are various reasons I want to go for the event. Firstly, my alumni seldom organizes events outside of Klang Valley. This is the first time the event is held up north. Although there's not much difference between the Ipoh-KL and Ipoh-Kedah distance, I want to give my support so that they will continue with decentralised events in future.

Secondly, the subject is close to my heart - dealing with hardcore poor children. I hope to learn a thing or two from this man. Although I cannot implement exactly the same thing ("his children" are centered in one district while "my children" are scattered all over Perak), who knows, I may still be able to use his system as a guide to plan something in future.

Thirdly, I was hoping I'd be able to bring any of "my children" to the event. My intention? Sofie's children. Saiful was the one at home today, and so when I asked Sofie if any of her children would like to follow me, Saiful immediately said yes. And although Ika was not at home, Sofie said usually if Saiful goes anywhere, Ika would want to follow too. Sofie herself doesn't feel fit yet to travel so far, but she has no objections if the children follow me. Besides, it will be a day trip, so neither Sofie nor myself have to worry about whom the kids will be spending the night with.

So yes, God-willing, I will bring Saiful and Ika with me to Kedah next weekend.

Jejak kasih?

When Anita's sister called me last week trying to get hold of Anita's present address, I didn't give it to her although I knew the address. I just buat bodoh (read: be myself... :)) and pretended I knew nothing about whatever that was going on between them.

I mentioned that Anita did call me to seek help regarding her identity card; and that I'd inform Anita (about her sister trying to look for her) the next time she calls. Anita's sister however didn't want me to tell Anita about her call. Even if I really knew nothing about the goings-on between them, I would have suspected something amiss. I mean, why wouldn't she want Anita to find out that she tried to call me to find out Anita's whereabouts?

Anyway, based on the text messages the sister's "so-called" hubby had been sending to Anita (which Anita did not respond to), it was very unlikely that the sister wanted to patch things up. The way I see it, things may get even worse for Anita if her evil sister and the guy get their hands on Anita and her baby.

For the moment, I will just let Anita and her baby stay with Kak Ana, at least until we can settle her identity card and son's birth cert problems. Kak Ana can in the meantime try to educate Anita and maybe one fine day when Anita is capable of being more independent, she can live on her own if she wants to.

Actually there was another "jejak kasih" call the week before, which I'm not really sure if it was really a "genuine" intention to patch things up, or another "udang di sebalik batu" intention.

No, not another of Anita's sister trying to look for her. This one came from Zana's sister. Those of you who had been following my blog earlier may remember my postings on The Problematic Young Woman.

Zana was the first of the out-of-wedlock pregnancy cases that I had to send to shelter homes. I sent Zana to KL in 2006 before she was due to deliver. She delivered a pair of twins just before Raya in 2006 and due to her own attitude, she couldn't get along with the other occupants of the shelter home. After a few months, she was ready to head back home to her own family. Both Kak Hawa and myself were made to believe that her family was ready to accept her at home.

Then on the very day that I went to fetch her, she got a call from her sister telling her not to come home as her father was very furious with her. And I only got the news when I got to the home. Lucky thing I had another function to attend to in KL earlier in the day, so my trip to KL wasn't really a waste of time.

Kak Hawa and I then agreed that while Kak Hawa was to try talk some sense into Zana, I would try to speak to her family, hoping for them to reconcile.

But my attempts to get in touch with the family were futile. Zana's younger sisters did not even dare answer my calls and text messages. I finally did get a text message from a different number...

"Assalamualaikum. Saya family Zana. Maaf ye, Zana dah takde tempat dalam family kami. Dah 2 kali dia buat kerja bodoh tanpa fikirkan kami. Kami dah bagi peluang tapi dia tak gunakan peluang yang diberi."

To me the message was to tell me not to pester them further. So yes, I stopped at that.

Since then, one of Zana's twins died, and Zana had moved out of the shelter home, initially with her son, but later on Kak Hawa went to get the baby from her as Zana had not been giving the much needed attention to the baby.

Zana had been contacting the shelter home from time to time, but except for once, she never even bothered to visit her baby; despite saying time and again that she wanted to take the baby back. The boy is now already 3 years old.

Back to the recent "jejak kasih" call, it was a totally unexpected call.

"Ni Kak Afizah ke?"

"Ya saya. Siapa ni?"

"Saya ni adik *Zana*. Akak ada tak nombor telefon terbaru dia? Kami dah terputus hubunganlah dengan dia."

Terputus hubungan, did she say? I thought they were the ones who didn't want to have anything to do with Zana anymore?

Truth is, I too had not been able to get in touch with Zana. She's no longer using the last number I had. I didn't ask Zana's sister why she wanted to get in touch with Zana, but I told her that her best bet would be to get in touch with Kak Hawa at the shelter home since Zana's son still says there and Zana would still from time to time call the people there. So I gave her Kak Hawa's phone number.

The next day I called up Kak Hawa to find out. Yes, Zana's sister did call her but like me, Kak Hawa too was not able to give her Zana's contact number. You see, although Zana does call the shelter home from time to time, almost every call came from a different number. Whenever her credit runs out, instead of topping up, she'd get herself a new prepaid number. And sometimes she'd call using a friend's phone.

The only thing we can do now is to inform Zana the next time she calls, about her sister wanting to get in touch with her. And it will be up to Zana if she wants to call her sister back.

Why did the sister want to get hold of Zana? Has it anything to do with Zana's older daughter who is being taken care of by Zana's parents? Do they really want to patch things up? Has Zana's garang father forgiven her?

Hard to tell now that I myself am not able to get hold of Zana...