Update on Sofie's family

The last time I went to visit Sofie, I didn't bring along any groceries for the family. I went to fetch her kids to bring them along with me during my trip to Kedah.

With money from donors rather consistently coming in, I'd better make sure I use the money to help the poor families consistently too. So after lunch on Sunday, off I went, first to buy some groceries, then after calling Sofie to make sure they were home, I also bought some ready to eat foodstuff for the kids.

Sofie was outside her house when I arrived. I was happy to note that her condition seemed to have improved a whole lot especially if compared to the first few times I visited her. Now she can at least pay more attention to the children instead of the children having to pay more attention to her.

Anyway, only Saiful and Ika were home when I visited on Sunday. The two older boys were out. Saiful and Ika got excited when I passed to them an envelope containing their pictures taken during the trip to Kedah. They were excitedly telling their mother... "Ha, ni masa Acik panjat rumah atas pokok tu".... "Hahaha! Ada gambar masa Angah kejar itik".... "Ni ha ada gambar adik berenang!"

I bet when their brothers came home, there was a repeat of all the excitement... :)

Both Saiful's and Ika's year-end school exams were over, although their results were not all out yet. But Ika had already gotten back a few of her exam papers and she willingly showed me the papers - even her Mandarin paper (yes, she's taking Mandarin as one of the lessons in school) which she got wrong for most of the questions! Her other papers were not too bad, although she had problems for English and Maths. In fact, for her Maths paper, the only reason she couldn't score better was her poor English.

You see, since she has to take up Maths in English, due to her poor command of the language, she couldn't understand some of the questions in her Maths paper. I saw her exam papers. It was quite obvious that while she could answer the questions which came in the form of numbers alone; the ones where the questions came in the form of English sentences, she couldn't answer correctly as she didn't even understand the question.

She complained that the teacher spoke fully in English when teaching, making it difficult for her to understand. The interesting thing was according to her, at the end of each lesson, the teacher would ask, "Are you understand?" and all the kids would say, "YES!"

I then asked Ika, "Cikgu kata are you understand ke cikgu kata do you understand?"

"Kalau cikgu dulu tanya do you understand, cikgu sekarang ni tanya are you understand," she said.

Duh! Cikgu pun tak betul rupanya...

"Makcik tau ke cakap Bahasa Inggeris?" Ika then asked me. Eh, see the leg lah...

On another note, Sofie plans to get Saiful circumcised during the school holidays. When her sister heard about it, she too wanted her 12 year old son to get circumcised together and even wanted to hold a kenduri for that purpose. Sofie was reluctant, saying that she couldn't afford to hold a kenduri, but her sister said not to worry, just join her kenduri. The sister went to the extent of taking a RM1K loan from the kampong cooperative just to have the kenduri!! Although Sofie was still rather reluctant, she didn't bother to object either.

That was until Ika came home from her aunt's house one day and told her what she heard. Apparently, upon hearing that the mother (Sofie's sister) would hold the kenduri for both her son and Saiful, the eldest son (Sofie's nephew, the same mulut laser one who had prompted Sofie to move out of her sister's house in the first place), said out loud, "Sibuk je si *Saiful nak tumpang kenduri kita!"

The moment Sofie heard about it, she decided to just quietly arrange for Saiful's circumcision to be done at he hospital without informing her sister. No need kenduri-kenduri! Even families who can afford to hold kenduris without borrowing money are no longer doing kenduri bersunat.

Saiful has yet to go to Ipoh GH to set an appointment with the eye specialist. Sofie intends to bring him during the first week of the coming school holidays. Coincidentally she too needs to come and get her supply of medication then, so might as well come in one trip.

I told Sofie I'd probably come again some time in early December to bring her children shopping for next year's schooling needs. If I were to leave it to Sofie to buy first and claim later, she'd end up buying cheap poor quality uniforms/shoes as she wouldn't dare buy the average priced ones (which are already too expensive for her). Within less than a month, you'd hear the children complaining about koyak here, koyak there... lubang here, lubang there... but they'd still wear the uniforms/shoes anyway.

Just as I was about to leave, Sofie asked about an HIV positive person I had been enquiring about earlier. You see, I had asked her on the whereabouts of a particular kampong in the same town. Sofie asked if the person I was talking about was a maknyah. There were news being passed around about an HIV+ maknyah who was already in very critical condition.

Nope, the person I had enquired about earlier was a married lady, not a maknyah.

But speaking of maknyah, remember the call from the maknyah in my earlier posting here? This must be the person Sofie was talking about - the earlier caller came from the same kampong. Early yesterday morning, a text message came in from the earlier caller to inform us that the friend had already been hospitalised. I just hope it's not too late to help.

All the best & get well soon Baby K!

Saturday, 7th November 2009 -

I had initially planned to fetch one of our new volunteers to get him to come along with me to visit the K's. He stays not that far from where the K's are staying and as such I figured it would be good to introduce him to them.

Just as I was leaving my house, I called him to ask for some easily identifiable landmarks near his house. His kampong is not listed in the GPS map that I have and although I knew roughly where the area was, I'd still need some info to know where to stop.

Apparently something else cropped up for him but since he had just lost his phone, he was unable to contact me as my number too got lost together with the phone. The volunteer had to bring his father to the hospital and somehow as at the time that I called, his father had yet to see the doctor. So no go for him.

Ah well, so the lone ranger that I am, I went alone...

As I parked my car in front of the K's residence, I saw Shah, the eldest son, at the door, cleaning something. The moment he saw me, he hurriedly went inside to grab a t-shirt (segan I guess, as he was shirtless... tapi yang tak pakai baju dok depan pintu for all and sundry to see tu tak lak segan...)

It had been quite some time since I last saw Baby K, probably a year or so, as such I wasn't really sure if the little girl still remembered me or would want to come anywhere near me. But as I got out of my car, I heard Mrs K telling Baby K, "Ha tu, makcik dah sampai dah!", and the little girl's immediate reaction was "Yay, yay!!" The girl, who will be 3 in January, ran outside in her already heavy diapers which looked like it was falling off anytime.

Mrs K's 14 year old daughter (the one who had been SMS-ing me earlier this year to tell me how stressed she was with her family's problems) also came out to help carry the stuff I brought along in my car - rice, milk, cooking oil, sugar, noodles, canned food and some other ready to eat foodstuff.

Baby K was excitedly jumping up and down (causing her diapers to go lower and lower!), pointing to whatever was in my car, and telling me things in her own language. Mrs K did tell me earlier that the little girl would be real grumpy when she's in pain. But since she was in a jolly good mood when I visited, I guess she was not in pain then.

The little girl then mumbled something and then showed me her teeth. Ahh... she just had a minor dental surgery (required by IJN before she goes for her heart surgery) and that was the story she was trying to tell me. Waaa... very talkative lah this girl!

"Sakit tak?" I asked.

"Atit", came the reply. (Sakit lah tu...)

Anyway, according to Mrs K, the girl's heart surgery was originally scheduled on the 16th of November, but IJN called recently to inform them that since the particular doctor would not be around on that date, they managed to get an earlier date for the girl. Postponing it to a later date may mean the surgery will take place in another 6 months time or more, and since the letter offering financial assistance for the girl's surgery is valid for only 6 months, if the surgery is postponed too long, they may need to re-apply all over again for the financial assistance.

So might as well grab the earlier date. Get it over and done with.

Mr & Mrs K, together with Shah, would be going to KL on Sunday to accompany the little girl. Yep, Shah, the eldest son was going too as Mr K would be coming back after a day or two, as he needed to work. Mrs K is taking 2 months unpaid leave to take care of the girl. If Mr K too takes too many days off, what would they be earning for the month? So Shah will take turns with his mother to take care of the baby while at the hospital.

The 2 younger sisters are staying with their grandfather temporarily, until Mrs K and Shah comes back. They themselves aren't too sure how long the girl would need to be hospitalised.

They were initially planning to go to KL by bus but when told that train fares were cheaper, decided to take the train instead. I explained to Mrs K what to do and where to go to if they were asked to pay for this and that. I remember the first time they went to IJN, they ended up calling me for help when they were asked to pay a few hundred Ringgit.

I called the little girl to come get a duit raya packet from me. I told the girl to give the packet to her mother. (Which she did, thank goodness!) I then informed Mrs K about the financial assistance from Buddies Welfare Fund which was issued in the form of a cheque and which had been banked into her account but would only clear on Tuesday or Wednesday. I didn't tell her the amount though. I just left the printed bank slip in the duit raya packet together with some cash, in case she needed some cash, especially for bus/train fares, before the cheque cleared.

After chatting with them for about 40 minutes or so, I got up to leave. The girl, upon seeing me getting up, came running... "Nak amin! Nak amin!" (nak salam lah tu...) And when I didn't bend down, she pointed her finger to her cheeks, implying that I should kiss her! I lifted the girl up to give her a peck on her cheek.

The girl looked fit enough for the surgery. I do hope the surgery will proceed as scheduled and that everything will run smoothly for the little girl. I plan to visit them again after they come back from KL.

Baby K

I received a text message from one of Mrs K's children on Wednesday night. I seldom get text messages from Mrs K herself as usually she'd get her children to send the messages. Needless to say, being the old school type, it took me a bit more time than usual to comprehend the whole message. With phrases like "dia sroh msuk awl", "nk kne opret", "ibu cbe kol", "nak g tau sal ni le", I had to reread and reread to make sure I got the story right. Yep, this is the same family which got me confused with the "ekor jantung" SMS some time ago.

Anyway, the gist of the message was, IJN had called them and asked to bring Baby K to KL this coming Monday although originally the surgery is scheduled on the 16th. The K's had been trying to call my colleague to inform him about this but their calls never got through.

I replied the message, telling them that I'd visit them this Saturday. I think that was what they were hoping for. I learnt from my colleague that earlier on they did mention to him they may want to try ask from "Kak Zah" some financial assistance for their bus fares to go to KL (but had been postponing doing so sebab Kak Zah garang... hehehe).

We have not told them about the approved amount from our Welfare Fund. I purposely didn't want to give the money earlier, in case they end up using the money for other things before they even manage to get on the bus. And I didn't even want to tell them about it earlier either, in case they end up borrowing somebody else's money and promising to pay once they get our funds. Trust me, knowing them, they would. It's just as bad as giving them the money earlier.

I have already banked in the cheque for them this morning, but will only inform them when I visit them tomorrow. I'm not sure yet who amongst them are going to KL and who are not. But it's not school holidays yet, so I guess the other children won't be going, unless they intend to ponteng. Shah, the eldest son, who is doing odd jobs to earn some income, is reliable enough to take care of his sisters.

So I think I will bring some groceries along as well so that the children staying behind will have enough food supply in the absence of their parents.

More updates after the visit.

Buatan orang?

It was past 12 noon, and the Socso officer who came to do a random check of my Company's salary and socso files had just left my office when a call came in on my hand phone, from an unfamiliar number. Seeing that it was from a local number and not a KL number where most of those annoying telemarketing calls come from, I answered the call.

"Ini Puan Afizah ke?"

"Ya, saya." (I never care if people call me Cik or Puan or kakak or makcik or even Opah...)

"Saya nak mintak tolong sikitlah. Puan ni dari Buddies of Ipoh kan?" (with the correct pronunciation of Buddies)

The caller, whom I initially thought was a lady, was worried about a friend who had gone for a blood test at the hospital near their place, and since the result of the first test was positive, was called to come for a second test to confirm.

The caller wasn't sure if the friend had gone for further follow-ups but she suspected not. When I asked if the friend had been to the Ipoh ID clinic, the answer was no. With that simple answer, I knew the friend never went for follow-up. All HIV cases would have been referred to Ipoh GH, and so if the friend had not been to Ipoh GH, then definitely he/she had not gone for follow up.

The caller was concerned because the friend's condition seemed to have deteriorated. The caller was convinced that the friend needs counselling help. It was only during the course of our conversation did I find out that both the caller and the friend were maknyahs. Ahh, no wonder the "lenggok" of the caller's speaking style was a bit different despite sounding a lot like a lady (I am definitely much more kasar!). He/she even mentioned that the HIV+ friend was one of the most beautiful maknyahs in town.

Despite being a maknyah, the HIV+ friend had no problem being accepted by his own family. The only problem is, based on what the caller told me, I doubt the parents really knew what HIV is all about. To them, their son was a victim of "buatan orang" and they believe that the only method of treatment would have to be done by a bomoh.

The caller did mention that another reason for the friend not wanting to go for follow ups was probably because they live in such a small community, even the people working at the hospital knew the family. And so I suppose there were some sok sek sok sek going around.

Well, I advised the caller to try and coax the friend to go to the hospital. Once they can get the referral letter, all follow ups are done at the Ipoh GH and no longer at the district hospital near their place. The caller then promised to try do the necessary and then will call me back.

Maybe the parents (and the patient) are in denial. Maybe lah. Hmmmm.... and maybe another option would be for me to go visit them, disguised as a professional bomoh, jampi-jampi a bit, and then sambil menurun give instructions to the guy to go to the hospital?

 

Wahai penunggu badan yang lenguh

Jangan kau gatal nak main kotor

Jangan tunggu jangan tangguh

Nyah kau ke hospital jumpa doktor!

 

PTUIIIHH!!

(kena ludah seround lah, baru real sikit...)

And oh, and then ask for a Blackberry Storm as pengeras maybe?

A few more activities for the year...

We're already into the last 2 months of the year. How time flies. Thank goodness at the beginning of the year I didn't set any new year resolutions for myself. Otherwise I bet I haven't fulfilled it yet and the new year resolution would have to be "renewed" when the next new year comes!

I don't usually set any new year resolutions for myself. To me if I need to make some changes for myself, I don't have to wait for a new year to do so. BUT I do have a target for next year. What target? Not saying it yet, will only tell you when the time comes.

We still have a few more activities for this year. In three weeks time, an Ipoh International Friendship Night will be organised with the purpose of bringing together foreigners working or staying in or around Ipoh to meet, and to familiarise them with the various community associations and programmes available here. In line with that, the organisers will also organise an exhibition and craft fair in order for NGOs and charitable organisations to showcase their services, programmes and/or handicrafts.

Buddies have been invited to participate in the exhibition, and since it will only take not more than 3 hours, I don't have to worry about getting enough volunteers to take turns to man our booth. 2 or 3 people should suffice, although I hope more volunteers will be able to join us. I haven't asked around yet, as I want to wait for the organisers to come back to me with the final programme before I start contacting the other volunteers.

On 1st December, we plan to have our Fellowship Night (for our volunteers) at our centre. Usually we'd have the year-end dinner held at a restaurant somewhere... and there was one year we had a Deeparaya Night... but since it's getting very difficult to get as many volunteers to gather at the same time, this year we're combining the Raya/Deepa/Christmas/Year End dinner at the center with some fun activities planned. I do hope most of the volunteers can attend this time.

Then the first Sunday of December, if things go according to plan, for the first time we're organising something on our own for the World AIDS Day (usually even if we do participate in something, we'd just tumpang sekaki whatever other organisations had planned). And our plan for this year is to have an HIV Awareness Programme at an Orang Asli Village.

Other than all the above, I must remember to get in touch with the HIV families whose children are sponsored under our Education Sponsorship for Children. I will need to get the updates on the children's progress in school, after which I will need to send the reports to the various sponsors and start collecting the sponsorship amount for next year.

And oh, I'd better not wait till the very last minute to arrange for the back-to-school shopping for the children!

That means there will more calls and house visits for me to do within these 2 months...