Update on Sofie’s children

When Sofie was still alive, I used to visit the family on weekdays without much problem. (I prefer to keep Sundays for myself. Hey, I need a break too.) Even during the time when she had started her nasi lemak stall, she’d usually be home by 11 am. So I’d usually go in the afternoon to visit her family.

But ever since Sofie died in Aprill 2012, the sister Sofie trusted most, Rozi, took over as the new guardian. Rozi works Mondays to Fridays and would usually only be home at night. Nope I don’t do house visits at night either.

From time to time I do go on weekdays to visit the kids when their aunt Rozi isn’t around, but whenever I need to discuss some matters with Rozi, I’d have to wait for Sundays to visit them.

So yep, last Sunday I went to visit. Rozi knew I was coming. When I got to their house, the gate was open, the front door was open, but there didn’t seem to be anybody around! As I got down from my car, Saiful, Sofie’s 3rd child saw me and said, “Eh, makcik dah sampai!” Apparently Rozi, Saiful, Ika and Rozi’s son were at the neighbour’s house, just finished their lunch.

They had actually been painting their house in the morning (the landlord paid for the paint and they agreed to paint the house themselves) and with the house in a mess and smelling of paint, Rozi did not cook. When the neighbour, the same one who had been giving free tuition to Saiful and Ika, invited them over for lunch, they simply couldn’t say no.

Anyway, I was told Azlan, Sofie’s eldest son, was home for the weekend, but had gone out with his cousin. Azlan had completed and passed his first semester exam in IKM and has turned out to be a very responsible boy now. He is in fact already planning to go on to diploma level after he completes his certificate course in another 3 semesters.

The same can’t be said about Sofie’s second son, Azman. Having wanted to quit school immediately after his PMR (as a matter of fact he did not go to school when he should have), I paved the way for him to join a culinary school, knowing that’s where his interest lies. Azman was happy when I arranged for him to join the culinary school. Initially he did okay, but somehow along the way, he became big-headed, he started spending as though he was rich, and he seldom went home. When Sofie died, he got even worse, going back only to the home of his other aunt who had once told the whole kampong about Sofie’s HIV. When Azlan, the older brother, tried to advise him, they almost ended up in a fist-fight!

Azman had stopped going to the culinary school, before even completing his one year course. What a waste! Now he’s doing odd jobs and no longer goes to see his siblings. He prefers to stay with the other aunt who doesn’t encourage him to continue his studies. I can just hope that Azman will come to his senses soon before he wastes his whole future.

The 3rd child, Saiful, is in form 3 this year. He too, like his brothers, are not too much into academics, but I could see his interest lies in the mechanical field. I think it’s probably best for him to join a vocational school next year, after PMR. Saiful himself is keen on the idea.

Ika, the youngest, seems to be doing better academically, although according to her aunt Rozi, she’d have to be reminded time and again to complete her homework every time.

I always remind them about the importance of education for their future. I hope they will work hard enough to get something more than just PMR or SPM. For the moment, Azman seems to be in a gone-case situation. But I hope Azlan, Saiful and ika, who I know are as disappointed with Azman as I am, will take their brother’s situation as a reminder for themselves NOT to do what he did. I know these 3 are at least happy staying with their aunt Rozi, just like Sofie would have wanted them to be.

First week of 2013: 4 house visits

After rounds and rounds of back-to-school shopping in December 2012, I still could not settle all the children’s schooling needs. Why? Because for many of the children, they had to wait until school reopens before they can get the full list of payments needed.

So yep, although we’re still within the first week of 2013, I have already visited 3 poor families with schooling children at their homes., and another one later today.

First up was Lin. Her son had completed his SPM, so this year only her youngest daughter is under sponsorship. She’s in form 4 this year and next year will be the final year of sponsorship for this family.

 

I went to visit them on Thursday afternoon. Lin was sewing when I got to her house. Her 3rd daughter will be getting engaged some time mid-January, and so there were quite some things for her to prepare. And yes, this is the first of her children to get hitched, although the girl is her 3rd daughter.

This family is doing not too bad now that the 3rd daughter has a permanent job, while the eldest is still looking around for a permanent job with her nursing diploma. The second daughter is in her final year in a university abroad and should be able to obtain her medical degree before the end of this year.

Yesterday, Saturday 5th January, I decided to visit Laila. Remember Laila, the one and only daughter of the late Shila? Well, the girl is already in form one this year. I had wanted to visit during the school holidays, but she was at her paternal grandparent’s kampong in another state. She’s still the same shy girl though, only came out to salam, then she went back in to get the details of her school payments etc, and then she went back in again. While I was chatting with her grandma, I heard her aunt telling her, “Keluar ajelah, nak segan apa?” Apparently Laila made a drink for me but was too shy to come out to serve me. She ended up passing the mug of iced milo to her 5 year old cousin to be handed over to me.

Anyway, Laila had improved a whole lot academically.  She scored 3A 1B and 1C for her UPSR last year. For someone who had never got any A’s in her exams before this, that was quite an achievement. If Shila was still alive, she would have been very proud of her girl. I hope she will continue to strive to do better.

From Laila’s place, I headed over to the home of Jayanthi. This is not my client, but I had been to her house once with her originally assigned Buddy. The originally assigned volunteer is now no longer with Buddies, and my last call to Jayanthi’s number didn’t get thorough. But on Friday, Jayanthi herself called me up to ask if they could get assistance for her children’s education. And since on my way back from Laila’s place, I’d be passing her place, I figured I might as well visit her after visiting Laila.

The last time I went to visit, the volunteer who confidently told me finding Jayanthi’s house was easy, ended up confused, thus confusing as well. His excuse was that he usually went by motorbike and so when we went by car, he couldn’t remember which road to take. Huh?? What an excuse! The truth was, while he told me he used to visit this client every 2 months, in actual fact he had not been visiting them for almost 2 years.

Yesterday I went again, accompanied by Mrs G. That’s my GPS. Didn’t really give me accurate direction to Jayanthi’s house, asking me to u-turn when I didn’t have to, but good enough to bring me to the area which looked familiar enough and so I managed to get to Jayanthi’s house without getting lost. Her dog was barking away like mad when I got down from my car, and so I waited outside until Jayanthi’s son held the dog, telling it to keep quiet.

After calculating the fees etc that needed to be paid for Jayanthi’s 4 primary school sons, I handed over some cash to her.

“Terima kasih banyak puan. Dulu anam taun sama itu **** (the former Buddy), dia janji macam-macam bantuan sama saya tapi satu sen pun saya tada dapat.”

I will now need to assign her a new Buddy to follow up on her family.

That’s 3 families covered. I am scheduled to visit Sofie’s children later today. Will update on that later.

Memories of 2012

Final house visits for the year?

Done with back-to-school shopping and delivery of bicycles, I started getting text messages and calls from some of my clients informing me about the amount needed to be paid to their children’s various schools.

Some had given me the list of payments much earlier when I brought them shopping. Most of those, I’d bank the amount direct into their bank accounts. 2 of my clients staying in Ipoh, just informed me recently about the workbooks, fees etc, so yep, since I was done with the shopping part, this week I decided to visit them at home and settle whatever amount needed by their children when they register for the new schooling term next week.

Yesterday I went to visit Aini. Coincidentally her eldest daughter who just registered at a polytechnic earlier this month, was on 1 week holiday and so she was home, just 2 weeks after registration. Good opportunity for me to find out how she’s doing at her new place. Thank goodness, she seemed to love her new life and the course she’s taking at the polytechnic. At least she’s showing interest in her studies now, as compared to earlier when she was doing form 6.

Aini’s 2 younger sons aren’t doing too well in school. They seem to be more interested in sports. The 2nd child, who sat for his PMR recently, obtained 1B, 4C, 2D and 1E. But he does show interest in vocational skills and had submitted his application to join a vocational school in form 4. We will just have to wait and see if his application is accepted. Meanwhile when school reopens next week, he will just have to go back to his old school.

While I was at Aini’s house, a text message came in from Zainab, asking if we still have enough budget to cover for workbooks and other school payments for her 2 young daughters. Both of the girls are still in primary school. Since Zainab said this week she works on night shifts, I decided to give them a visit this afternoon.

The younger girl, fondly called Adik, was already waiting at the door when I got there at 3 pm as promised. And she immediately shouted, “IBUUUUUUU!! MAKCIK DAH SAMPAIIII!!!”

Glad to note that the older girl, fondly known as Kakak, looked happy and healthy. She used to be hospitalised from time to time due to her kidney problems. According to Zainab, of late Kakak had been doing quite well health-wise. Am so happy to hear that. Hopefully she can now pay more attention in school instead of having to miss school whenever she’s hospitalised.

With the 2 visits this week, I think I am done with this year’s rounds of house visits. More visits to be done once school reopens. Meanwhile, I think I will just sit back and relax until next year… :)

Delivery of bicycles & another round of back-to-school shopping

Monday 17th December:

I had promised the guy from the bicycle shop I’d be collecting 2 more bicycles from his shop this morning. 1 bicycle had already been delivered to Ika last week. The additional 2 bicycles were to be delivered to Mas, whose 2 primary school children need the bicycles to go to school as Mas herself is always unwell and may not be fit enough to send them to school on her motorbike. I wanted to send the bicycles to Mas on Tuesday morning, but since the bicycle shop only opens after 10.30 am, I decided to get the 2 bicycles from the shop on Monday. So yeah, the bicycles had to spend a night in my Kenari before being delivered to the intended recipients.

Tuesday 18th December:

Since the address Mas gave me just indicated the name of the kampong and no specific house number, Mas told me to give her a call once I reach the Dewan Serbaguna at her kampong. Thank goodness the kampong is listed in my GPS, and so I wasn’t really worried about getting to the kampong itself (have GPS will travel!). My only worry was if Mas couldn’t give reliable instructions to get to her house once I reach the place.

The Dewan Serbaguna itself was just along the main road, so there wasn’t any problem finding it. The problem was when I called her to ask for further directions, although I told her I was coming from town A, she just said, “Akak kena jalan depan lagi sikit. Nanti saya tunggu tepi jalan.” “Kalau dari arah saya datang ni sebelah kiri ke kanan?” “Kiri”, she said. I drove slowly further up, and looked for her, but nope. Didn’t see her. Then she called, “Akak, akak bawak kereta Kenari ya?” Apparently she was on the right side of the road where I was coming from, and when she said I was to go further up, I was supposed to turn back. Her place was before the Dewan Serbaguna. Her earlier instructions would be appropriate if I had come from town B.

I then asked if I turned back, which side of the road would she be… and she said, “Kanan.” Turned back, slowly drove, and saw her on the left side of the road. She said kanan because she was facing where I was coming from and so my kiri became her kanan…

But ah well, I did make it to her house and finally delivered the 2 bicycles for her children’s use.

Wednesday 19th December:

Another round of back-to-school shopping. Wait, didn’t I mention in my earlier posting that I was DONE with this year’s back-to-school posting?? Well yeah, I was kinda hoping all the other clients whom I did not take shopping would be able to buy first the schooling necessities and we’d reimburse them later once they pass us the receipts. But there was one lady, Jamilah, a new client during the year, who said she couldn’t afford to buy anything yet. She stays quite far from the 3 places where I had brought a few families shopping earlier, which was why I didn’t ask her to join the earlier groups. But since she needed to come to Ipoh on Wednesday for her hospital appointment, I told her to bring along her 3 children, and after she’s done with her appointment, I’d take them shopping for their schooling needs.

But Jamilah was one of the last to see the doctor that day, and by the time I got to the hospital (after I had my lunch and zohor prayer) and I called her, she had just been called into the room to see the doctor. Wow, I can imagine how restless her children were, having to wait there since before 9 am! Her eldest son, 16, came by motorbike, to cut down on cost… otherwise the bus fare from her place would be RM20 per person.

Brought them direct to Mydin’s, but knowing that they hadn’t eaten anything since morning (by then it was almost 3 pm), I took them for lunch first. Once their tummies were filled, then only I took them up to buy their schooling needs. By the time we were done, it was already 5.10 pm. Initially we were thinking of packing everything nicely first into their newly bought school bags so that it would be easier for them to carry the things on the bus when travelling back home, but the last available bus to their place was at 6 pm. We didn’t want to take any risk, it was after office hours, we needed ample time in case we got caught in a traffic jam going to the bus station. So we just chucked everything into my car and while I drove, told the boys to put everything into the 3 school bags. And yep, they managed to do so before we reached the bus station at 5.30 pm.

Thursday 20th December:

Early morning around 7 am, a text message came in from Maya. All of Maya’s children (all girls) are under our sponsorship programme and so Maya does report to me on the progress of her children’s schooling. Earlier on when I brought them shopping, Maya told me that her 2nd daughter became top student among her form one schoolmates at a fully residential school. I was impressed. This time she texted me to inform me of her eldest daughter’s PMR results. The girl scored 7A 1B. Alhamdulillah! News like these always warm the heart. They motivate me to keep on helping these families, especially involving the children’s education…