Valuable experience…
First time waking up at 7am since i came back to JB.I have to report to the director of Hospital Permai at 8am. What was in my mind? I think i was quite anxious and curious because i do not know wat was waiting for me. WIll I be able to help them? Will I be able to relieve their stress? Will I be able to bring them back as before?
Yup!!I joined the flood relief team in Hospital Permai.We were supposed to console and counsel the flood victims. Y on earth did i end up in such activity? At first, I was quite reluctant to go cos it was all decided by my dad before i have a chance to make my own choice. But after thinking, I told myself to give it a try.We won know wat would it be like until we try right?
The first place that i will be going is SK Parit Raja, Batu Pahat.Before pushing off, we had a short meeting with Dr. Banjamin Chan which is the hospital director. He told us to handle those victims carefully as some of them were suffering from Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder.(^.^) this sounds familiar right?I think we learned it somewhere in BS lectures…Dr.Chan also asked us to prompt the victims to express their emotions. This is because by revealing their problems to us, it can help to relax their mind. We need to tell them how to handle current situations also because there were victims which became paranoid after the flood. They began to shift their things out of the house when it’s only drizzling. This is not very healthy as they wont be able to lead their normal daily routine anymore. So, after the short meeting, it was decided that 9 of us will be going to Batu Pahat. The team consists of Mr. Aru, the team leader, 5 staffnurses, 2 OT(Occupational Therapist) and I(the unexperienced one)=pYay!! Off we go…
After 2 hours journey, we reached SK Parit Raja finally. I felt so lost and helpless when i saw the whole primary school filled with 360+ families and 1700+ victims in total. I really dont know wat to do and where to start.Then, the OT told me that they had prepared things to have a colouring contest for the children. Ok!!I decided to start with something easy…Handling the kids… It was great. The kids were quite stable and can do the colouring well enough. I get to talk to the kids while they were colouring. They seem to know well about wat had happened to their homes. There were only a few of them felt worried about their possessions which were lost in the flood.
In the afternoon, we started off with motivating the kids. This was conducted by some professional counsellors from Hospital Serdang. As the group was too big, I was asked to help in leading the kids under 12. Ok…I was shocked as i donno wat to do again. My mind was blank. All sorts of reactions from the kids started to pop up in my mind…Would there be someone who break down in the middle of my discussions?But then, I told myself to be as casual as I can and try to chat with them…and yes!!It worked…The kids were willing to share their experiences and also tell me a little bit about them. I ended the session by motivating them and telling them to persevere in achieving their ambitions and dreams. The smile on their faces told me that I did well..(^.^)
After that, I went into the hall to talk to a few makciks. Before this, Mr.Aru told me that there’s nothing much that we could do now. We cannot give any promises. We cannot solve anything for them too. All we can do is to prompt them to tell us wat’s in their mind and we have to listen patiently. hmm…I think i can do that well tho…According to Mr. Aru, some of them might seem ok in front of us. But they may be putting up a brave front just to cover their fear.So, I was taught to do stress evaluative test by asking them all sorts of questions.hmm…I think i was not prepared to ask those questions yet.. So, I guess i will just start off with chatting with them first.Yay!!!It went well…I made a few friends over there. They were very willing to tell me about themselves and wat happened to their homes.
There was one makcik who is a single mother. She have to work as a cleaner to feed the family. She also have to take care of her mentally-ill child.She was also suffering from hypertension. I felt sorry for her. But, what amazed me most is that she accepted wat had happened to her. She said it was all challenges by God. Life is not going to be smooth-sailing all the time. All she can do is accept them and live with it. I was so happy about her spirit.
After talking to a few of them, most of them are suffering from insomnia which i guess is a typical symptom of stress patients. They are worried about their flooded homes. They have to adapt to the condition in the relief centres. and most devastating was how on earth are they going to clean up their houses after the flood is subside?All the problems come in a combo. i guess it takes a strong will and heart to face this kind of disasters.
I reached home at around 8 pm with a tired body but a stronger mind. I learned a lot from the staffs, the counsellors and the victims too. I thought i would be helping the victims, but instead of that i actually learned something from them.
Thought of the day :
When we give to others, we actually gain something from them without knowing.
