Elective posting Part 1: At PKMD Jerantut

Salam & hi...

How are all of you doing?
Yesterday i just got back from my elective posting at PKMD (Pejabat Kebajikan Masyarakat Daerah) Jerantut. FYI,it was from 2 - 13 march 09 and i did it with Roy, Azuwa & Annisaa.
For me,it was superb and very worthwhile although very tiring (and i got fever,runny nose and otitis media in the process,aiya)..at least it taught me how actually the welfare of the community is taken care of!

The journey to Jerantut started on 1/3/09 and for our 1st night there, we stayed in a traveller's lodge (cost us rm15 per room) and after that until the end of the posting we stayed in the workers' quarters of Desa Bina Diri (i'll explain what exactly is this DBD further down), thanks to aid given by Pn. Noor Hayati (the Head of PKMD Jerantut). Azuwa & Nisa stayed with 2 nurses who worked in DBD and Roy & me stayed with the attendants and officers of DBD and STB (Sekolah Tunas Bakti, which i'll also explain further down).

.:: Bandar Jerantut ::.

.:: the group members! resting for a while after the zuhur prayers ::.

So,what exactly did we do there? well,we just followed the staffs there to do their field work and also linger around in the office. A few thing i would like to highlight is how nice the staffs there actually are! And their office is so open you can sit anywhere you want but there's still a few cubicle if you want to get a job done in private. I still remember waht one the staff said, "dudukla mane2 pon ye, kami x kisah pon,". Our supervisor there was En. Quril Sahabudin.

.:: See how open their office is! No wonder they're so nice!! ::.

.:: lepak2 ::.

.:: candid pic! can i help you sir? ::.

.:: candid pic! ksian roy, penat agaknyer... ::.

.:: candid pic! aik, termenung je wa... ::.

.:: candid pic! main ape tu nisa? ::.

The first activity that we joined in was the court proceedings regarding juvenile cases (below 18 y/o). We went to the court there and follow the proceedings and it was a good 2 hours in total and a whole new experience for me. :D

.:: it was actually done at the Mahkamah Syariah because the Mahkamah Majistret is being renovated ::.

.:: please be quiet (aiya, i'm not in the pic) ::.

Then, we followed Pn. Norzilah (we called her kak Zi) to the house of the applicants that apply for the financial aid from JKM. Basically, it involves seeing the house and asking a series of question then deciding whether the apllicants is eligible for the aid or not (one thing that amaze me was, even though they apply for the aid, they still have an Astro subscription! When we asked the staffs they said that, Astro there is a necessity not a luxury because it's impossible to get a TV signal using the conventional antennae).

.:: kak Zi in action ::.

.:: one of the applicant's house ::.

After that, we went to Desa Bina Diri (DBD) Jerantut. It was very saddening to see the people that are in this institution. They are people that were rejected by the community (a.k.a homeless) and some were rejected by their own children (you ungrateful scum!!). And about half of the occupants sufferred from psychiatric disorders (mostly Schizophrenia). The occupants there basically did nothing except from eat, walk around, watch TV & sleep. Only a few is fit enough to take care of the plants and help in the kitchen. Oh, and it's all male there. According to the Penguasa (some sorta like the head there), En. Azmi, there's also other DBD in other states for females.

.:: DBD ::.


.:: En. Azmi, the head of DBD ::.

The next day, we spent the day in STB Jerantut. This is a specialized institution for juvenile delinquents (contrary to popular believe, it's not a conventional school). Most of them are ones that done something really bad (stealing, rape, assault, etc) and a few were sent here by their family because they were 'uncontrollable' (running away from home, etc). It's all males here (similar to DBD, there's also other STB for females in other states). Because they're all very able, they were taught different skills such as planting crops, herding cows & sheeps, metal works, electronics, etc. Only a handful were allowed to go to normal schools (after they were evaluated to be safe & have the spirit and potential to study).

.:: STB ::.

From 6 - 9 March, all of us took a break & went for holiday!!! I'll touch on this in the next part of the update, ok?

In the second week, we kickstarted it by tagging along with kak Ila, Ida (she's younger than us!) and one more akak (i couldn't remember her name, if you are reading this, i'm sorry -.-) to do something called 'Projek Cari'. It's almost similar like what we did with kak Zi previously but the 3 of them act as the 1st representative from JKM to go to the applicants house (so, if you want aid from JKM it actually involves the rep from JKM coming twice to your house!) after getting information from the penghulu of the village or area. We went to an area called Damak (trust me, i think my car was practically 'crying') and it's an eye-opening experience to actually meet with people who is actually, as the government put it, 'miskin tegar'.

.:: having fun during the fieldwork ::.

The next day, we went to a place called PDK or Pusat Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti with En. Hadi (one of my housemate there). This center caters for people with learning difficulties or dissabilities (Down syndrome, Autism, deaf, etc). In contrary to KL or other major cities, there's no specific center or NGO that caters for this special group. In this center, they were slowly taught to understand simple things such as doing everyday routine and simple learning task (counting, ABC, etc). So, to all my fellow future doctors, keep this in mind, in case in the future you are in a district hospital somewhere not-so-like-KL and you have a special patient you'll know where to refer them to.

.:: hm.. ::.

.:: the special people in PDK ::.

Off from the PDK, it's time to go to Taska (Taman Asuhan Kanak2) with En. Hanafi. You should know what it's for rite? No need further explanation here. We actually went to 2 Taska. The kids were so adorable and at the first one, the kids there actualy cried when we left! :D I have a great time playing with them & i pray so that they will have the best of luck in their life and may Allah protect them.

.:: serang die!! ::.

.:: adorable aren't they ::.

That's basically our last official activity at the PKMD. And after we got back from visiting the Taska, we don't have anything to do so we basically linger around and then we decided to slip out and went to Mentakab to Hakim's house and have lunch there! (thanks to his little sister)

We actually planned to organized a farewell party on Friday (the last day) but then before we slip out earlier, one of the staff there which is kak Mi ask us whether we'll be back in the office in the evening so, we kinda thought something fishy is going on so, we decided to stop by in Temerloh and buy a cake from Secret Recipe. And spot on, as we've guessed, they really had organized a farewell party for us!! How sweet.... Thanks again!! :D

.:: Choc fudge cake from Secret Recipe ::.

.:: Puan Noor Hayati is the one in yellow, 2 from the left ::.

.:: thanks En. Quril! ::.

.:: saje, comel la budak ni ::.

That wraps up our elective in PKMD Jerantut but other than the official activity, there's also other not-so-official activities a.k.a jalan2,haha. Wait for it in the next part! Till then!

.:: in the end, a job well done! (the cap is a gift from En. Quril) ::.

2 happy things happenned yesterday.
1st: it's my birthday according to the hijriyah calendar (19 Rabi'ul Awal, so hepi besday to me) and only 1 person remember it and actually wished me, tq ika!
2nd:accidentally went to C&S with lin, fana & fana's sister (Nabilah if i'm not mistaken),haha.... :D

-XD-