ADAM...

The second week I got back to Indonesia, one of my friends took me to participate in this volunteering activity (oh, and of course I had recovered from my big ass jet-lag by then!). It was organized by The Lion's Club of Jakarta. It took place in Panti Sosial Bina Grahita Belaian Kasih Jakarta Barat, a place where poor children with disabilities were taken care of.

I had this mental image about how the place was going to be, because I have had my psychiatric and community health rotation too back when I was still in the nursing school. However, upon my arrival, I was terribly shocked due to : a) the physical condition of the kids and  b) the smell - seriously!

Okay, fine, I thought.... I'll be happy to help out, but please children, do not smear your body fluid on my hands by hugging me!!!! Since most of them were not toilet trained, they would urinate wherever and try to touch me afterwards. Some of them had exudates coming out from their ears...  I tried asking for gloves (nursing school rule #1, always put on your gloves when you  are at risk of being in contact with bodily fluid, otherwise you WILL fail the class) but they did not have any available. Fortunately some people stocked up a bunch of hand sanitizer, which I then used big time.

Partially disgusted, I tried to draw and interact with them though. However, most of them could not speak. I asked the workers whether most of the kids were mute. It turned out that most of them apparently could speak when they got in there, but since nobody really communicated with them, they eventually lost their ability to speak. What a pity! As I learnt that, I tried to keep encouraging them to communicate with me, but I guess more time was required for them to regain that skill.


There was one kid that stood out for me in particular. His name was Adam. He was one of the skinniest and the smallest kid seen in that facility. He could not speak. He grabbed my hand as he was coloring his sheet of paper with the crayons. He gave one of the crayons to me and gestured me to join him coloring. So I did. He was pretty cute, I thought.

Our coloring session was interrupted by the announcement for lunch. I was curious of what Adam would do, so I just kind of followed him as he was getting his lunch. I helped him with his eating utensils when I saw that he was having difficulty. Adam, as the food became available to him, probably took a spoon or two of his food, and then, to my surprise, gave to others his! (the type of food provided during this lunch was a rare treat for them). He would scoop his rice, and feed the rest to his friends later. No wonder he was so skinny! I discouraged that behavior since he was so skinny and he needed some nutrient himself, but he ran away from me and kept feeding others in his way. He loved to nurse others. Funny how a lesson on humanity came from the most unsophisticated place like this. He cared for others despite of his own condition.


*pictures courtesy of Edo Hokandar*