A Malaysian Baha’i youth and the baby she cares for

Caring for Adam

I HAVE been part of Ipoh Hospital’s In-Reach Programme for nearly six months, and it has been an enriching, fulfilling experience. As a Baha’i, I live by the motto, “Work is worship, service is prayer” which also aptly sums up what volunteerism is about. During that time, I have been working with Adam (not his real name), a 22-month-old abandoned child with Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy five days a week, feeding, bathing, stimulating through exercise and carrying him to provide human warmth. The doctors, nurses (they call me Adam’s ibu angkat, meaning foster mother), and attendants have been helpful, supportive, and friendly. The hours are often gruelling, and tempers can sometimes run short, what with the stiflingly hot weather, but the rewards are manifold. Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy affects all four limbs and the trunk, often along with the muscles controlling the mouth and tongue. Children with spastic quadriplegia often have mental retardation and other problems.

My Adam does not “know” me, but the rare smile and the occasional brief recognition are like precious gems to me. He cannot sit up, roll over or even hold his head for long without support, so you can see what a smile means to me. I may smell of regurgitated milk and mashed bananas but I wear it like perfume because it meanshe is eating well. Many people might scorn at the “low-class” work of a volunteer and I have often been at the receiving end of mothers who assume I am Adam’s useless mother who leaves her son alone at night. But the rewards are there. For one thing, I am privileged to be able to work with the Neonatal Ward and Paediatric Rehabilitation Unit. There is really nothing like holding a newborn baby in your arms, or seeing a Cerebral Palsy child lift his head after weeks of stimulation. And to be able to witness the parents’ acceptance, love and devotion they have for their special children – that’s priceless. Where Adam is concerned, he wasn’t born at Ipoh Hospital. He was transferred from Muar Hospital a while back. After seven months, he was placed in a home for the handicapped but after three months, he developed severe pneumonia. He was readmitted to Ipoh Hospital on Dec 30, 2005. I have been helping to care for him since Jan 10 this year. Adam is a bit of a celebrity as everyone in the hospital knows him. At 22 months, he weighs 5.445kg, just 1.5kg more, despite six months of patient feeding. But he is healthy now and that itself is a blessing. Those of us who have been caring for this little boy have grown to love him and admire his fighting spirit.We dread the day when he will have to leave the hospital and return to the home for the handicapped. Until then, I am proud to be his ibu angkat. – By DAPHNE LING