bintan, running children and keropok ::

think I had an unhealthy obession with food now. Im like almost perpetually eating and eating more and more.. Anyway, I had wantan mee and beehoon this afternoon for lunch and dinner, I had a plate of rice with curry fishhead and chicken rice! And I have to have my 2 curry puffs when Im in the office. Oh no.. Doesn't sound that good.

Anyway, YEAY! IM BACK! Hahaa...feels so good to be back in SG. I wonder how I'll feel if Im really going away for a long time. I think not only that I'll miss my family and friends, but I'll also miss the green dustbins in SG, the east coast beach, the bustle early in the morning of my neighbourhood's market, the mrt.. Haiz..

Mission trip was more luxurious than I'd expected. Stayed in this hotel with nice furnishings, hot water, minus bed bugs. We don't even have to bath in the river! Which I was half expecting. Good good. We had to travel to this village called Madung up north 45 mins ride away from Tg Pinang to teach toddlers ABCs. Had to prepare materials for them to colour and think of games for them to play and to reinforce what they'd learnt the night before. Taught them 1 to 10 in English and shapes like triangle, circle and square. The children were extremely enthusiastic about what they are learning. Despite being quite shy when we first met them on Saturday, they opened up to us more and tried to talk to us. But unfortunately, I didn't know enough Bahasa Indonesia to understand them, else I guess I would have enjoyed myself more.

The children were so cute, with toothy grins and all! But most of them were really small in size. Heard from Ben [who was a doctor from our team] that they were probably malnourished and thus look like 5 year olds despite being 10 year olds. They were quite hyperactive, always running round the whole place. Either that or Im old now. :P I thought I'd enough sleep the night before, but my energy levels were not high enough to keep up with them. Argh..

The village was quite polluted and had malaria problems. Heard the water they use is rusty and slightly muddy. Yes, water for cooking and bathing. Rubbish were strewn everywhere and anywhere they fancy. The children were quite dirty and muddy looking too. I was quite upset with myself, not wanting to carry them or hug them. Thought I should you know. But I couldn't overcome the 'dirty' factor. I did pat them and hold and shook their hands though, tried to stay as close to them as possible, ignoring my own eh.. protest? Had to pray pretty hard to ask God to let me enjoy myself. Initially I thought I would be able to take it, however, I think I can take dirt from nature i.e soil and stuff rather than 'man-made' dirt.

Had a prayer walk plus tour around the village. This prayer walk thing is quite a new concept to me. You actually pray like you're talking to your friends while walking around the place so that the locals would not take offence. In the midst of that, I chased a couple of chickens! Heh. Erm.. okay. I was never that mature in any sense. But I was very happy and amused touring the place. The village chief invited us for a bit of tea at his house despite them puasa-ing. Very grateful about it, cos weather was quite unbearable and I'd finished my water.

Brought back some local products! Tapioca in chilli paste and banana chips! Muahahha!!! [Food again! -.-'] Comes in big packets! That's what I like about it! Titbits! In big packs! Can eat for a long time! And cheap! *euphoric now*

Saw a lot of children begging and some adults as well. Felt extremely sad when I saw this lady with a baby who had a hydrocephalus [i think, Claire, Ben's wife, also a doctor told me it might be something else too, but whatever it is, its fatal] condition. Remember Ben Peacock from "Red Sky in the morning" Our sec 2 literature book? Yah.. I had only felt sorry initially, but upon hearing that the mother herself had refused to accept treatment for her baby possibly because she wants to use her son as a begging prop, I felt a twang of pity then disgust. How could she let her own son suffer like that? It was indeed a sobering outlook of life of survival. Then this little boy was following me around trying to get some money out from me. But my cell group mate told me not to "spoil the market". So I didn't give. I think even if I did, I couldn't solve the root of the problem - Poverty. Oh man, Im like this spoilt little brat back here. Haiz..

Realise being a doctor allows easy access into a person's home and heart. Ben and Claire shared a lot about the heartbeat of being a doctor. Ben visited this lady 47, suffering from breast cancer, he shared with us the lady's suffering and how he'd proposed to the local doctor to bring in oestrogen and morphine to lessen her pain. Apparently she was in constant pain and couldn't lie flat on the bed. And the cancer had spreaded from her breast to her arm. So she's probably at the last stage of her illness. Its sad to hear about all this, especially if you can't do anything about it. Feeling quite helpless. humph. Hope God will do something about it and that she gets better after taking oestrogen. :'(

It was overall a inspiring experience, its always interesting to gain a few new perspectives and increase my knowledge on medical and social issues and I'd enjoyed talking to people like my CGL, Ben and Claire. :]