This is my 8th year of service, and this is my very first involvement in a Medical Camp in Sabah! Finally!! \(^^)/
I received last minute offers many times before but I usually have something else scheduled that I have to decline. And for this one, Alhamdulillah, I had an offer on the same day that I turned down another offer to the same place.
Honestly, I was really really excited. Was asking around about this part of interior Sabah from those who went there before. Googled the map and details of the people. I was not even sure of what to wear and was stalking other people's IG to see what they wore to Medical Camp on the night I packed my stuffs. Adui.. Budak bandar konon~ Hahaha
I woke up early on that day and asked my Dad to drive me to the hospital. Our departure was delayed by a few hours due to some transport arrangement issues but I was okay to have arrived early. One of my resolution this year is to improve on punctuality. And I had the chance to study some Japanese while waiting.
We rode an air-conditioned van to Keningau.. I have to mention this because after that we were stuffed in a non AC van for another 3 hours to reach KK Nabawan and then to a village where we shift to a 4WD vehicle. I saw one of the volunteer posted on her IG story "There are 17 of us is this non AC van!" hahaha It was not the most comfortable ride but since I've experienced worst so I was actually okay. At least the ventilation was okay and the road was not bumpy although my legs were not in a comfortable position. Amazingly, AJ manage to fall asleep and the rest of us were occasionally engaged in small talks throughout the journey.
We were the last to arrive and the villagers were already waiting to get their medications. It was quite frantic that evening. Maybe because how the tables were arranged. I guess, those who arrived earlier had set them up in a hurry too. We had to speak loudly to make sure we were heard by our patient; I was struggling because my voice is not the loud type LOL I had no picture of that commotion. Thank God because I'm sure I'll be ugly if there is any hahaha That night we joined the others to pack some gifts and stationery for the kids. And this room on top wass where we spent our night at the first village. I think it was comfortable and I had a good night sleep.
Second day with Dr Emma who came all the way from Serdang to join us serve the people in Pensiangan. We started at around 8 am that morning. The table arrangement was improved so the flow was smoother that morning. At around 11 am, EVJ and LH left to the next village by boat leaving AJ and me. AJ kept on saying "Syukur nyeeeee GG yang tulis~" because she went on and on and on about both of the guys' undecipherable hand writing hahaha
It took around 30 minutes to the next village by boat. I was surprised to see there were strong rapids as we cruise on the river. It got me a bit worried for a while, wondering if the boat can pass them safely. Well it did, Alhamdulillah. There were times when the water splashed and we cheered in excitement. The guy sitting in front turned and asked "First time ke?" hahaha Naaaah~ we're just the type who easily get excited that things will seem like it's our first time every time hahaha
There were fewer patients at the second village that evening. The weather was a bit too hot for me that I was actually trying my best to bear a bad headache throughout the afternoon. Around 4 pm, we went to check our accommodation for that night. I was fast asleep while the rest went to explore the village. Only got hold of PCM later that night and finally it got better. They had some activity at the church but I didn't go and were just chatting with the other girls. EVJ and LH went to play cards with another group of NGO that was there to install solar panels. hurm.. Nampak sangat ketuaan aku kan dalam kisah ini~
We started around 9 am on our last day. Actually, the dentist was the hottest spot of all. We really pity him to have single-handedly handled all the patients in both village. He pulled like more than 40 teeth in a day!
We left the village at around 12 something that afternoon and our journey upstream took twice the duration downstream. We even stopped to get some fuel midway. There was this other boat that was smaller and the engine was only like 15 horsepower (based on what was printed on the engine). I was observing it every time it was nearby because the way it got drifted away every time it tried to push on against the current was actually horrific! I was like, "Oh My God~ I'm happy I'm not on that boat.."
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| Cute baby~ |
The awesome team we worked with!
One of them is the nurse in my ward who invited me to join along
There is a nurse I played futsal with
And one of them is a nurse I met in India in 2016!!!!!
Someone in this picture is kind of an Insta Famous and we were stoked when we found out hahahaha
and then we decided to add his number of followers hahaha
Oh that's just me.. In a rare good candid pic hahaha
Smile and salam kiddo!
Mesti aku tengah mengarut ngarut dengan budak ni masa ni
I'm so grateful to have been given the opportunity to experience this :)