What used to be a motorcycle
Even the trees were not spared
Mazlan salvaging a page from his school magazine
What remains of the school magazine
The sad looking shack built by the villagers for the fire victims
The two men giving explanations to the ladies on the type of help given to Puan Hasanah
The victim, Puan Hasanah is the one sitting in the middleYesterday, the Islamic Studies teacher in my school, Ustaz Syed, asked if Puan Kamariah and I could go with him to the village of my student whose house was burnt down last month to try and persuade his mother, Puan Hasanah, to temporarily stay at the Pondok in Batu 10 while a new house is built for her. He had tried asking her to do so on his first visit but she had refused. I totally agreed with him that the shack that both mother and son are currently living in is actually really bad. If there is a strong wind, then it would be bye, bye to all the rusty zinc sheets that are used as the walls of the dilapidated dwelling.
Well, on Tuesday afternoon I got to see firsthand how bad the condition of the place was. Anyway, the place was filled with the rubble of what used to be a house. After only about 10 minutes inside the shack, I was sweating profusely as it was really hot inside the shack. I made an excuse of going out to take photos for a while as I was suffocating and also drenched in sweat. I also noticed that the zinc sheets were rusty and there were holes in them and there were openings at the top. I am sure that if it rains heavily, the both of them would be drenched. Besides, the mosquitoes were having a fun time sucking my blood. I should have brought mosquito coils for them as there is always this fear of dengue fever or malaria.
Both Puan Kamariah and I then tried to convince Puan Hasanah to relocate to the Pondok for the time being as this would be to her best interest. I started the ball rolling by giving a few reasons why she should go to the Pondok. Then Puan Kamariah took over and tried to extol the virtues of the temporary relocation. However, try as we could, Puan Hasanah refused to budge from her land. Mind you, she had two strong supporters flanking her and there was no way that she was going to agree to our proposal. So that meant that our mission had failed.
Anyway, Ustaz Syed and his friend, Encik Ramlan, are trying to raise funds to help build a new house for her.
Well, on Tuesday afternoon I got to see firsthand how bad the condition of the place was. Anyway, the place was filled with the rubble of what used to be a house. After only about 10 minutes inside the shack, I was sweating profusely as it was really hot inside the shack. I made an excuse of going out to take photos for a while as I was suffocating and also drenched in sweat. I also noticed that the zinc sheets were rusty and there were holes in them and there were openings at the top. I am sure that if it rains heavily, the both of them would be drenched. Besides, the mosquitoes were having a fun time sucking my blood. I should have brought mosquito coils for them as there is always this fear of dengue fever or malaria.
Both Puan Kamariah and I then tried to convince Puan Hasanah to relocate to the Pondok for the time being as this would be to her best interest. I started the ball rolling by giving a few reasons why she should go to the Pondok. Then Puan Kamariah took over and tried to extol the virtues of the temporary relocation. However, try as we could, Puan Hasanah refused to budge from her land. Mind you, she had two strong supporters flanking her and there was no way that she was going to agree to our proposal. So that meant that our mission had failed.
Anyway, Ustaz Syed and his friend, Encik Ramlan, are trying to raise funds to help build a new house for her.
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