Going Out to Jitra After the Flood

I was half-hearted about going cos I was thinking of sprucing up my house these next few days. And I was still feeling tired from so many things... flood, cleaning up and work. But because they adjusted the visitation time so that I could finish cooking my lunch, I went for this little outing with my church friends to distribute some food aid.

This was at Jitra, at one of the 'kongsi(s)' just in the outskirt of Jitra town. We went out to distribute some aid to those affected by the flood. This was our first stop. Kim's sister was the one who brought our attention to this place. She liaised us with a young Indian Pastor who was familiar with the areas we were to go. This is also an area where the foreign workers congregate. You find Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Vietnamese and Myanmarese (I think) apart from our own locals. This particular place was around 1 1/2 - 2 feet of water from the water mark that I saw on the wall.

Our next stop was a house in Kg Giam, where I think the first victim of the flood, a 64-year old German woman was swept away by the strong currents. A young man we talked to told us the water went above the rooftop of this house. Everywhere we could still see the waterline on the tree leaves. At such a house, you don't get to see waterlines cos the whole house is submerged. He also told us that the currents were very fast and strong during the flood and one would be easily swept away. You just flee with whatever you can because you don't have much time to do anything else.

Another house that was completely submerged. Everything looked so normal when we were there. Yet, the people here had just gone through a terrible time. Can you imagine, everything you own being totally swallowed up by the rising waters? I saw some mattresses being dried in the sun. In the towns, we throw away our flood mattresses. Many of these people don't have that sort of extra cash to buy a new mattress. As a church, we send funds to the villages in Cambodia to help them build schools and support their teachers. We are part of medical teams to countries like Vietnam. Yet, I feel we've missed something here; our own people. Perhaps there is less glamour working among local people.... I wouldn't know.

This was another house that was flooded. Hidden behind the bushes, it's difficult to spot the house if you don't look for it carefully. At the height of the flood, you can't even see the rooftop! And again, the currents here were fast because it's near the Jitra Irrigation Canal. The mother of the lady of the house had just undergone an operation and could not walk much. The Pastor said a prayer for her before we left. And the lady, herself had just had a baby. She was only 2 weeks post delivery when she had to clean the whole house all by herself. Most of us would still be pampered at 2 weeks post delivery. Her kids were so happy to see us.

These are folks with less who lost more. We throw away our old TVs in working condition and don't think much about it. In one of the houses, I saw a small old diode TV sitting on the table. We throw away so many of our usable things. These people find it hard to afford those things. Our kids eat out at KFC, MacDonald's, Pizza Hut at whims. For these kids, I think it would be a grand treat to be able to eat at those places. And these folks are in our midst.... not just found in some other countries which we seem to be sending our mission teams. We spend so much of our resources and manpower there.... those which can be utilized here too. Perhaps it's a time to evaluate ourselves.

It's been a while since I went to places like this. I get too insulated by my comfortable life that I often forget what is out there. I wonder too if they get enough aid. I get the impression that aid these days is filtered by race first too, just like the recruitment of the civil servants. Cos when the head begins to rot, it'll spread downwards. And we, the people are the parts below.

So did I regret going? Nah! Sometimes everyone of us needs a little push to move. I am glad to be reminded of the blessings that come my way and that each of us can do a little to make our world a better place.