Assalamualaikum everybody...
Here I am, sitting in my room, bored to death...it's scorching hot outside, a bit windy though...thank god. Tried to take a nap earlier, but couldn't rest my mind (well, my mind had always been restless though, god knows for how long!). So, let me just jot down a little something for you guys to read.
(pic left-minah ni name dia Soo. baik dan rajin sangat tapi garang jugak. Banyak betul dia buat keje)
(pic-khairil, me and chia-three of us with the same foster family)
I recently went to Bachok (3rd April) for what they call Community and Family Case Study (CFCS). There were 18 of us. I was the group leader. We stayed in the kampung for 5 days with foster families. Just to let u guys know, Bachok is called 'Jelapang Tembakau Negara' (Mas, u surely knew this already right?).Wow...there were indeed acres of tobacco plantation. They looked like huge, overgrown Pak Choi leaves. 80% of the villagers here plant tobacco leaves for a living (not in Mukim Nipah though). Most of them only work 4-5 months a year during the tobacco season. In that duration, they scrapped enough money to support them for a year! It's kind of a tradition there to plant tobacco. But, mind you, there are quite a few large houses there from well off families (contributed by their professional kids who does not plant tobacco..)
Many doctors live in this Bachok area. Why? Most of them worked either in private clinics or HUSM which is just 20 mins drive. But, most of all, they lived there because of the beaches. There was this huge seaside mansion owned by a couple, the husband is a Prof. Hans (is it German?) married to a Malaysian dr. (Malay muslim). Kinda reminded me of dear Leia and Honza. Wow! Their house was like living in an expensive holiday mansion everyday.
Back to CFCS. Actually, all 220 year 2 med and dental students went to Bachok district which comprise of a few mukim. My group of 18 were assigned Mukim Nipah which has around 1000 houses. We conducted cross-sectional study. We tagged all the houses in the whole mukim in 1 and a half days. Then we randomly selected 120 houses for our survey. We interviewed about 500 people. Took measurements and everything. Paan would definitely enjoy that part (if you know what I mean...)haha! I was so tired from the ordeal of being a leader. I'm not made for that kind of stuff, really. Am not really a leader. But anyway, it was quite a success. Everybody co-operated and did their jobs well which was a relief.
(pic- that's me - tagging and mapping on day 1)
Aduh!!!Se'eh nye perut aku! My tummy was bloated everyday, all the time in the kampung. Why? Because these Kelantanese people liked it a little bit too much to stuff their guess of honour with food. My foster family prepared food for me like there were no tomorrow! And we have to eat at the other foster families too. And all the houses that we went in for surveyed prepared at least super-sweet drinks and super-sweet kuih for us. It would be rude not to abide by their hospitality. So , we all ended up walking with a headache from the sugar-rush and stomach ache too. Thank god none of us ended up with typhoid fever (Malay-demam kepialu). My foster family, once they learnt of my fondness towards durian, bought me durian EVERYDAY! Good gracious, I can't even eat more than 5 ulas of durian Thailand, god forbid durian kampung! Could only muster 2 ulas. If I eat more, I would end up with fever and runny nose instantly!
(pic-makan sotong celup tepung tepi pantai Irama)
Well, anyway, the worst ordeal was the data processing part after we left the kampung. It was like HELL! We spent quite a few consecutive days and slept at 1-2 am everyday to do data entering, analysis and the powerpoint presentation. I don't find the need to elaborate more on this. Anyway, our community diagnosis were diabetes and hypertension - the usual combo. So, for the the second cfcs residency in three months time (right after our term holiday), we are going to focus our survey on this two. After that, in the 3rd and fourth residency next year, we have to do intervention and post intervention study. By that time, i'm pretty sure that the whole mukim would know all 18 of us by name! Just imagine, a few of the surveyed houses were of police inspectors. We had to obtain some info from the mukims police station. The thing was, it took 3 days for them to 'process' application for info. but, once they saw our faces, thay did the job in just 30 mins! Well, that's the scenario in Malaysia...
Anyway, I was nervous like hell during the presentation because the groups before us were bombarded with nasty questions and comments. A few groups had to re-do their presentation. If that happens to me, i would definitely break-down. God forbid!But anyway, all that didn't happen..We sailed through the presentation with just a few coments and remarks. That's all. Except that my hands were trembling like mad (evident by the not so static laser pointer that i used). Well, now, we have to prepare for the next residency plak.
Aduh...penat aku masuk kampung ni tak habis lagi, now I need to study for final exam next week! Banyak giler nak kene study!Tak taulah aku...Babai kengkawan sume!MISS YOU ALL LOADS AND LOADS!!!Take care!
