PPKKCTM

PPKKCTM stand for Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Taman Megah..

Yup, that was where I went this morning. I was so tired and even though I put my alarm at 7am, I could not wake up because I was just too tired. My mind was telling me to skip this trip to uni and sleep in. But if I don't go today, I won't go next week too so I managed to drag myself up from bed and left house by 8.30am to the train station. Wow, the train was so full with people but after KL Sentral's stop, I managed to sit and had hard time keeping awake.

What is this PPKKCTM all about? It's a shelter for mentally disable children or adults such as kids with Down Syndrome, kids that are mentally challenged, kids that have damaged brain and stuff like that and also some orphans that were left there. Some of them could not move at all due to the damaged brain that leads to stunted growth. There's this boy who is 16 years old but he was as big as a 4 years old kid. His legs were tensed up and all his toes were crunched up and he can't speak or really move hence he just lie on that mat and stare. There were kids that were sitting on chairs and (sadly) tied to the chair I think to avoid them from falling because they can't walk.

I reached uni by 10am and we left by 10.15am. This is not an assignment or club thing, its just a programme organised by the seniors for people like us to join in some community service work. The whole time I was there, I keep hanging out with the immobile kids and tried to massage them. There's this gal called Gal Gal (13 years old but looks like 7)who likes me and likes people touching her. She can make sound and move (crawl) but can't talk or hold things. It was so sad because she keep making sound and point at the place where she wants you to touch/massage/pet.

There were also adults that were mentally challenged / Down Syndrome. There were also a few who were able to speak but their mentally are not of their age like a guy who is 20 years old but have a 10 years old kid's mind. Ya, there were a few who loved to be carried. There were a few who loves to pull you to one corner and make you sing with her/him.

When I first reached the place, I was a little surprise at the amount of children there. But after a while I got used to it. Besides that, I was a little uncomfortable at them touching me (I never like people touching me). There was this gal who suddenly put her hands around my waist and said ~Hi, how are you? I was shocked but looking at her condition, sadness just overwhelmed and I entertained her.

At about 12pm, food was served and I fed a Down Syndrome gal. She keeps having fits. They were having chicken rice and when she saw the chicken (drum stick), she extended her hand then back to her body then repeated till I put the plate nearer to where she can reach. It was just so sad but we managed to cooperate and had fun while eating. After feeding her, she went to another place to play so I went back to Gal Gal and we were laughing because I was clicking my tongue which amuses her. She even managed to give me a High-5!!

Looking at them crawling, tied to chairs, running around with distorted limbs just make me feel how lucky I am to be born as some what called perfect. I just could not believe my ears when I heard that they were abandoned by their parents and some even did not leave their birth cert behind and giving the management hard time because when they bring those kids to the doctor, they need identification.

After that whole experience I am so proud that I actually made an effort in taking some time out to help, that whole 1 hour of traveling is just so worth while (tiring though). Yes I am going to commit myself in this small project. Even though I can't do much but by entertaining and making them happy is something that helps them too.

Want to know more or look at their pictures, just click here.