Wednesday December 13, 2006
Restoring dignity
By BRIGITTE ROZARIO
"The purpose of Welcome is to restore the dignity and joy of living in people with HIV/AIDS,” said Alex Arokiam, programme coordinator of Welcome Community Home for People with HIV/AIDS.
Initially set up as a drop-in centre in 1995 in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur, Welcome’s purpose was to provide support, counselling and referral services for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Response to the centre was very good and with the increasing number of cases, the Welcome Community Home was established in 1998 in Batu Arang, Selangor.
The Welcome Community Home is open to men of all races and religions. In its eight years of operation it has provided shelter and care to 350 people for addiction rehabilitation and 300 people for HIV/AIDS. So far 90 people in advanced stages of AIDS have been given palliative care, helping them to die with dignity and in peace.
The Home is now getting about 12 new admissions each month and because of this, it needs to move to a new building.
The National Office for Human Development of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur has undertaken to renovate an old bungalow in Batu Arang at a cost of RM1.9mil. There is already RM668,000 in contributions received.
“The stories (from today’s play) are from the residents of Welcome. One of them might have written it and another acted it out.
“The hardest part in doing this was that they were weak in expressing themselves because of the language and that’s why we did two of the stories in Bahasa Malaysia and two in English. Some of them also had to deal with their illnesses at the same time and yet they fought through it and did it,” said Arokiam in an interview prior to the play.
Stage manager Balamurali, who was also scriptwriter and performer, has been staying at Welcome for nine months now.
He said: “The hardest part (of doing Fallen Leaves) was the time we had to spend doing it and the long hours. It was tiring. In a way it has helped us. It gave us some confidence to interact with people. Normally, people are scared to interact with people who have HIV/AIDS.”
Ridzuan Gomu agreed. Ridzuan has been staying at Welcome for seven months. He helped write the script and he was the main character in Scene Two.
“We were practising for about two months. We were having full-day rehearsals, too. But after tonight it was worth it. We had very good response to the play. My initial intention was to get the public to be more aware of what’s happening to us.
“We have been discriminated, ostracised and finally our productive life becomes non-productive because of the discrimination, so hopefully this play will open some minds. That is our intention,” said Ridzuan. – By Brigitte Rozario
For more information on Welcome Community Home, call 03-60351463, fax 03-60351009, or e-mail welcomehospice@gmail.com.
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