Love In Action

Translated by Dawn Lim

A 70-year-old couple, Uncle Kang and Auntie Kang (pseudonym) live in the city of Kuantan. They live in a shabby low-cost house which rent is being paid for by the church. They live solely on government welfare. Volunteers from the Kuantan Christian Fellowship 7979 Holistic Care Station were overwhelmed with the feeling of compassion when they first got in touch with this family. Seeing that the old couple were deprived from the basic necessities of life, the church put them in the Manna Food Bag program.

During one of the visits by the volunteers a few months ago, they noticed that although Uncle Kang and Auntie Kang were still in good spirits, Auntie Kang had red rashes on her skin and was suffering from severe itchiness. As they were too poor, they often bought Roti Canai to fill their stomachs. The rice, Milo, biscuits and cereal in the Manna Food Bag became their precious food.

Unexpectedly, in just a few months, Auntie Kang’s mental condition deteriorated significantly. Uncle Kang suspected that she had Alzheimer’s disease. Auntie Kang was in a confused state of mind for many days and gradually she was unable to get out of bed. Hence, she needed adult diapers to meet her toileting needs. Uncle Kang had no choice but to inform the volunteers about Auntie Kang’s condition and requested for adult diapers. Uncle Kang, a person with strong personality, would not make such a request for no apparent reason hence the volunteers empathised with him.

Recently, the volunteers received the bad news of the sudden passing of Auntie Kang. What shocked the volunteers the most was not the news of Auntie Kang’s death, but that the real cause of her death was leukemia. Uncle Kang had always believed that Auntie Kang was just suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He deduced that the body aches and pains she was experiencing were contributed to geriatric syndromes and that she would be alright after a good night sleep. It turned out that those were all symptoms of blood cancer. Helpless Uncle Kang failed to notice anything wrong with his wife and it never crossed his mind that he needed to take his wife to the hospital for consultation.

Uncle Kang and Auntie Kang, who can only rely on each other, were both ignorant about seeking medical treatment. The volunteers felt sorry for them as their poor diet was left unattended. “It breaks our heart to see the elderly living like this. No one monitors their health, so we don’t know what kind of disease they have. We should pay more attention to their physical condition, or provide them with basic medical services before it’s too late. Only through the love of Christ can we truly help them with practical actions,” one volunteer sighed.