KUALA LUMPUR, December 16 — For 20 years, Matron Fadzilah Abdul Hamid has cared for women and children affected by HIV.
Her years of caring for those who needed help started when she was undergoing public health nurse training.
She was inspired by one of her role models, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.
"She inspired us with her work, especially when she served the rural community and those in need," she said.
“If she can do it, why can’t we? We as students want to continue her journey."
Dr Siti Hasmah was among her teachers in nursing school and tonight, Fadzilah received the Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Award from the prime minister's wife for her contributions towards ending AIDS as a public health concern in Malaysia.
She also received a cash prize of RM10,000 and certificate of excellence.
Fadzilah is a full-time caregiver at Rumah Solehah, a shelter for women and children infected or affected by HIV.
Fadzilah spent 30 years as a nurse with the Health Ministry, working in rural areas throughout Selangor, Johor, Pahang and Kuala Lumpur before being tasked to oversee operations and training at Rumah Solehah since its inception in 1998.
To date, she has assisted more than 400 women through various ways such as providing them assistance with basic needs, skills to survive and helping them find meaning in life again.
“I'm very grateful for receiving this award," the 69-year-old said.
“Rumah Solehah is a result of teamwork and I do not think I can function without everyone involved.”
How her journey began
In 1994, she was sent to the United Kingdom for a counselling course to start a rehabilitation shelter for HIV-positive sex workers in Kuala Lumpur by the Health Ministry.
But the project did not take off.
Instead, a few years later Fadzilah started spending a lot of time around the Chow Kit area where she saw many sex workers being exploited.
"People wanted to use them for business and these girls had no idea what they were getting themselves into.
“When they did, they could not come out. Even if they said 'no' at the start, they never knew who to look for as they feared the people taking care of them would hurt them."
Fadzilah said she was determined to leave a positive impact from then on.
“I wanted it to come to a stop. I wanted a place for them where they could be given a second chance, allowing them to undergo a transformation and lead a more meaningful life in terms of knowledge and well-being,” she said.
The birth of Rumah Solehah
Then in 1998, to her joy, she was tasked to coordinate Rumah Solehah in Ampang.
The home was established under the Persatuan Perubatan Islam Malaysia (PPIM) and the Health Ministry.
She also promptly headed back to Chow Kit.
“When we first opened the house, we visited Chow Kit to try and convince a few women to join. Eventually people knew about us and through word of mouth there were more patients.
“We had meetings with hospitals who started sending a few patients here. This kept us going."
Today the home is tucked away in Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur.
Fadzilah, who has been overseeing the training programmes since the beginning, said it covers three aspects.
"We provide training, service and also collaborate with the authorities for various researches,” she said.
Fadzilah also paid tribute to the home's project coordinator Fathiiah Hamzah, who focuses on interacting with the HIV infected and affected children.
“I do not think we would’ve come this far without her and everyone else who played a part to make the home (Rumah Solehah) where it is today,” she added.
She said that besides Fathiiah, PPIM chairman Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin and Dr Saadiah Sulaiman who manages finances have also played an important role.
Patience, care and perseverance: a recipe for success
The retired nurse said one needed to have patience, perseverance and a caring heart to continue doing the work.
Fadzilah’s first task at hand was to increase a client's self-esteem.
“They need somebody to boost their morale. They think being diagnosed with HIV means that death awaits, so I always speak to every one of them in different manner and tone after understanding their conditions.
“We try to increase their potential and self-esteem and let them know that they will live long with medication. Some get inspired and they will change.
"There are a few who argue and although it hurts me, I still strive to make a change in their lives."
Ultimately, her biggest joy is when she sees a small change in character.
“Some come from the streets, while a handful come from a broken household.
“So, the slightest change in their behaviour or a small skill sometimes leaves me in tears. At the end of the day I just want them to leave as a better individual with a better hope in life."
How the HIV/AIDS scene has changed throughout the years
Fadzilah believes Malaysians today are equipped with the right knowledge on HIV/AIDS compared to the early 1990s.
She related how in 2000, how a HIV-positive child had to be transferred to another school after he told everyone at school he had the disease after getting an open wound playing football.
The teachers panicked and separated him from the other children.
Today this does not happen anymore. That is an example of stigma, and thankfully today, I rarely hear of such cases anymore,” she said.
On the shift of HIV infection from injecting drugs to sexual transmission in Malaysia, Fadzilah said she would have never expected such a rise.
Health Ministry statistics show that 91 per cent of new infections last year was due to sexual transmission.
"Maybe it is caused by the lifestyle our future generations are exposed to alongside the lack of education on this topic.
“HIV cases caused by unsafe sex is hard to monitor unlike drugs. Sex is more intricate, and I hope the right authorities will tackle this issue now, as it is only going to be more difficult to deal with in the future.”
Besides Matron Fadzilah, MAF awarded Yayasan Sime Darby the Patron's Award for excellence in corporate social responsibility and another award for outstanding contribution to Ending AIDS to the Teratak Kasih Tok Nan Project, received by Datuk Amar Jamilah Anu.
Three others were recognised with the long service award, namely Datuk Maznah Jalil, Datin Mina Cheah-Foong and Hisham Hussein.
