sunathon 2009

end of last year around mid december, my college organize Le Tour de Johor Health Carnival in Felcra Bukit Kepong. this is not the first time my college organize health carnival but it was my first time joining this carnival 'full time'.

we have to stay there for 3 days 2 nights. it was a fantastic experience.





we have start to prepare ourselves and go for training for the Sunathon, which was the most grand event among the carnival. as we will assist doctor in sunat-ing or so call circumcised, we have to sit for examination and practical before we even go for the sunathon. we start our practical once every week.

i pass my test with flying colour... fine i was crapping. i wasn't the top scorer but i manage to get myself through the test. and proudly i can say i was the only chinese that went through the test! (fine i know my college have very few chinese!)





2 of my friends have promise me that we will go together no matter what. Mya and I passed the test but Wanda is not able to pass it. due to limited place, we have to pass our exam so that we will able to join the carnival. so we try very hard to find a place to squeeze her in. she even give up and say she is not going for the carnival. finally we found a spot for her in first-aid. she will be teaching the people there about first-aid.



see! how well wanda become a first-aid teacher!



first day
all of us gather at college early morning and finally, we are on the way to Johor! we stop at a Gunung Ledang waterfall before we reach Bukit Kepong and had lots of fun there. we totally forgot about our examination that will be held right after our trip.

















we reach Bukit Kepong in the late afternoon and we all gather in the school there. all of us will be divide into 2-6 people each, and we will be given to the family there as foster children. they will be our foster parent for this 3 days. they will have to provide place for us to sleep and also food.

i was lucky enough to get a great parent. there were very open minded and they treat us well. my foster sister were Sheila, Sharon and Sara. hmmmm... all of their name start with S!









our foster mom prepare a very great meal for dinner. she doesn't let us help her. this is the first time she get to be foster parent so she was quite excited actually. she totally treat us great!















at night we had briefing in the school hall and we have to do preparation for tomorrow morning event.
for sunathon team, we have to prepare needles, swab, cotton and so on for tomorrow sunat event. we had a briefing from our team leader and get well rest that night.










second day
we woke up early in the morning and our foster parent are preparing breakfast for us. then, we headed to the school for the last preparation before the sunat take place.
we were brief again by team leader on what to do and he also repeat the procedure for us.













kids are waiting for their turn nervously...


as this is the first time i was involve in this and also ever first time in sunating people, it was such a great experience for me and i was very excited!





i am lucky cause i get a great leader in our team which was Juwaidi. he has a lots of experience in doing this sunathon as he join most of the program which was held by our college. he really guide us through the process.



this is Juwaidi and you can hardly see me because i was block by him! damn!


every group will have 4 people. everyone will have his task and responsibilities.
the first person will be the leader and he will have to do local anesthesia on the patient.
he also have to remove smegma(buildup of skin and other crud found between the foreskin and penis), clean the surface then expose fully the whole 'thing' (corona radiata).
there will be 2 assistant which have to clean the area with iodine and also drape it.
the last person will have to try their best to comfort the kids, to distract him for being scare or think about the sunat.



see! block by him again!


so the first task for me was as the comforter. i mean, i have to try my best to comfort the patient. i wasn't doing very good as first because i have out of topic to 'discuss' with the kids after few minutes, then the doctor came and start his cutting or some will use cautery.
while he was cutting, he asked my name and he start to teach me the ways of talking with them and distract them. after that i did quite well.



this is use to cautery skin as it will stop bleeding faster then cutting.


after the doctor cautery, then the first person will again have to suture it. after suturing, we ahve to clean that part before the patient was send off for half an hour observation.

after the a few patient, Juwaidi ask us to rotate our task so that everyone will have the fair chance to do everything. he asked me to be the first person, which i have to do anesthesia on that patient. that was the part where i have totally no confident in it. this is because we have to inject into 3 nerves of the patient and if we missed............. think about the consequence!





so with his guide, i think i manage to do my task well. when came to suture part, my hand was shaking like hell! i try my very best to control the shaking but it still shake nonstop. i am not nervous or scare or what but it just shake. maybe i ate too much chicken legs?



cleaning up


i also get the chance to clean and drape. but suturing is much more exciting. hahaha...











so in the afternoon after we've done all the sunat, we went and walk around the carnival and also the first aid area. there are booth too for the kids to have fun and also colouring contest.

















see how hard this kids trying to learn the first-aid! haha


medical check up!




along the way back, we went to a villager's place as there are having wedding ceremony. according to my foster mom, they will be having the celebration for 3 day straight. wow!









at night, we have this nasi dulang where all of us will be sharing a big plate of rice and eat together.














third day
this is the last day and i had photo with my foster parents and foster sister.
we had such a great time and our foster parent are very good. they even give us present before we leave. even though it wasn't a big or expensive present, but those kind hearted really touched us.