It wasn't a far away drive from writer's office .. albeit a little drizzling and the cars are all moving slowly. Armed with pen, notebook and a little piece of paper where we jotted down the Home's address .. I have already started imagining what could it looked like at the Home while I was behind the wheels .Finally, we have arrived .. not much of trouble finding though.

It was a small terrace house .. probably of the size of 1000 sq feet .. "Come in, la" .. one of the lady greeted us knowing that we were an expected guest. We probably looked a little daze .. but we could felt the extra-ordinary feeling . We were not sure what to say either .. there were children (at my guess) were aged around a few months old baby to 12 year olds adorable kids... While waiting around , we looked around the pictures hanging on the walls, there were some complimentary certificates and newspaper articles too. " A noble effort", i whispered to my peer who looked jaded and awed by the findings on the walls.

A moment later, there was sound of car doors slammed from outside .. It was Puan Norlina ! just returned from fetching a few children from their school, the kids dashed in .. to avoid being drenchedas it was still drizzling. We were greeted with a warm smile by Pn Norlina who served aka principal for the Home. In actual, she looked more like their affectionate mother. Pampered maybe but we can see that she advocates strict discipline. We begun the interview.

The Home was actually founded by Pn Norlina herself with her loving husband. Initially, there were only a few kids around. These innocent kids are from broken families .. victims of social related problems. There were from various background .. from HIV carrier parents, abandoned, borned outside marriage lock or low in abilities .. 13 of them, we counted. Among them, 6 are Pn Norlina's own children. She has no qualms about letting her own children played and mingled with the rest .. not even when knowing some of them may be HIV affected kids. This is her show of undivided love beside than trying very hard to assure the public that kids who were borned with HIV/AIDS contracted parents does not necessarily a carrier themselves. They all shared a common playground, eating utensils and above all .. a warm place called 'home'.

We asked further on how the Home were managed in terms of logistic and financial. Our heart were wrenched when we heard the answer. They weren't any permanent source .. none other then her own pocket money most of the times. There were time when milk powder runs out, groceries when depleting fast and there wasn't sufficient money to replenish the needs. At this moment .. Puan Norlina were shedding tears .. I was trying to hold back my machoism by trying not to. We asked her whether she was sad about the insufficient funding. No .. not really, what made her heart pain was actually .. when she thinks back the sinful deeds of the kids parents .. and also, the negative perception of people who accused her running the home from unscrupulous proceeds.For all, she didn't care much about all those poisoned darts raining on her .. she continues with her noble effort that only god knows her true heart. Fortunately she added, she can rely on her loving husband's undying support and also her luck in her own catering business to make ends meet.

We were almost through at this juncture .. much of our questions were answered before we saw the kids happily came out in their nearly full Taekwondo attire. Another question popped up in my mind and without wasting much time (it was almost dark & near prayers time for the kids) i asked why did Puan Norlina sent the kids for Taekwondo. Still in her broken voice, she told us that she wanted the kids to live and mixes around like any other healthy kids. This is to instill their self confident besides than discipline. She insisted that the kids were not left behind by the common society although they may be left abandoned by the parents. The kids are innocent and should not be denied their chance to blend into society and live like normal kids.We nodded our heads in agreement. It was the most rightful decision indeed.
"Mummy, we will be ready for prayers and dinner soon!", grimed one the child. Puan Norlina charismatic look sets in and at the click of fingers, she orders the rest of the children whom were still mischievously playing around to get ready while their loose Taekwondo uniforms hanging clumsily. We felt it's time to leave. We have a photo session before we bid goodbye to all of them. .. with a heavy heart.

For all of you who are reading this, should you need to know PERNIM better or wish to contribute, you may contact Puan Norlina Bt Hj Alawi (Yang Dipertua) at Pusat Perlindungan Pernim No. 20 dan 6, Jalan Melur 8, Taman Melur 68000 Ampang, Selangor.
Tel:03-4295 0775, 03-4292 2208.