Borneo (Sabah) - Bukit Harapan

Next we headed to Kota Kinabalu or KK as we were soon calling it. I had arranged for us to do some physiotherapy volunteering at an orphanage for children and young adults there, all of whom have suffered abandonment, neglect or abuse. Arriving earlier to KK than we had anticipated we spent one night in a hostel in the centre, buying a few essentials, before going to the orphanage. We were both slightly anxious to be honest about what volunteering would be like and whether we would get on OK with the staff and kids there. I had prepared Mike that we were probably going to be sleeping in dormitories with the kids and eating plain rice and pulses for each meal (we had already bought a massive bottle of multivitamins in preparation). Audra, the daughter or ‘Mamma Anne’ who founded the home, had kindly said she would pick us up in town and having no idea what she looked like we waited outside our hostel, nervously smiling at every Malaysian woman who approached…and then walked past. When Audra and her husband Jerry did arrive they were smiling and waving down the street and were so friendly that we at once felt at ease.

Jerry & Audra

We arrived at the orphanage and as we got out of the car several beaming kids came running up to say hello. We were then shown to the volunteers’ cottage (!) we couldn’t believe it…as we were the only volunteers there at the time we had the three bedroom cottage to ourselves. It wasn’t just that I had prepared us for the worst…the cottage was really nice and we both sat down on the sofa and decided together that maybe volunteering wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

That first evening we went out for dinner with Audra and Jerry and watched the final of the Olympic badminton – Malaysia Vs China. It was a very close match but unfortunately Malaysia lost and their dreams of an Olympic gold were over! Jerry was gutted…Audra had known all along that they weren’t going to win J

Bukit Harapan

The daily routine at BH (for us) started at 8.30 when the first child for physiotherapy poked his/her face around the therapy room door. There was a full time physiotherapist working there, a local Malaysian guy called Chris and he had set up a weekly timetable for all the kids with therapy needs in the orphanage. There were about 20 kids on the program that incorporated treatment in the physiotherapy room, in the sensory room and on the trampoline - rebound therapy. The children had a wide variety of needs ranging from those with co-ordination difficulties and musculoskeletal problems to others with severe cerebral palsy and much more complex neurological needs. We were able to help with the treatment of these children, seeing them individually and doing joint sessions with Chris to share ideas.

All of the children and young adults living in the home have very different and often very sad stories. Though it was easy to forget their pasts when you saw how happy they all were playing and living together, everyone helping out one another regardless of age, gender or physical and mental ability. Every morning we invariably were bombarded with hugs and we rarely had a free hand or arm when walking through the compound if the children were out playing and not in school. One particular child often favoured Mikes arm…and he would spend his time alternating his hand between his own mouth and Mikes arm. I don’t think you ever fully get used to a warm, wet, slightly sticky hand grabbing you when you’ve neglected to notice its owner sneaking up behind you… but you do start to see the child and not just the hand J

One of my favourite moments in the first couple of days of our stay was when one of the slightly older kids with learning difficulties asked Mike to take him to the toilet – unsure about the toileting protocol and with no one around to ask Mike somewhat hesitantly obliged. About 5 minutes later I saw the same boy striding out of the boys block completely naked, I had just enough time to wonder what was going on when Mike came running out after him looking flustered and shouting ‘It’s OK,  I’ve got everything under control’. Amazing how children can so innocently make adults feel completely out of their depth/embarrassed and at the same time provide so much entertainment. One of many little stories that make me laugh just thinking about them J

There was a newly donated trampoline at the orphanage enabling the kids to take part in rebound therapy. Mike started teaching some of the more able children (and staff) trampolining tricks which they loved and it soon became a daily occurrence. Meanwhile I went on the dance Wii and danced to ‘girls just wanna have fun…’ one of the favourites of some of the young…boys in the home! And while part of me was thinking…’is this weird?’ a bigger part thought how nice it was that they hadn’t yet reached an age where they thought they were too cool to dance to girly music. As well as the trampoline and the Wii, we played badminton, frisby and basketball. I attempted to teach a couple of kids the piano…and Mike attempted to learn the guitar (still work in progress).  We also happened to be staying over Hari Ria the Muslim celebration for the end of Ramadan. Unfortunately I was unwell and had to miss out on the festivities but Mike was invited along to one of the ‘open houses’ where various upstanding members of the community open their houses for the public to come round for a huge meal! He even had his picture in the local paper with all the residents from the home J

Hari Ria

When the time came for us to leave I can honestly say we didn’t want to! Unfortunately we had already booked up the following week with various activities so we couldn’t extend our stay but we’re already thinking about how we can justify another trip to Borneo in the futureJ We were not expecting to be made quite so welcome or to find such good friends in Audra and Jerry as we did. In fact the whole time there was so much better than we could ever have imagined or hoped for – only four months in to travelling and I already know it will be one of the biggest highlights of our trip! 

Musical fountain in KK