Great Love

Mother Theresa once said, " You can't do great things with little love but you can do little things with great love!"

This seems to be the maxim for a young woman, Norlina Alawi, who gives her unconditional love to her own six children as well as her 10 adopted children.The shadow in their lives is, that some of her adopted children, whom she considers her own, have AIDS and are HIV carriers; others are the children of AIDS patients.

Norlina is the founder and the president of PERNIM(Persatuan Kebajikan Anak Pesakit HIV/AIDS Nurul Iman). As the name suggests, it provides shelter for children with HIV/AIDS.

I had a chance to visit PERNIM two weeks ago. I was excited when my roomate suggested that we go. So, that Sunday, we went to MidValley to have lunch and bought some stuff for the kids. I was still excited. On the way, I was suddenly very nervous to meet the children as I was scared of the consequences. I still have that stigma about people with HIV/AIDS. I was scared to touch them, what more to hug them but they are innocent children. I was in a dilemma.

Things changed when I got there. All of them were waiting for us at the door. When we got into the house we were surrounded by them, we were hugged and kissed. Some just hold our hands and there were some who just smiled from where they were coz they were too weak to move. They are so innocent, so adorable, just like any other children. We spent three hours there. We bathed the children, prepared food for them, and helped some of them with the homework. I felt so welcome, so 'loved' and so 'needed'. It is so fulfilling.

On our way back, none of us said anything but we quietly cried and silently prayed that these children will survive and lead a happy and meaningful life.

It was really an eye opener for me as I've been complaining about how hard my life is and forgetting to thank God for everything that I've got.