The world of Tzu Chi May-June 2022 (Vol.141)

TZU CHI 141 43 chocolate drinks and dried food left. They were running out of food supplies. Hence, the team accorded an emergency relief of RM300…” Vegetable farming for subsistence Siti was introduced to Tzu Chi by her landlord. At that time, her husband was declared incurable and sent home. Seeing that her husband was suffering, her landlord suggested that she borrowed an inflatable mattress from Tzu Chi Malacca. However, her husband did not last long enough to use it. When volunteers paid her a visit, she expressed that she needed to take care of her baby, and she would have asthma attack if she was tired out. As such, her livelihood was affected. Consequently, Tzu Chi provided financial assistance to her for three years, until 2020. During these three years, she had worked at a hawker centre and for her former employer. Nonetheless, the employments did not last long as she did not have a work permit and had a baby that needed her care. Knowing that she had tried to take charge of her life but was at a loss, volunteers then encourage her to grow vegetables on the empty land around her house. This way, she would be able to sustain her livelihood. Now harvesting the lady’s fingers on the farm, Siti said smilingly, “In the past, I did not have my family here with me, only some of my husband’s relatives. Now, I am fortunate to have Tzu Chi volunteers who are like my family members.” Back when the volunteers suggested that she grew vegetables at home, she borrowed a ploughing machine from a neighbour to start the farm. Thanks to the fertile soil and part of her life. Back in her 20s, she embarked onto a ship from Indonesia, with a dream of making her life in Saudi Arabia. However, she ended up being asked to disembark at a Malaysian harbour, and eventually worked on a vegetable farm in Malacca. Being a complete novice, it was exhausting at first, but with increasing experience and a great sense of accomplishment seeing the fruits of her labour, she was motivated to put in more efforts. In the four years working with her Chinese boss on the farm, she had observed and learned that persistence and hard work would bring reward. Sometime later, she met an Indonesian man, who was much older than her and resided in Malaysia as a permanent resident. They returned to Indonesia when she was 29 and had their wedding before returning again to Malacca. As her husband was too old to be a construction worker, they found a job on a vegetable farm and toiled together. They were officially registered as a married couple when Siti was 40, and had a child later. The morning sun never lasts a day. In September 2016, Siti’s 70-year-old husband was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and passed away in January the following year. As Siti had to accompany him for treatments and could not work, she exhausted her savings, and there were outstanding bills, including surgical fees and rent of RM40. From their recollection, the volunteers remembered how sad, worried and helpless Siti was, when they first met her in 2017. Being a foreigner, she was not officially eligible for social welfare aid. It was her neighbours who extended a helping hand to her. The volunteers’ home visit report read thus: “The family had little milk powder,