Dreams...
It may be a dream afraid of waking up, or it may be a dream coming to realization in the next morning.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A Letter to His Father

When conducting an activity with my client who is a young offender, involving him writing a letter originally done to provide a platform for healthy expressions of emotions, he seemed a little bit hesitant at first. But once he delved into the writing phase, he started to get deeper into it and write a lot longer than my friend and I initially thought. The letter is roughly translated...

"This is for you Abah. I write this letter to tell you what I felt throughout being under the same roof with you. I can't begin to tell you how much disappointed I am with you. I know my juvenile behaviors were inexcusable, but to be honest, I did them because all what I really wished and wanted was to be like any other kids who got what they wanted whenever they wanted them. I just want to be like them. Not rich, but with enough money where I could live like other kids. Instead of working, you hung out with your friends at the coffee shop with your friends and you jumped from one job to another. When at home, all you did was finding something to blame on me, if it's not about returning home late, it'd be about me not taking care of my little brother. But do you know why I'd return home late, and not take care of my little brother? It's because I'd be out finding a job to gain a little bit money so I could buy what I want. Then, I felt like the money was slow to get, then I resorted to stealing. I was nervous at first, but it got easier everytime I did it. From stealing money at a shop, I turned to picking pockets and stealing money from my own relatives. I felt happy, because for the first time in my life, I have my own money and I could buy something for my little brother, I could buy something to eat that he liked, and then I could buy something that I liked, that I wanted. I'm sorry Abah for disappointing you. Because of my juvenile behaviors, I was never a good son. I am not sure if you hate me or love me, but I hope one day you could find forgiveness as I did to you. Take care, Abah."

What I wanted to point out is that, each of youth who has made some criminal mistakes at some point in their life, there is a story to it. I do not condone what they did, but when you are working at a place where it "stores" kids who have made some illegal mistakes, the least you could do is to spend some time to understand where they come from and how they get here. That's how much you owe it to them when you are paid every month for your "job" and call yourself a "social worker."

This is what I would advice to everyone who'd step to be a staff at a welfare institution: Please make sure you have passion in your heart in regards to what you are doing. Please make sure you have what it takes to ensure that you go to the necessary lengths to understand the residents and try your hardest to avoid assigning labels like "evil" or "bad." Each time you like to think they are evil, ask yourself, haven't you made some mistakes you wish you could take back?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Sedih betul...rasa macam nak tulis surat macam tu jugak...huhuhuhu

Kadang2 parents ni punya high expectation kat anak2....bila tak seperti apa yang diorang angan2kan,diorang kecewa dan salahkan anak 100%...

Unknown said...

ha? Cik tiniey nk tulis surat cmtu gak? napa? hehe...

betol tu...parents kene accept their children as the way they are..

wani said...

erm..sesuatu yang kita semua perlu sedar bahawa setiap apa yng jadi pasti ada sebab. adakalanya sesuatu yang jadi memang bukan kehendak kita dan kita juga xpernah minta untuk jadi begitu. cubalah dekati adik-adik atau anak-anak dan bertanyalah dengan cara yang paling lembut..Apa..kenapa dan mengapa?..letakkan keikhlasan hati dan kasih sayang setiap kali berbicara dengan anak-anak atau adik. mereka juga mempunyai hati dan perasaan sebagimana juga kita. "Dekati..Fahami...Kasihi...Sayangi..Mendengari..Mengahargai dan Menasihati" dengan seikhlas hati.. percaya la..kita akan dapat mengurangkan perlakuan yang kurang baik dalam kalangan kanak2 atau remaja.

**** suka dengan perenggan yang terakhir...setuju sngat.

Unknown said...

Thanks Wani. Apa yg wani tulis betol betol2 sgtt. intervention start dr rumah. kasih sayang dan didikan mak ayah atau penjaga penting dlm mengurangkan tindakan juvana.

Ibnu Batutah said...

Nice message!
Aku forward link bawh ni untuk info berkaitan:

http://www.omaq.org/v3/2011/08/16/gejala-keruntuhan-moral-generasi-muda-islam/

Unknown said...

Thank you Aslam! Blog yg agak binformative.