Acceptance and Love

Yesterday, I went for my regular volunteering at Communicable Disease Center.

I was massaging a patient (HIV/AIDS) who has quite a bad skin condition.

He was lamenting that people do not want to touch him after seeing his skin condition.  

He regretted that he was playful in his younger years. He is stressed about his future & money, and thought of committing suicide and all the worries would be gone. He said that none of his family members knew about his condition except his mother. He felt really helpless and afraid of discrimination. 

At the end of the day, he just wants acceptance and love.

Then, he was asking if I was a student (I was quite happy to hear that, but then, I realized that he has bad eye-sight), after that, he said that I could be a masseur in the future to make a living (Haha. I guess he meant that I still need to improve my massaging skill).

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I also saw another patient called R, who has been hospitalized for long time already. More than 6 months ago, I was giving him a foot & leg massage and he was quite okay, but yesterday, he was in a bad shape. He became very skinny and frail, all his muscles were gone, and he looked like he is left with skin and skeleton. 

He was suffering.

His journey might be ending soon.

I couldn't help much but to feel sadness and helpless.

A reminder about the impermanence of life.

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(Sunset at Mandalay, Myanmar. 

Taken in 2008)

Indeed, I have learn quite abit about life through my volunteering experience.

It is true that when you give, you also receive.