BY SAMUEL KARUNIA KORNO
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Hope Place Kuching has reached out to help a couple whose three sons are grappling with mental health issues.
The non governmental organisation was alerted about the plight of the family staying at Samarahan by a social worker of Sentosa Hospital here.
According to their mother Embo, her 29-year-old son Azman who was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17 is on medication and unable to work.
Although he managed to complete his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) studies, Azman could only work as a labourer after finishing school, helping his uncle in tarring new roads.
But Embo, 58, said Azman stopped working recently due to frequent tantrums and mood swings.
Another son Allymin, 23, is intellectually disable, making it difficult for him to comprehend simple conversation or instruction, thus hampering any chance to interact with the outside world.
Her eldest son, Suip, 31, used to work at a canteen but stopped since Aidilfitri this year after he started talking to himself and went into seclusion usually in the forest or an orchard far away from their house.
She added that both Azman and Allymin have disability cards but that Suip refuses to be diagnosed by doctors.
Their father, 68, earns his living by collecting and selling wild vegetables which usually earns him about RM10 to RM20 per day.
Embo occasionally helps him but her priority is to ensure the safety of all her boys and doing all the household chores.
The couple also has two married daughters, who are living elsewhere but they sometimes help the family.
Azman and Allymin each receive RM300 in welfare aid monthly and Hope Place intends to support the family with food supplies.
Hope Place or Persatuan Kebajikan Harapan Kuching (PKHK) can be reached at 082-505987 for more information.
