writes:Thanks, everyone, for your help. As most of you know by now, my brother-in-law Mohammad died three weeks ago.
I took care of him at the hospital for about two weeks, and the doctor in our province told us to send him to the hospital in Cotabato City, but it was too hard for him to travel due to his condition. He wasn't able to eat for two weeks, and his body was only bones left. Therefore, we decided to keep him at home and give him dextrose so at least he had energy, and we could cook rice porridge so he could eat.
We became so scared after a few days, because his mouth was always open and he could no longer close his eyes. We felt he could not survive, because his case was really bad.
On October 6, 2017, about 10:00 in the morning, my friend and I went to the river to swim. We went home by 10:30, and found that he had died. We were all crying, especially the kids. It has been so hard for us and for the kids. We suffered a lot, and we sacrificed to help him so he could survive, and brought him many times to the hospital, but in the end he could not survive. We were all emotional about it, and were worried about how his wife would accept it. I helped them from the beginning until his death. I never gave up to help them all the way up to now. I have been here, staying strong and fighting for the kids and for my sister.
The burial was in the Islamic tradition, in that we buried him the day he died.
In the Muslim way, on the third day after the death, we cooked goat and other food so that people could eat – relatives and friends. Same until the seventh day. People came to offer sympathy and provide help.
These were the goats we bought.
That's my mother (above, left) preparing food for our guests.
To all of you at TMP who helped us, thank you so much. Because of you, we were able to pay the final hospital bill, to feed our family in the final weeks, and to send the kids to school with their supplies and clothes.
I am now taking care of the kids and feeding them. My sister (Mohammad's wife) is still in Kuwait City. She left her employer when she heard that her husband was near death and went to the Philippine embassy. Her employer was bad and didn't give her salary, so she cannot help her family. Until now she is living at the embassy in Kuwait, and we don't know when she can arrive here. We were finally able to tell her that her husband was dead, and it was so hard for her to accept. I hope and pray she can come home soon, so the kids will be OK and with their mother. I am here to help and support them as long as I can, and my work for TMP helps me to support the kids.