Roger

During his first day at the Psychiatric Ward he felt anxious. Anxious, because, when he entered the male patients' room for the first time, he saw this man sitting on the ground, barefoot, his eyes closed, his body stooped, and his mouth drooling with saliva.

Upon entering the room you will immediately see to your right the bathing area. And this patient was sitting against the wall of this area.

My goodness, he thought, will I ever be able to handle this?

The next day, his anxiety rose a notch higher when his clinical instructor assigned him to Roger. Who was Roger?

He saw Roger's picture in the patient's chart.

My, oh, my, Roger is the person he saw sitting in the bathing area the day before. He dreaded him. He thought his case was the worse in the ward.

Every morning, he assisted Roger in taking a bath. Although Roger has cerebral palsy, he actually is responsive to instructions. When you instruct him to stand, he stands; when you tell him to take off his shirt, he does it.

Thus it was easy for him to assist Roger in his daily routine.

A few days later, he brought his iPod with him in the hospital.

After the bath, he sat Roger at the bed. "Roger," he said. "Would you like to listen to some music?"

He gave him one of the ear phones and switched on the player. The song Matud Nila played.

Matud nila, ako dili angay...

Outside the window, he saw the leaves of the trees moving with the wind.

Nga magmanggad sa imong gugma...

The noise outside the room was subdued.

Matud nila, ikaw dili malipay,
kay wa ako'y bahandi nga kanimo i-gasa.

Then he noticed Roger. Roger began to smile, and tried speak (sing?), though what came out of his mouth was something incomprehensible.

Gugmang putli, mao da'y pasalig;
Mao'y bahanding labaw sa bulawan.
Matud nila, ka-anugon lamang
sa imong gugma og parayig...

Dili malubad, kining pagbati,
bisan sa unsa nga katarungan,
kay unsa pa'y bili ni'ng kinabuhi,
kung sa gugma mo, hinikawan?

He shifted his gaze back outside the window, and observed again the movement of the leaves.