KOTA BARU, MALAYSIA: Out of the goodness of her heart, Rohani Adam offered to temporarily take in a 9-year-old girl who was blind and had cerebral palsy. The girl's father had died and her mother had six other children to support.

That was eight years ago. Rohani is still looking after Nik Fatin Fatiha Nik Ismail. Her mother has refused to take Fatin back, telling Rohani to "throw the girl out like a piece of rubbish".

"I took pity on the family. I knew Fatin's father had just died and her mother had six other children. I offered to take care of her for a while.

"But when her mother told me that, it broke my heart. Maybe the mother was desperate having to look after six children without a husband.

"I knew I could not abandon Fatin. She had no one to look after her. I love her like my own," she said after receiving a wheelchair for Fatin from state executive councillor Datuk Husam Musa yesterday.

Husam has promised to ask the Welfare Department for more aid for the family.

Rohani herself is a struggling single mother with four children, now aged 14 to 21, along with her aged mother.

She earns around RM400 (S$167.32) a month selling rice at Pasar Siti Khadijah, and she receives RM400 from the Welfare Department for her two school-going children. She cannot get aid for Fatin as she does not have any proof of guardianship over the girl.

"I have to spend at least RM200 a month on diapers and since she can't chew or digest food, she needs milk."

She said the family had to move out of their houseboat on Sungai Kelantan early this year for fear that her blind 80-year-old mother, Che Limah Isa, would fall and drown in the river.

"Money is very tight. If not for my mother, I would stay in the houseboat as we did not have to pay rent. Now, we are paying RM250 a month."

Adding to her problems is the fact that Fatin does not have an identity card. Rohani has tried to get her one, but she has no transport and it is difficult to take the girl out as "she is getting heavier".

"Her mother has disappeared and the relatives refuse to give me a copy of her father's death certificate. Maybe they fear they would have to take responsibility for Fatin."