Location: Batam, Indonesia

Sender: Miss Anonymous

This experience happened to me 8 years ago. Back in 2014, i saw this Facebook post where a few of my friends have gone to this orphanage in Batam to do some charity. They needed help with their daily necessities like clothes, mattresses etc. Then, me being soft-hearted decided to help them out too. I reached out to one of my close friends and she agreed to accompany me to Batam to visit this orphanage.

We are staying in Singapore so the easiest way to reach Batam was by a ferry. We booked a two days, one night stay at the hotel and did everything on our off days which were on the weekends. There have been many occasions where people send money overseas but the proof of where the money was going were made via pictures, videos and even post cards. I then decided to see it for myself because seeing it happening live is a very different thing than the soft copies.

When we arrived at the orphanage, the matron of the of the place welcomed us. She was a small built lady, wearing a hijab, and was very 'nice'.

"We plan to expand the orphanage that's why we need more donors, Madam" she explained.

"Ohh okay. We are so pleased because in a way, we are helping to build this orphanage." i replied with a warm smile.

Each of us gave them $500 which is about and it's a lot of money to help them survive for a couple of months there. I am sure we're not the only donors. Sure, the money was big but not big enough to expand another wing at the orphanage.

"Thank you so much Madam, we are so grateful to you! You can also mingle around as long as you like with the children." the matron was very pleased with the donation.

Everything started going a little weird during break time. They served us desserts. It's called Kue Kochi; the outer part was sticky and the filling was made of caramelized coconut. My friend refused to eat the food because she was very particular about sweets.

"I am not eating that. You can go on with that." my friend said.

I took 3 serving of the Kue because it was very nice. The matron upon seeing that my friend refused to eat, kept on pestering her to eat forcefully.

"Madam, please eat.. please eat. This is delicious and we bought this especially for you." the matron told them.

"It is okay, i am not hungry." my friend replied.

Judging from the face of the matron, we could see that she was offended by the whole situation because my friend had refused to eat. We didn't think much about it anyway and it was already quite late because we spent a lot of time getting to know more about the orphanage and children. They didn't offer us any proper meal besides the desserts. We then ended the meeting and proceeded to our hotel as we were getting tired. The next morning we went back home to Singapore.

That's the beginning of it. The first thing that happened when i came back to Singapore was, almost every night, i will dream of the same children from the orphanage. In my dream, they kept on repeating the same thing,

"We miss you sister, when are you coming back? We miss you sister, when are you coming to visit us again?" the children said to me in my dreams.

I would wake up in the middle of the night and cry because i missed them. I genuinely thought that it was because of my empathy for those kids... and not because of something sinister. I never thought there was anything sinister happening to me. For the next 2 weeks, i dreamt of the same thing every night; the same children repeating the same words to me.

2 weeks later, i came back to Batam to visit them. My friend could not follow me and had asked me to get someone else to accompany me but since i had no one else who was willing to follow, i went there alone. I am familiar with Batam because my family often visited Batam but this was the first time i travelled solo. Please bear in mind that at that point of time, i was in my mid twenties and a single lady. No lady would ever do what i did. I had no idea what had possessed me but i just decided that i need to visit the orphanage again. The matron was very happy to see me. She hugged me when i arrived.

"Oh my! We miss Singaporeans! We miss having visitors from Singapore!" the matron shrieked as she hugged me.

During that visit, again i gave them another $500.00 which was about 5,000,000 Rupiah. Guess what happened to me? For the next 2 and a half years, each time i got my salary, i would either visit that orphanage to make another donation or i would make a bank transfer of $500.00 to them without fail. Every single month for the next 2 and a half years i would continue doing it every single month and i did not tell anyone about this matter. The orphanage eventually did expanded a wing at their centre and they told me that they named that wing after me because i was one of their biggest donors.

One fine day, after 2 and a half years, i bumped into my friend who accompanied me to the orphanage when we went there the first time at Harbourfront Ferry Terminal.

"Eh hi! Where are you going?" i asked her.

"Hi! I am going to the Batam for a few days with my family. What about you?" my friend asked me again.

"I am going to the orphanage. The same one..do you remember?" i asked her.

"Oh my god... you are still going there??" she asked again.

I then explained to her about everything and what i did. She was a good friend and she knows that something wasn't right. Like she suspected something so after my friend came back from her holiday, we decided to meet up for dinner.

"Can i ask you.. why are you so invested in this orphanage?" she asked me during that dinner.

"I feel very pitiful and i am close to adopting one of the kids." that's what i said to her.

"You know it's going to be a lot of work right? You are single and adopting a foreign kid is a lot to take in." she explained.

I had no idea why i told her that but she eventually gave me a bottle of Yaseen water. It's a bottle of plain water that's been given some prayers on and will help people in need. She told me that someone gave it to her and she wanted to share the drink with me. When i opened the bottle, it smelled like piss! I was shocked and didn't know how to react but my friend kept on pestering me, saying that's ok and it was the Yaseen water, so i took 3-4 sips slowly and drank the water. Guess what happened? Why both me and her had different experience from the water? You guys will find out soon. Later that night, i had a nightmare!!

On the same night, i had a dream. In my dream, i saw some of the kids from the orphanage sitting around my room and they were just begging her to come back. I could feel tears running down my cheeks and i was feeling very sad too until, i felt a tugging on my night gown. I was wearing a night gown to sleep and at the end of it, i felt someone tugging it. I was awaken from the dream and when i opened my eyes, there were a lot of kids inside my room! Please remember that by this time, i was fully awake!

I saw a lot of children sitting around my room and they were faceless! They were faceless! I closed my face and screamed as loud as i could until my mother came into the room. The lights were on and.. that was it. The children just vanished. I felt something wrong and begged my mum to help me.

"I think i am under a spell.. please i need help! I am under a spell!" i kept on repeating these words to my mum.

I knew that i needed to seek help. My mother brought me to see an Ustaz.

"Did you eat something when you visited them?" the Ustaz asked.

"Yes, i did. I ate the Kue Kochi and all the times i were there, i ate something." i explained.

"Ok, i think they have cast a spell on you but don't worry, i will help you out." the Ustaz said.

After that meeting, i had to visit the Ustaz once a week to receive treatment to heal from this spell. Each time the Ustaz recite some prayers, i would feel like puking out something but most of the time, i ended up puking saliva. I gave the Ustaz whatever that came out of me. He took it away, recite some prayers on it and then dispose it.

A few months later when i have completely healed from the spell, i realized that i had lost track of the orphanage. They did not even contact me after that. They had my number and my email but no news from them at all. I have not been to Batam since then. I do not want to be in a position where i bumped into the staff or the children of the orphanage. That was my story and it was a huge lesson for me and hope it will be a lesson for everyone. Thank you.