5 staff of IRM and 2 volunteers (Salina and yours truly) went and we were aided by the staff of University Malaysia Sabah (UMS). We were taken to Tanjung Rhu for lunch as soon as we arrived. I was so tempted to jump into the sea but that would defeat the purpose of this visit, wouldn't it? So yes, I managed to exercise self-restraint and moved on..
Soon after lunch, we went straight to UMS and the preparation for the event began immediately. The security staff of UMS lent us a big hand and made the packing process so easy. I think this is the first time we had men in uniforms involved in the our Feed the Fasting/ Eid Gift project.. not bad eh?
Once the packing job was completed, we were sent to our 'home' for the night to rest. We were given a dorm at the fourth floor of a students' hall (penat panjat tangga ok!) and we had fun reminiscing the good ol' college years while we were there!
After breakfast the next morning, we went straight to Masjid Kampung Ketiau to prepare for the formal distribution to the 100 chosen recipients. While the UMS staff busied themselves downloading the goods, IRM staff went around to do some groundwork by interviewing some of the recipients. The event was very well-organised by the mosque committee.. very simple yet meaningful, I'd say.
Surprisingly, YB Dato' Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin came to give us his support (and he was on time unlike some other VIPs!). I don't normally fancy politicians but this particular man was very simple, down-to-earth and gave quite a good speech on the need of nurturing volunteerism among the local youth so yeah, he got my vote!
Once the formal event was over, we went on to do what we do best... we went on house visits to a couple of villages. I believe this is always the crucial part of the programme when we really get to know the unfortunates and their problems. Sometimes, they don't want anything more apart from just a shoulder to cry on or a pair of ears to listen to their woes. I wished we had more time to spend with them but we were on a tight schedule especially that we were escorted by the Village Head and UMS staff. Hope to meet them again someday..
The staff (big boss included!) of IRM, UMS staff and the Village Head of Kampung Contoh
There are more things to share... but I am just too lazy to type and to further delay this post is just silly. Anyway, the reason of me posting this is not to boast of the work that IRM does but merely to create awareness among my friends and blogreaders. There are more poor people out there who are in need and can benefit from our contribution be it time, energy or monetary. It can be through IRM, any other NGOs or even personally... Whatever it is... do give back to the community if you can ya!
God bless Malaysia..
(more photos at my fotopages later...bila rajin eh!)
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My heart sank when I saw this at the Philippino Market. How could they??? This photo was actually taken by Salina since I was too 'emo' to take it myself! Poor seahorses!
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