Libraries for Orphanage: the previous stop.. and next

Eversince I first got involved with the project early last year, I have been one of the loyal followers, for I too believe that one can change his/her destiny with knowledge and reading is one of the easiest ways to do just that.

This project was brilliantly initiated by none other than Dr Bubbles and was just among friends at first, with small budgets. Over time, the project expanded in terms of monetary aids and activities and has now come under the care of Islamic Relief Malaysia. The last library was set up at Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih in Puchong on 22-23rd May 2009. This was a special and landmark event for the fund came fully from Joseph William Yee Eu Foundation, the first ever partnership with a non-muslim organisation.



More photos here.

The next stop will be at Asrama Anak Yatim dan Miskin Yayasan Hikmah in Gopeng, Perak this coming saturday. Dr Bubbles, Nizam and myself went to reccee the place sometime back in April and I fell in love with the home the first instant I set foot on its ground. Sadly, I won't be able to join the gang for the library installment this weekend since I will be in Saigon with a couple of friends for a short break. I hope things will run smoothly and if any of you want to give a hand, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Bubbles at iskandar@irm.org.my ya!


The orphanage


The kids


The space which will be converted to a library come next weekend


The family behind the lovely home

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Remember this song? I had a lot of sticks when it first came out due to the band's name. Yes, I was called 'Shai' at a certain point of my life..but it didn't stick for long because I was anything but shy! hehe..

Listening to it again does bring back alot of (happy) memories though!

Library for orphanage: the 4th project

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14th August 2008

I became all excited when I received a couple of smses from Dr Bubbles this afternoon telling that the 4th orphanage library project has finally been officially announced today in his blog. We've been talking about this upcoming project on a few occasions already and it has been quite a while since we had the last one...hence, my excitement upon hearing that it has finally kicked off :)

Anyway, the next project will be for Rumah Anak Yatim Yayasan Ain Maisarah, Chemor, Perak and this one will be quite special since it will be carried out during the coming Ramadhan. You can read here for more info.

Library for orphanage project was originally a personal project initiated by Dr Bubbles with support from some friends and individuals but this time on, for better transparency, it will be done through Islamic Relief. If you want to know more of the previous project installments, you can read my experience logs here and here.

Our target this time is to get 1000 NEW books for the orphanage by mid Ramadhan. So friends... let's do our bits and help out for the betterment of these less fortunate kids ya!

UPDATES: 15th AUGUST 2008

Library installation followed by Iftar with the kids of Rumah Anak Yatim Ain Maisarah is scheduled to be on Saturday, 6th September 2008. Some food distribution to the poor under Feed the Fasting project will be carried out the next day, 7th September 2008 at Kg Cheh, Bukit Gantang (where we had the 2nd mini library for orphanage project). So guys, if you're interested to donate to any of these 2 projects, just follow the links above and on the side bar ok. If you're interested to join the projects.... that's even better!

Footnote: Guess I will get the chance to see the lovely kids of Nur Hidayah again...miss their smiles, laughters and clever questions!

When the children cry

If you think poverty is on the way out of this country, have a look at these photos and think again...









Feeling nauseous already?

These photos were taken at the orphanage in Machang that we went to for our Mini library for orphanage project. On the morning we arrived, there were nobody there since the caretaker was out running errands and the kids were at school except for one very sad-looking 8-year old boy who were left alone at the centre since he injured himself the day before. Yup, he was there alone..sitting aimlessly for hours on one outdoor bench without any adult supervision. Since nobody greeted us when we arrived, we quickly made ourselves at home and went to have a look around. We had the shock of our lives when we went into the dorm and saw the images above...quoting Iskandar 'Pengsan dua kali!'. It was beyond our comprehension how an orphanage under royal patronage ended up like this!

Anyway, we were originally suppose to set up the mini library as well as to help repainting the centre. But after seeing the state of the dorm, we decided that cleanliness and basic necessities for the kids were more important than the (false) exterior image. So, after a short discussion, a few phonecalls and a few hours of hard work, here are the results:





The state of the dorm is still far from perfect but with limited resources and time, those were the only changes we could do, for the time being at least. We were told that the kids here are the problematic ones, hence the horrendous state the centre is in right now. We were also advised not to leave the books with the kids since they would only turn them into paper rockets. Funnily, when the kids came back from school and we finally got the chance to spend some time with them, we didn't see any of those rebellious tendencies or acts at all. They were polite, responsive and showed genuine interest in the few books we brought in initially. Were the kids putting up pretence just for us? Or was it the caretakers? Only god knows...

At the end, we decided to go ahead with the mini library project anyway so it was set up straight after barbecue dinner with the kids on Sunday night. Here are some photos:







The photos were a bit dark because we were in darkness. Only 1 out of 4 lights in the main dorm was functioning. Hopefully the rest will get fixed soon.

I will put up more photos from this trip here in the next few days ya...

One humbling experience

It started with a few old and new friends trying to help Iskandar @ Dr Bubbles making a difference in a few kids' life. RM200 soon multiplied and in no time, he managed to collect roughly RM9k for his brilliant mini libraries project. A few went to Janda Baik to materialise the mission a few weeks ago and I joined the second trip to Kampung Cheh, Bukit Gantang Perak last weekend. It was one humbling learning experience and we had so much fun too along the way. I think I've learnt so much more about humanity and goodwill within this 48 hours than I have in years!

Iskandar, Farouq, Bro Nasrun, his wife Kak Nett and myself left for Ipoh on Saturday morning after a brief breakfast meet at Setiawangsa. Since 2 of the guys happened to be STAR Old boys, we went to have 'Nasi Ganja' at Jln. Yang Kalsom to let them take a journey down their memory lane as soon as we arrived in Ipoh (kasi can la kan..heheh..). Here is a photo of it, especially requested to be put up here by another Old boy, my former 3MMMP boss :)


Sorry that the picture is abit blurry.. I only remembered to take a snap of it when I already had my fingers onto it!

We met up with Salina and her brother at that Nasi Ganja place so once our stomachs were filled, we made our way to Bukit Gantang in 3 cars. At Nurul Hidayah, we were greeted by smily yet shy faces of the young residents and later, by the friendly owner, Pak Manap. Bro Jiwarasa (from Ipoh) and Kak Laily (from Penang) with their respective families joined us soon after. Let the photos do the rest of the story-telling...


Our destination


The task began: sorting out the books


A light moment


Some were donated, many were bought


Mission accomplished (for now at least)


The kids enjoying the new books


Khusyuknya Fila


Pak Manap's homestay: where we went to rest and clean ourselves

Later in the afternoon, Pak Manap and Mamagie took us to visit a poor cancer patient in a neighbouring village. I almost wanted to cry seeing the condition she and her family were in. Yup, poverty still exist in this country even after 50 years of independence...

In the evening we went back to Nurul Hidayah for BBQ and get-to-know session with the kids. The initially shy and reserved kids turned out to be very chatty and asked numerous questions, which some I couldn't easily answer like "Ahli Psikik tu kerja apa kak?"


BBQ


Kak Nett chatting with the kids about future careers


A serious discussion with Pak Manap and Pak Tam ( sebenarnya tengah tunggu ayam and ikan patin siap tu..hehe..)


Filling in the gaps with the career books (nasib baik Is beli buku 'Ahli Farmasi', senang sikit nak explain!)


The kids posing with my handbag

By the end of the night, I was really close to the kids that they even asked me to spend the night with them. Part of me wanted to, but I didn't want to interfere with their daily routines. I did spent some time in their dorms though, dispensing old hostel tricks such as how to make a good bed before saying goodbyes. We then headed to Pak Tam's place, and even managed to learn a few massage tricks from him before calling off the night.

Early sunday morning, Mamagie and I went for a short visit to a couple of cancer patients' houses after breakfast, and again, their living conditions particularly of a very old lady who can't walk and lives alone caught my nerves. If only I could do more for them...sigh..

We then joined the rest to visit another cancer patient who owns this:

Such a strong lady she is

Before we left for KL, Pak Manap took us for a nature and history trail and brought us here:

Kampung Warisan Resort

and here:

Long Jaafar resting place

We finally bid goodbye and left Bukit Gantang at about 11am. But another twist of event followed. Instead of straight to KL, we ended up here:



All for a good cause of course :)

More photos here soon.