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| Ishak Abdul Kadir |
To start with I must mention the Berjaya Group Founder’s Day Carnival, last Saturday. Not only did we receive a very generous donation but we also had the wonderful opportunity to meet the public and fundraise in our very first booth.
Our “Tampal Rumah” programme has gone from strength to strength and we are proud to announce that between April 2014 and March 2015 our Shelter cluster together with other volunteers, built 15 houses in various “orang asal” settlements. Eight of those houses, in Kg. OA Bukit Jenuk, Dengkil, Selangor, were sponsored by the Star Publications (M) Berhad, who also offered help from their volunteering staff. Additionally they sponsored one house in Kg. OA Bukit Rok, Bera, Pahang. Five more houses were then built by our volunteers in Kg. OA Bukit Unggul, and 1 in Kg. OA Batu 12, Gombak, all sponsored by the Selangor State Government. As I am writing, another 2 houses have just been completed in Gombak and in Kg. OA Air Kuning, Shah Alam, respectively.
But rest assured that our other clusters were not idle!
The Food cluster helped out by cooking for the volunteers during the building of all those houses! During the month of Ramadan 3 ‘Buka Puasa’ (Break of Fast) were organized, namely in the ‘orang asal’ village of Air Kuning, Shah Alam, at Pusat Jagaan Siti Nor Aini, Kajang and at Rumah Penyayang Nur Iman, Setapak The Food cluster organized the collection of food for the victims of the Kelantan flood, where Insaf Malaysia collected roughly 16 tons of essential items. Just few weeks ago, the food cluster volunteers excelled themselves by cooking a virtual feast for the Chinese New Year celebration, held as a “thank you” for all our supporters.
The Medical cluster had their work cut out during the terrible disaster which hit the state of Kelantan, the December flood. Two missions comprising of 4 doctors and 1 logistician each, were quickly assembled and dispatched to Kota Bahru, Tumpat and Tanah Merah to offer medical assistance. On their advice Insaf Malaysia subsequently sent another 4 missions comprising mainly of psychologists to deal with the trauma faced by the children in the aftermath of the flood. Our programme ran for 2 weeks and involved 44 schools in the Gua Musang district. The programme ended with a TOT (Training of Trainers) day where the psychologists had a chance to work with the teachers and the parents. In the coming months, several visits are planned to the same area, to enquire about the wellbeing of teachers and students alike.
Apart from helping out during the collection and distribution of clothes during the Kelantan flood and during the Berbuka Puasa programme, the WASH cluster organized the sanitation for all our building sites as well as the construction of a flushing toilet (the first in the village) for our kindergarten in Kg. OA Bukit Jenuk, Dengkil. Insaf Malaysia is indeed very pleased to announce that on the 5th of January 2015 the first Temuan kindergarten (TATIM) in Selangor opened its doors. It was a proud moment for everyone at Insaf Malaysia!
Education and welfare are two areas that hopefully will feature more prominently in the future. With education we hope to help more ‘orang asal’ children by integrating them in the community without destroying their cultural heritage or their beliefs. With welfare we are hoping to organize more visits to poor areas in the country and to assist the elderly, the sick, the children, in essence, anyone in need of care and a helping hand.
A helping hand – that is what we hope to be. With that image in mind, I want to renew my thanks for your continued support.
Ishak Abdul Kadir
Founder/President
Insaf Malaysia Technical Relief
