This time in Ijok....

The Ijok Feeding Program was carried successfully – despite some initial problems – on Wed, 23/ 5/ 2012. We started the journey from Damansara at 7:30 am. By 8:30 am – both Hjh. Marni & I started our feeding rounds. And at exactly 2pm we had served ALL 20 Families and visited 2 Pre Schools. 

Our first stop were the 2 Tadika Kampung – The Village Pre Schools. This time, we brought with us cans of MILO & packets of Nasi Lemak for the hungry children. We welcomed most warmly by children & teachers alike – as by now we are quite a feature in both the Schools. Thank you Nestle Products for the MILO & Mdm Jothy for the Nasi Lemak. Check out the delight etched on their faces, knowing there Nasi Lemak & MILO for Break Time.

Above: Packets of freshly cooked Nasi Lemak. - for the children. Both Marni & I could not resist the aromatic beckoning of the Nasi Lemak. We each had a huge plateful of steaming Nasi Lemak, topped with hot spicy sambal  with freshly fried ikan bilis & a whole hard boiled egg. Yummy! It jump started our day....

 Project MADE has been feeding at Ijok since beginning of the year, we would have thought that we have covered almost everyone and yet, surprisingly, we were introduce to 8 new families!! This time around – we served many senior citizens, families with severely mentally challenged children as well families who live below the poverty line. This is very sad, indeed. Check out pix below of these “new” Feeding Families. They were so very grateful for the bags of rice, Food Parcels & loaves of bread

Above: Taufik & Julia - a new family. Julia is only 37 and she is blind. it is unfortunate as Taufik has to be both father & mother to their 4 young children. He is only an odd job worker.

Above: Another new family - amongst her many children she has a mentally challenged 6 yr old girl. Apparently, the Hospital was "negligent" , during the birth - as alleged by her mother.

Above: A new recipient - 75 yr old couple. Living together.

Above: Another Senior living on her own. She sells snack from her home 

Above: A young recipient checking out the MILO.......

Above: Another new Family with many children but low income......

Above: Khairul Rahman & Family - he works as a Security Guard. He has 5 young school going children.

The rest of the Families were the ones we felt deserved a repeat service. For example: 23 year old Fatin + her 3 very, very small children, a single mom who has a breathing difficulty child, a divorcee who has been chased away by her ex-husband, Mas – who has 5 very, very young children : whom she has to ensure are fed since husband is not too keen at working a little harder….

 

 

This month the Food Parcel consists of rice/ wheat flour/ meehoon/ sugar/ salt/ oil/ sardines/ biscuits/ tea/ bread/ eggs/ potato/ onion/ garlic/ soya sauce/ UHT Milk/ Infant formula

Our heartfelt appreciation to our Sponsors/ Donors for these food items:-

Pn. Siti Hajar Teh

Pn. Aida Shamsuddin & En. Mohd. Shahril bin Mohd. Termizi

Ms. Adeline Chew

Pn. Hjh. Marni Mohd. Noor 

Md. Jothy

Nestle Products

Our special gratitude to Pn Ratna – Ketua Wanita, Kg. Parit Mahang for taking us on the Feeding Rounds. Without her we wouldn't have been able to visit the Families.

Thank you ALL for Making A Difference

Making new friends....

Main Photo : Mr. Ng Chun Hoe - Team Leader from Friends of The Vihara, Brickfields handing out a bag full of goodies. The children eagerly lined up to collect their Bag

 On Sat, 12/ 5/ 2012 – exactly one week after Wesak Day, The Friends of The Vihara (FoV) , Brickfields, came to ULC Burmese Refugee School for a visit. The FoV Team was led by Team Leader Mr. Ng Chun Hoe. For Project MADE it was absolutely delightful as it was a meeting of old friends.

Above: Yummy Stuffs from The Bag

 The FoV Team came laden with  Goody Bags for the 90 children at The School. They were warmly welcomed by Pastor Jonathan Than Hla & his wife Grace. The Team was shown around The School and was given a short briefing as to the needs of the children and the running of The School.

Above: Briefing by Pastor Jonathan Than Hla who runs The School. In his limited English, he made known of the children's plight. The FoV Team listened very attentively  and asked many questions.

This Visitation was also attended by Mr. Ken Woo Kin Fai – a philanthropist and a childhood friend. Check out Ken in action:

Above: My childhood friend Ken trying a game with some of the little girls. It was quite funny to see Ken reattempting a game which he and I used to play during recess, 40 years ago ...... needless to say we always end up arguing when I missed a beat! Shall we give it another try..... again.....?

The children gleefully played with one another oblivious to the Visitors.

Above : The Children playing simple games which we used to play when we were young. Games which need just imagination & hand - eye coordination.

Above: Sweet Innocence - The Face of Hope: My Playmate for that day! Never found out her name. We just played, laughed and had FUN despite the lack of communication.....

 

Thank You So Much Friends of The Vihara for making a difference. You came and brought a smile……

The BEST Wesak Day ever.....

Above:ULC - The Burmese Refugee Feeding Program 2012

On Sat, 5/5/2012 – Wesak Day : Project MADE conducted The ULC Burmese Refugee Feeding Program. This Feeding Program serves 90 children + 7 Single Moms with very young babies. These mommies could not go out to work as they have very young children to take care of.

Check out the pix below for pictorial stories:

Above: A Group of happy children  with their "lunch" for the next few weeks....Grace (left, in black holding a baby) is the "Chief Cook" at the School. We brought 17 items - rice, meehoon, cooking oil, baked beans, sardines, eggs, onion, garlic, potato, carrots, cabbage, long beans, chicken, MILO, salt, cream buns, bread loaves.

Above: Pastor Jonathan (in white) briefing the Families with Mr. See (our esteemed Donor/ Contributor, in stripes) making a speech in English & being translated in Myanmar Language.

Above: The 7 Single Moms & their babes posing with their Food Parcels. It is a great feeling to be able to assist this group of ladies as clearly they do NEED help. Being a foreigner without proper documentation MUST be very difficult.

Above: 2 Single Moms with their  babes in arms. My heart bleeds when I see these ladies. Being alone in a foreign  & hostile country without the support of their  husbands. They are really resilient & strong.

Above: The Mommies waiting patiently to be registered before handing out of the Food Parcels

Above: The "humble" Food Parcel which hopefully can keep hunger at bay for the Families. The Food Parcel consists of rice, wheat flour, meehoon, sugar, salt, oil, sardines, biscuit, bread, kaya spread & MILO. Milk Powder for the babies & sanitary pads for the ladies.

 Project MADE arrived at 11:15am, accompanied by Mr. See Thuan Po – who is the sole Donor / Contributor of the Feeding Program. Mr. See generously contributed Food Parcels as well as milk powder and some nicely packed Power Root Goody Bags to the Mommies & babies, respectively. On top of that, Mr. See contributed food items for the 90 children of the School. These food items were to be used for cooking the children’s lunches for the next  few weeks, until the next visitation.

Above: Preparing food items for purposes of presentation to The School.

Above: Such innocence! I can't help but wonder what the future hold for him...All things GOOD I hope & I pray...

Above: This young boy must be between 10 - 12 years old. He is mentally challenged. I really hope he & his family gets to go to either Australia, USA OR Canada. He future will be much better there than here.......

Above: A little girl trying her best to stay awake amidst all the excitement. A cute yawn, however still escapes.....

Above: Bible Studies in session. Today, they were taught Mark 12:30 - Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shall honor thy parents, Thou shalt no use God's name in vain.....(are these the 10 Commandments??)

Above: The smaller children were put to task at drawing, colouring.....

Above: A young boy who is more matured than his years - he just has to.....

 After the handing over of the goods, Mr. See, Pastor Jonathan, Grace & I had a quick & short meeting. We have been requested to increase the Food Parcels from 7 Families to 10 Families, as well as to include ginger as one of the necessary item. With the consent & agreement from Mr. See – these requests will be met
 

Personally, for Project MADE – we are very happy to have made a difference in this very “misunderstood” community.

To Mr. See Thuan Po – thank you for making a difference – we couldn’t have done it without you!