Joining forces to build home for Inanam family
INANAM: Happy Family Homes Malaysia (HFHM), a renowned NGO, has joined forces with the Unduk Ngadau committee as well as an international school from France to grant the wishes of a less fortunate family in Kg Dambai, Inanam.
HFHM, which has been building homes for the needy since 1996, has yet again fulfilled the wishes of one Stanley Wong. Stanley had wanted to build a house at his existing land but he could not do so due to financial constraints.
Twenty-one students and three teachers from Ecole Jeannine Manuel in Lille, France and a team from the Unduk Ngadau committee, which included Unduk Ngadau 2018 winner Hosiani James Jaimis, started the construction of the house during a special ceremony on Friday.
“This year, we are building two homes. Today’s event was special because our Unduk Ngadau 2018 winner, who happened to have represented the Inanam district during the Unduk Ngadau competition was able to join us. We had invited the Inanam assemblyman (Kenny Chua) and the Unduk Ngadau advisor (Jenifer Lasimbang), but they could not come (due to work commitments),¨ HFHM national president Joanna Datuk Kitingan said.
Joanna, who is also the Unduk Ngadau committee chairperson, added that the Unduk Ngadau committee had also decided to donate RM5,000 from their recent charity dinner earnings for HFHM.
“The money donated will be used to pay for the materials (to build the house). After that (Stanley’s family) will be paying a monthly fee for the next seven years,” she explained.
It is understood that Stanley’s family was eligible to receive a house under the programme as they were able to pay the monthly fee, which ranges between RM200 and RM250 and that they have their own land.
She said HFHM seeks to help those who could not obtain bank loans due to its high interest rates. In other words, they were helping the government to provide homes for the needy, provided that they could pay the said monthly fee, she added. HFHM is previously known as Habitat For Humanity.
The cost to build Stanley’s house is expected to be around RM35,000 and it will take around four to five months to build.
The team of French students will also be helping HFHM build a separate house for another family in Tuaran during their stay here.
Simon Cowdry, who is the team leader for the French students, revealed that the community work was part of their Creativity Action Service (CAS) programme, which encourages students to make the world a better place.
“It (CAS) aims to show how easy it is to help another person. Hopefully, this will be an educational trip, so that we can pass that on to further generations,” he said.
The school had been coming to Sabah to assist HFHM for about eleven years now.
On the possibility of Malaysian students being brought over to France for educational programmes, Simon said that such ideas could happen, to help the needy people of France or even to go there to learn the country’s culture.
The event was officiated by Inanam Community Development Leader Benny Chua.
Since its inception on 1996, HFHM has built almost 50 houses for the less-fortunate families in Sabah.
For further information, the public may contact HFHM on 088395989 or visit its website on www. hfhmalaysia.com.