Sabahan project wins international JCI Peace Award
KOTA KINABALU: Junior Chamber International (JCI) Tanjung Aru made Malaysia proud by winning the 2018 JCI World Best Local Peace Project Award through their flagship peace project, “Smile for Peace”.
Smile for Peace beat projects submitted from 100 over JCI member countries to win this coveted award which was presented at the 2018 JCI World Congress at Goa, India.
Smile for Peace project had also won the 2018 JCI Asia-Pacific Best Local Peace Project Award earlier this year; and the 2017 JCI Malaysia Best Local Peace Project Award.
Smile for Peace focuses on helping underprivileged children in Sabah by providing basic education and teaching life skills to prepare them for the workforce in the future.
It emphasizes on teaching these children positive behaviour and peaceful means of finding a living, instead of resorting to unlawful means of work. Our main activities revolve around organizing skill classes eg: handmade soap-making classes, and fund-raising projects to support the local learning centres.
Smile for Peace organizing chairperson Guah Chin Yong said, “When we started this project in 2017, many people didn’t believe that we could succeed in our objectives, as this social issue has deep roots in the Sabahan community”. “However, with the help of the committee, volunteers, and JCI members, we were able to create positive sustainable impact in these children’s lives and provide development opportunities for them. All this would not be possible without the support and collaboration of the local community.”
For more details on this project, follow us on our Facebook page, “Smile for Peace”; or follow us on “JCI Tanjung Aru” Facebook page to learn more on the JCI movement.