Poor preschoolers get one-year food aid
KUCHING: The plight of children from poor households near Sri Aman has come to the attention of local welfare non-governmental organisation ( NGO) Hope Place Kuching – thanks to a concerned kindergarten teacher.
It is known that these children, who are pupils of a rural kindergarten located about a fourhour drive from here, are now on the list of Hope Place’s one-year food assistance project.
“The team will return in one year to evaluate these families once more, to assess any progress or change in their situation,” said Hope Place founder Kelvin Wan in a statement yesterday, adding that it was their teacher Juan Brodi who contacted the NGO recently.
According to Juan, at first he was curious to see some of his pupils appearing lethargic during class – it was only after he visited them at their houses that he realised the poor condition that they were living in.
He told Wan that these children would often go to school without having any breakfast – several of them lacked good night’s sleep.
“The teacher’s compassion for his little pupils is apparent – he has given his word to volunteer in delivering the aid (to the pupils) every month, should Hope Place approve this case,” said Wan.
During a visit to the village with his team, Wan found out that the majority of the children were left in the care of their grandparents as their parents were working in the urban areas.
“Many parents go to the big cities to find work; they seldom – some of them never even – visit their families in the village.
“The children’s elderly grandparents, who are without any stable income, have to take care of the children on top of taking care of themselves as well,” he said.
Additionally, Wan and his team also discovered that there were a number of widows in the village who had to fend for themselves as they did not have children.
Meanwhile, Hope Place carries out its aid deliveries once every three months because of the many families on its list of recipients.
Currently, the NGO is supporting more than 180 families.
For more information to help, call its hotline 013- 567 2775 / 082505 987 – open from 8.30am to noon, and 2pm to 5pm, Mondays to Fridays. On Saturday, call between 9am and noon.
For direct bank-in, place payment made payable to ‘ Persatuan Kebajikan Harapan Kuching’ via Maybank account 5112- 8900-1160.
The team will return in one year to evaluate these families once more, to assess any progress or change in their situation. Kelvin Wan, Hope Place founder