DMA: An
SAKURA INDAH. DMA Went
For A Visit…
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Kuching, Sunday 18/3/12.
A Visit to Taman Sakura
Indah, end of Lorong 3 of Taman Desa
Wira, Batu Kawa on Sunday 18 March 2012. The residents went for
a cooked meal prepared by the St Joe youth ministry at St Mark church on
Sunday. After that, we went over to their 21-door longhouse sitting over a
stream, about 15 minutes’ walk from MJC commercial centre.
The village is in poor shape,
but despite all the hardships, the folks here are the friendliest people you
can find.
DMA visited 8 families, one
head of the family, 41 years old was in poor health, another widow also has
some health problem and all the houses are in a dilapidated state, roof leaking
everywhere. This village is not much different from the houses in
Cambodia.
Residents of Sakura Indah Longhouse
Sakura
Indah Longhouse, has 21 doors which was built along a
small stream. They do not have
electricity except for a couple of families who share a generator. The dwellers are mostly native migrants from
the town of Lubuk Antu, Sri
Aman. They
have been squatting here for the past ten to 15 years or so when they moved to
the city to look for greener pastures.
The
heads of the families work as labourers and they
manage to put food on the table from subsistence farming. Earning about RM500 a
month for an average family of 4 is considered hardcore poor.
Their
dilapidated hut measures about 30’ by 50’ and the conditions are rundown and
most of the roofs have holes in them. During the raining season, their houses
would be flooded. During the last Landas season, they had to be evacuated to the Stapok Community hall at Jalan
Stephen Yong. All their sleeping
material and other household stuff were damaged by the floods. Life is a struggle but they seem very
resilient and strong. Most of them are Christians
and a number of them are Catholics.
Among
the squatters is a Catholic woman by the name of Trin, who is just 56
years old, she has been living alone in her hut without her family
members. Her husband has left her and
her 3 children are away working. She
survives through subsistence farming.
A
widow, named Lamah,
41 years old works as a labourer. She has to stop working now due to poor
health and she has three children to feed.
Another
housewife, Piah anak Abong
36 years old has to work as a labourer after her husband Alin anak Ngambong, 42, fell ill a few months ago. She has 3 children to support, a daughter who
is studying in Form two and a younger one
who is in kindergarten and a three year old
baby. Her husband is diagnosed with
end-stage renal failure and is unable to work now. Piah has to support
the family while the youngest child is looked after by the husband at
home. He needs follow up with the doctor
at the SGH regularly. Her hut is in
total darkness as there is no window being built. Her eldest daughter will follow the mother to
work during the school holidays.
All
the 21 families are food recipients from the Society for the Kuching Urban Poor
(SKUP).
On Easter Sunday
(8 April 2012), DMA went for another visit to find out more,
On Wednesday
11 April 2012, DMA paid another visit to Sakura
Indah –
Of
the 21 families currently registered with SKUP, 19 families are hard core poor.
FFC
Sec 5 Youths, their parents, DMA people and well-wishers will visit the 19
families on Sunday 24 June 2012.
There are 36
Adults, 50 children aged between 1 month and 14 years (April 2012).
One man
seriously sick, needing dialysis 3 times a week.
His name is Alin anak Ngambong, you can contact him direct at mobile
no. 010-963 7891
His wife is Piah anak Abong. They have three children aged 14 (Form Two), 6 and 3
years old.
On 14
April 2012 The Star Newspaper visited the family,
Alin’s plight was published on Divine Mercy Sunday 15 April 2012
If you wish to help them, you can bank into her CIMB Bank
Account direct:-
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15/5/12
According to
the leader Veronica of Sakura Indah, there are actually another 7 more families
living at Sakura Indah, these families we will visit too on 24 June 2012. So
there are 26 families we will visit in all, a big group indeed, but never mind,
this is what our Merciful Lord wants us to do, we do.
Thank you
for your generosity, may God bless you abundantly.
DMA WOM FFC#2
Who: Society for the Deaf (20 people) & 26 Needy Families (105 people)
When: 24 June 2012, 10am –
12pm. (last Sunday of June)
Where: 3rd Mile
& Batu Kawa area.
What to bring? (most important is to bring a compassionate heart)
For SSD, perhaps a fruit basket
will do.
For SAKURA INDAH, there are many families with
children and infants, suggestion
Food Stuff: Biscuits, Milo, Buns, Bread,
Jam, Eggs, Milk Powder, Instant Mee, Cooking Oil,
Rice, Salt, Sugar, Canned Food … etc
Household Items: Soap,
Detergent, Table Cloth, Curtains, Mirrors, … etc.
Useful Things: Torch and Batteries, Tea Set, Zam Buk, … etc
Clothing: Infant & Children’s Clothing, Tee-Shirts,
Shorts, Pants, Skirts, Singlet, Towels … etc
Gifts For Children: Presents, Toys, Story Books, Exercise Books, Pen, Pencils, Colouring Pencils, Shoes, School Bags … etc
(Tips: have a look at the pictures DMA
Went For A
Visit… and decide what to bring)
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FFC SEC5 Project Compassion 2012: We may hire a bus to bring the children. Parents, DMD people and well-wishers go in own car,
suggest car-pooling. We will visit 19 families and since we have about as many Sec5 youths, each
youth will visit one family on the
day we visit them. Each youth to bring a “green”
bag (anybody wishes to donate the bags?) which
contains some gifts, necessities and goodies for the family they visit… Suggest each of the 19
households to receive at least one Pack of Instant
Noodles (RM4-5) and some biscuits. Youths to fill up the green bags
through some awareness activities or
similar. Youths will personally make a greeting
card for the family they visit. Youths will have some
dialogue with the family they visit. This will be an eye-opener
experience for our youths. Parents and Friends are welcome
to join us. |
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Program: (24/6/12 Nativity of St John the Baptist [13th Sun OT]) |
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10.00am Leave St Peter’s
Church for SSD, at Lorong Laksamana 8. (Google MAP-SSD) |
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10.45am Leave
SDD for Sakura Indah, at Taman Desa Wira, Batu
Kawa. (MAP-Sakura
Indah) |
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11.45am Leave
Sakura Indah for St Peter’s Church. |
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12.00pm Home. |
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Michael |
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6/4/12 Good Friday |
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Contacts:
