Announcement
| [+/-] |
Help The Underprivileged Children In Jakarta |
Dear Happy Angels and Friends,
This is the third consecutive year that Happy Angels, with the help of our Indonesian counterpart, will be reaching out to help the underprivileged in Jakarta. Unlike the previous year, Happy Angels will be working with another charitable organization, Sahabat Anak. Sahabat Anak, (which means friends of children) was established in 1997 with a mission to help and befriend children from dysfunctional families. Since then, they have been actively involved in various local activities to help the street children. You may find out more about this organization at www.sahabatanak.com.
With this new collaboration, Happy Angels aims to reach the underprivileged in a different way this year. According to a health report in 2008, there were at least 18 million malnutrition children in Indonesia. The long term effects of malnutrition may lead to physical, mental and intellectual problems in a child, and sometimes even death. Various reasons contribute to this huge figure. Poverty, which leads to the inability to afford basic necessities such as food, and uneducated parents, who are unaware of the importance of nutrition are some of the main culprits.
This year, Sahabat Anak takes up the responsibility to help in launching the campaign to create awareness on food nutrition for the children. They are also inviting generous donors to provide nutritious meals for the underprivileged children. With a mere sum of Rp50,000 (about S$7.50), Sahabat Anak will be able to provide 10 meals per child. Each child will then be able to receive one nutritious meal (price about Rp5,000) on a weekly basis over 10 weeks. This campaign will last till July 2010.
Happy Angels will be participating in this meaningful campaign by sponsoring 100 under privileged children. This will be a long term project for Happy Angels. We aim to continuously providing the nutritious food for these children even after the first 10 weeks. On 31 January 2010, Happy Angels and Sahabat Anak will be distributing the first pack of nutritious meal to the sponsored children. Should you have a Jakarta night stop flight (crew member) or are interested to be present for this event, please contact Irene @ +62 8180 668 66 88. If you are interested to make monetary contribution, please contact Christine @ +65 9225 3834.
A pack of nutritious meal for the children may include green beans, eggs, biscuits, fruits and milk. Although it doesn’t cost much to provide healthy and nutritious food, to these children however, this meal is very hard to come by. With your care and concern that we share through your contribution, not only will we bring joy to the little ones, but most important of all health!
Your Sincerely,
Irene Oi And Christine Tho
Happy Angels
We Care We Share
http://the-happy-angels.blogspot.com/
| [+/-] |
Distribution Effort in Bekasi, East Jakarta |
Dear Angels and Sponsors,
It has been a year since Happy Angels last helped the underprivileged families in Indonesia. The present rainy season in Jakarta has, as usual, flooded most areas. The impact of the flood, coupled with the global economic downturn, has affected the families even more this year! With the help of Mr Benny Lumy (KDM), Happy Angels has decided to reach out to 125 unprivileged families in Bekasi by providing them with basic daily necessities consisting rice, noodles, oil and other food items (just like last year). Bekasi in East Jakarta was selected for this year's project because the area received the least assistance in the form of donations and other contributions despite being in such destitute conditions.
This distribution activity will be scheduled on this Thursday, 22/1/09. You are encouraged to participate in any way possible. If you are in Jakarta on that day, please let me know if you wish to help out. And if you wish to make a monetary contribution, please transfer your donation to Happy Angels Fund (POSBank Saving Account No. 194-78122-9). Kindly sms Christine at 9225 3834 after you have transferred your donation.
Before we joyously celebrate our Chinese New Year, let us share a little and make our new year a very meaningful one because we always remember that there are people in other parts of the world who are suffering and worrying for their basic needs in life! Our care and contribution will mean a lot to them. I know it because I felt, I saw, and I heard from those familes over the last two years.
Here's wishing one and all a Happy Ox Year! :)
Warmest Regards,
Irene Oi
Secretary of Happy Angels
Mobile +62 818 0668 6688 (Jkt)
Mobile +65 9045 5004 (Sin)
| [+/-] |
Ghetto Fire in Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Jun 2008 |
On 11 April 2008, a fire broke out in a poor community of Reussey Keo district that completely destroyed at least 450 houses. More than 700 families including house owners and renters lost their homes. The fire, which lasted about 7 hours, left some injured casualties but no deaths were reported. It was just days before the start of the Khmer New Year. Most of the families had locked up their homes and returned to their villages to celebrate the occasion.
Affected families were struggling to salvage their belongings from their houses during the incident but almost all families did not manage to save their properties because of the immense fire. The wooden houses were built next to each other in a disorderly manner causing the fire to spread faster. It also prevented the firefighters from entering the scene in time to put out the fire.
On 12 April 2008, one day after the incident, there was still no response from the government. Some NGOs entered the area and began to provide immediate assistance. Caritas Cambodia immediately provided water supply and organized the people to form a committee that can work with different organization who helped. The health rescue team from the Ministry of Health was also stationed in a camp to provide treatment for the victims.
On 13 April 2008, Cambodian Red Cross along with the municipality provided short term food assistance including rice, food items, tents and money to 487 families to temporarily secure their living condition for at least 15 days.
A personal appeal was sent out to friends in Singapore to help the fire victims. Kind sponsors responded and donations were collected and sent to Phnom Penh on 16 May 2008. Donations were handed to Caritas Cambodia for distribution, as personal distribution may cause chaos amongst the affected victims. Caritas Cambodia formed a committee to register families who were affected by the fire and they are able to identify families who need more help than others.
Donations Qty/Amount Sponsor/Donor
Blankets 50 pieces SIA Commercial Supplies
Clothing & toys 90 kg Various Donors/SATS
Slippers & shoes 170 pieces SATS Ground Staff
Biscuits & noodles 244 packets SATS Ground Staff
Cash $2550.00 Various Donors/Friends
Cash $2000.00 Happy Angels
Our personal experience at the slum house area… It was on 16 May 2008, a sunny day but it had been raining for the past few days before our arrival. The journey took about 30 minutes on the tuk-tuk from the city. We reached the slum area, which was burned to ground on 11 April 2008, what remained was some wooden structure and heaps of rubbish. We walked down and reached the temporary site where the victims are being put up. The ground was muddy and dirty, it was a challenge to balance on bricks laid on the muddy ground to access the area. Plastic tents are used as makeshift shelters for the families.
We entered by the side ‘entrance’ and met a few villagers. Some of them had set up stalls selling food, tidbits and other stuff that they used to sell in the slums. They are quick to settle down to the new place and started living their lives again. They know that they cannot afford to just sit and do nothing about it as they have young children & elderly to look after. Life still goes on despite what had happened...
The 2 NGOs who are helping the victims are Cambodian Red Cross and Caritas Cambodia.
www.caritascambodia.org
www.redcross.org.kh
The Red Cross distributes food rations to victims, which is sufficient for them. Caritas Cambodia is helping them with other aspects such as working with the government for a piece of land to re-accommodate the victims, sanitation and hygiene issues. They have also registered all the families who were affected by the fire. Hygiene is a major concern as we thread through the muddy pathways with rubbish next to tents.
We visited the Caritas office soon after that to discuss how we can help. After which, we went to the wholesale markets to get necessary items for them. Caritas distributed donations to families on 28 May 2008 (Wednesday). As we were not around, a representative from RiverKids Foundation went down and helped with distribution. We know people from RiverKids Foundation very well and had been working with them for a few years now.
Caritas Cambodia supplemented our donations with their own contributions and donations from other sponsors in Phnom Penh. Personally, I feel that some of the victims are coping well. Some of the families are very well taken care of by their relatives and some even have property elsewhere. So we decided to spend on necessary items to families who were identified by Caritas to be poorer.
Reported by Evon Ng
| [+/-] |
Mother Teresa’s Orphanage, Amritsar - Apr 2008 |
Being away from home, for 5 days, in a foreign land is always a no good feeling. We tend to miss the comfort things that we have like food, our comfortable bed, air-con and importantly family. This trip to Amritsar, however has been very different. Very rewarding indeed and it gave me time to reflect on the things that I always take for granted which is family.
When I met Christine, there was this special aura about her. I knew it was different. When she approached me asking if I was keen to go to the Mother Teresa's Orphanage, my heart did not stop a beat and I said 'Yes'. It was not about giving back to society, it was more of a personal issue close to my heart. I always believed that in whatever I do, I should not expect anything in return. I do things out of my heart and willingness.
I was ecstatic when she managed to rope in one more of my colleague cause an extra hand is always a helping hand. We met for lunch, and straight after that, we headed down to the local grocery shop to get essential items for the children. We got them toothbrush, toothpaste, and some sinful indulgence like chocolate and chips which any children will sure to like. We were told that there are about 26 children staying at the home. We then packed these items, 9 of them, into individual 'gift bag'.
During the journey in the car I was feeling a bit reserved, cause I am not sure how the condition of these children will be. Will they be scrawny? Will they be like the street kids? A lot of questions were running in my head. There is the language barrier as well. I told myself, I shall take it as it is and take it all in my stride.
When we arrived at the home, many curious on lookers were looking at us. We were greeted by their warmth smile that is so genuine. The children were studying in the hallway when we came and their faces shows it all how they were feeling. There were smiles and excitement all over them. The sister gave us a tour of the home. After that, I really felt like Father Santa as I distributed the gift bag to them as it was greeted with overwhelming thank you from them. Each of them waited excitedly for their turn. To my surprise, they were able to converse in simple English.
There were some smaller children as well, which we were not prepared for. They were as young as 3 months left abandoned. The gift bag definitely does not suit them. Christine had a planned, and gave the sister cash (which donated by Mr Arun Kumar) instead to get the milk supplies for these small toddlers.
I spend a whole good one hour with these children. Playing soccer, catching and taking their photos. There were no TV in the home, so in a way, me, Rizal and Christine was their entertainment for the day. It was so nice to see them feeling so happy and that is how children should feel. No worries in life, just playing. I did not ask the sister any of the children history, cause I am there not to interrogate on the children background, but just to put on a smile on their faces. It must have been hard growing up without parents, but it sure will make them a stronger and more determined individual in the near future. There weren’t any issues with language barrier, cause playing with these kids, you can straight away grasp what they are saying by their body language.
There were so many happy memories there with the kids and no words can actually say how I really feel. I shall let you see the pictures, as they speak a thousand words.
Text by Azym Haysen
Happy Angels would like to thank the following donors for their kind contributions.
Mdm Lau Chai Lee
Mr Azym Haysen
Captain Ling Keng Joo
Mr Arun Kumar
| [+/-] |
Jakarta Flood - Feb 2008 |
Let Us Count Our Blessings.
On the 2nd of Feb 08, Happy Angels had once again brought smiles to the less privileged in Jakarta. It was a day after the terrible flood in Jakarta. Our donation came in time for the affected families. A total of 270 needy families from Railway Mangga Dua and Tanah Abang received a package of daily necessities each during this project. Each family received a bag full of rice, oil, sugar, ketchup, tea, a can of sardines and instant noodles. All the children received a goodie bag which consist of milk and cookies. Besides Happy Angels’ donation of $1228, there were some generous donors who had donated money towards the cause. Children from KDM had voluntarily and whole-heartedly helped out in this project.
Before the distribution, a volunteer from KDM had conducted checks on all the families. A visit and interview by Christine and myself was also conducted week before the project to survey the area, Railway Mangga Dua. Small houses were illegally built along the railway lines, built extremely close to the trains. We interviewed 3 families and visited various homes. The biggest house that we saw was about the size of our typical HBD bedroom. Each house is inhabited by an average of 2 to 6 members, some as many as 8 in the small and confined space. Cooking is done on the street, as these small houses do not have the luxury of space for cooking within. None of these houses has an individual toilet facility. Each visit to the toilet or shower will cost Rp500. It seems quite probable that showering is a luxurious activity to them!
Despite the small area to stay, each household had to pay a rental fee ranging from Rp100,000 to Rp250,000 ($16-$40) per month. Most of the residents are on odd jobs or lowly paid jobs. Some could not even bring home any income for months! Most of them were only able to earn enough to pay off the rental fee. Daily expenses depend on donations from others.
One family that we visited left us with great pangs of heart wrenching sadness!
A small room, which is smaller than our HBD storeroom, housed a generation of four. The sixty one year old grand mother is the sole breadwinner of the family. Her daughter, the thirty-year-old mother not only had to take care of her 13-year-old teenage daughter (who has mentally disorder) and her two years old son but also her one-year-old granddaughter. The old granny works in a recycling company that earns her Rp100,000 ($16) per month, which barely covers their rental fee. Food and daily expenses depends on donation.
After we left, we learnt the tragic story of this family from the volunteers. The only "man" of this family had ran away from home! While his wife was pregnant with his son, he raped his teenage daughter and impregnated her! This inhuman act had caused his teenager daughter (who was only twelve years old then) to go insane after given birth. Now, she could not recall anything and became very reserved and scared of strangers. Many believe the thirty-year-old mother was mentally unsound too, after the incident. That explains why the old granny is the sole bread winner of this family.
This is just one of the many cases that we have encountered. Behind every household, there is an untold story. Some may be happy and contented, but most are sad and unbearable. Life still goes on for these people. When a bag of goodies was given to them, we could see the appreciation and the smile on their faces as their way of saying, "Thank You!”
If there are moments in your life that you have felt miserable or that life is unfair to you, think about the poor family and the tragic experiences that they had to go through and you will begin to appreciate what life has to offer.
Happy Angels would like to thank the following donors for their kind contributions.
Mr. and Mrs. Edison Husin – Rp. 1,000,000
Mr. and Mrs. Erwin Hartono – Rp. 1,000,000
Mr. Albert Kow - S$200
Mr. Chew Ann Hao – S$100
Mr. and Mrs. Oi Joo May – S$100
Text by Irene Oi
| [+/-] |
Jakarta Flood - Feb 2007 |
On February 2007, Jakarta was hit with the worst flood ever. Three days of torrential rain has caused rivers to burst their banks, sending muddy water up to 3 meters deep into homes and shops. Hapless flood victims can be seen standing on their rooftops, waiting desperately to be rescued.
Amongst the thousands of flood victims, many of them live in slums with no basic amenities. They build their shacks along the riverbanks or in very crowded and impoverished areas. The flood swept away and destroyed their already minimal possessions. Some of them even lost their houses as the raging floodwaters swept them away.
The children and the elderly were the more vulnerable ones, as they are unable to fend for themselves. They were being rescued and placed in temporary shelters across Jakarta. Mosques and schools were used as temporary shelters during the flood. Water, medicine and food were scarce. Scores of children, mostly below five years old, succumbed to diarrhea, dehydration, fever and other flood-related illnesses.
When we heard news about the flood in Jakarta, Christine called Mr Benny from KDM to ask how we could help. Armed with donations from big-hearted sponsors in Singapore, we headed to Jakarta.
Happy Angels have been working very closely with friends in Jakarta for the past 2 years since it’s first out-reach project in Tengarang, Jakarta and subsequently with KDM in Cileungsi, Jakarta.
We worked with Mr Benny and identified one area, Pejompongan in Jakarta, which we were able to extend our help. These victims live near the railway tracks, with houses made of wooden planks and roofs made of zinc. We identified 50 families with a total of 200 flood victims consisting of adults, children and vulnerable infants.
Cash donations were used to buy essential items such as medicine, diapers, milk bottles, milk powder, fresh milk, exercise books, stationery sets, sarongs and oranges which were given to all families. A portion of the donated money was also allocated to buy school uniforms for the children. We also brought over clothing and clean towels for the victims.
Happy Angels would like to thank all volunteers and sponsors who have contributed selflessly to help these displaced families.
