A Mirror Image

How ironic! APOH Chapter 8 resulted in Day 1 failure (due to rain) and Day 2 success in reaching Mt Kinabalu summit. It was a total opposite scenario compared to last year's event. One of the climbers thinking it will be dejavu, switched last minute to climb on Day 1 but encountered the same failure he had on Day 2 last year. What a gamble!

APOH Chapter 8 held from the 12th – 16th July had a total of 229 climbers. Day 1 climbers totalled 115 pax and Day 2 climbers totalled 114 pax. This year APOH also had participants from 10 other countries apart from the usual Malaysians and Singaporeans. In all the 8 years of APOH, this year was seen the largest climbing contingent ever. Among the climbers were day trippers (going up and down Mt Kinabalu in one day). They were luckier as they had success on both days. Sad to say that this could be last time the Mt Kinabalu park management is allowing day trippers up the mountain.

As usual like on all other years, there are climbers making 'remarkable' journey up the mountain. One of which reached Laban Rata at midnight, she was an Indonesian and she was one of the participants that signed up last minute, thus evidently no training effort made. One of my constant advice to new climbers is, never underestimate Mt Kinabalu although many have climb it. We had one family turned back (a first in all the years of APOH) when they reached kilometre number 2 as they couldn't imagine themselves doing it anymore. The mountain indeed was quite torturing for them as one of them had an injured leg coming down.

Whether success or failure during the climb up Mt Kinabalu, APOH Chapter 8 carries on hopefully to reach the RM200,000 donation collection target. Up until today, our collection had surpassed well over the middle mark of RM100,000. We still have time as the year hasn't drawn to a close. Indeed excitement has died down but not our spirit to collect donation.

As one would say, the FUN is over but raising FUND is just starting. My sincere wish for all who had participated in APOH Chapter 8, is that we continue to solicit donation as you had benefitted in some way or another from being part of A Piece Of Hope. Help us help Rumah Keluarga Kami. The donation form is downloadable from this blog, just look to the right hand side to find it.

(click photo above to download)

APOH on TV

Recently, Bernama TV covered our press conference on 31st May 2014. We manage to capture the footage (alas the crude way) and you can view it here http://youtu.be/Kgv4LCVyk7I

APOH in the news

A Piece Of Hope Chapter 8 : Mt. Kinabalu Charity Climb has since had its press conference on 31st May 2014 held at Rumah Keluarga Kami (RKK) new premises in Kajang. Press invites were sent out a week earlier but had cold responses. It was maybe due to the concurrent Teluk Intan by-election happening on the same day. Thank God that came that day, we had 2 press that came, Bernama and NST. Bernama came with their videoman and NST came with their cameraman. The press conference lasted an hour plus. APOH presented a mock cheque to RKK for a sum of RM60,000. This does not call to the end of our campaign but just the beginning. APOH this year target to reach RM200,000.

(click on this link to view the above NST news online)

A Wish Worth Fulfilling

A humble request from Rumah Keluarga Kami.

Rumah Keluarga Kami had come up with a Wish List for some items they need for their home. They range from things used for the administration to the needs of the children at large. Members of the public are encouraged to help fulfill their wish.

The list of items can be found by clicking on the Title tab located at the top of the page, 'Wish List - Rumah Keluarga Kami' or by visiting here http://apieceofhope.blogspot.com/p/wish-list.html.

Thank you very much!

Your Giving Will Change Their World

With roughly 2 months to go before A Piece Of Hope Chapter 8 : Mt Kinabalu Charity Climb, the soliciting donation mood has already started. Our aim of raising RM200,000 for Rumah Keluarga Kami is indeed no less a monumental task as conquering Mt Kinabalu summit. On register, we have over 200 climbers doing the climb this year. By a simple calculation, RM1000 x 200 = RM200,000. Ideally looking at this we have no problem to achieve our target but we regret to say it is not as easy as it sounds.

So we are appealing to all donors out there to generously contribute to our cause. Your little money can mean a world to these underprivileged children. How much they have depends on how much our society can give them. How well they live depends on how well we treat charitable causes. We at A Piece Of Hope wishes that you can adopt what we do and ask that you donate your finance to help change their world for the better.

“As one person I cannot change the world but I can change the world of one person” - Paul Shane Spear

GIVE ... how? Download the form below and start changing their world!

Rumah Keluarga Kami

The most basic needs for a child to have a quality early part of their life is a 'good home'. Every parent plans and hopes to achieve that, of course that is the paternal instinct. What if the child does not have a responsible or abled-parent to provide for that good home? What happens then to the child? You might imagine him being in need most of the time, like in need of love, in need of proper guidance, in need of attention, etc. Some of these innocent children we see are orphan by choice or abandoned. Pity you might think but that is a fact affecting our modern society.

Thanks be to God that these childrens have another home to go to, provided by good samaritan strangers. I am refering to of course is an orphanage. The orphanage that APOH has selected this year through a recce done on 23rd February in Kajang, does not want to associate itself with definition of an orphanage but rather a home. That's why it is named Rumah Keluarga Kami (RKK) or in English, My Family Home.

RKK was established in 1990 by efforts of several caring individuals. It is now one of 10 homes under Yayasan Ozanam. It has now 40 children in its care living in 2 houses. These children comes from all walks of life. They are cared for like in any other home right up till after secondary education. Mr. Bryan Perera, Projects Coordinator of RKK, mentioned that further education will be provided for these children if they show their interest in continuing studies.

Seeing the need to provide a better home for these children, RKK embarked on a building project in 2007 by purchasing a land adjacent to the current house. Today after 7 years, the new 3 storey building is completed and ready for occupancy in May 2014. The new building is a testimony of RKK's commitment to strive to better the lives of these and future orphaned children. Mr. Bryan commented that this new building can house 60 children. Many of the building materials and furnitures are donated by the general public. This has helped very much in reducing cost of building.

RKK's monthly expenditure is around RM25,000 and it is going up every year. Mr. Bryan said that they received a lot of food donation especially rice bags. This is evidently so as one of the hallways is lined with 2 metre high stacked-up rice bags. "Although we are moving into a new building, it does not mean that we don't need financial help. In fact we need it even more due to our expansion plans to help more unfortunate children out there", said Mr. Bryan.

With this visit concluded, APOH is now set yet again to embark on an adventurous donation drive in 'A Piece Of Hope Chapter 8: Mt Kinabalu Charity Climb 2014'. Our sight is set for a target donation collection of RM200,000. Help us to achieve it to better the lives of these children.

More information on Rumah Keluarga Kami, please visit www.ssvprkk.org.