As the USA commemorates its independence day on 4th of July, A Piece Of Hope (APOH) too commemorated the heroes that died on Mt Kinabalu earthquake disaster by holding a simple ceremony to handout compassionate money to the families of the deceased guides through a fund called Mt Kinabalu Heroes Fund.
The ceremony was held at Bundu Tuhan Retreat Centre in Kundasang on 4th July at 3pm. It was attended by the families of the deceased guides, namely Sapinggi Ladsou (the father of Robbi Sapinggi), Rozitah Daimin (wife of Joseph Solgin), Vincent Joannes (brother of Valerian Joannes), Ronny Masarin (brother of Ricky Masarin), some relatives, sister of Bundu Tuhan church and APOH team members. Coincidentally while talking to them, we found out that Sapinggi Ladsou (one of the oldest guides of Persatuan Malim Gunung) was one of our guides for previous years of APOH climb. While Rozitah was one of the check-in staff at Kinabalu Park that helped accommodate APOH climbers.
Each of the families were handed RM15,000 at the ceremony. So a total of RM60,000 were given out. These money were raised through combined efforts of all APOH members in and outside the country, by individuals and corporate entities within a month following the disaster. Thanks to all kind hearted donors, APOH’s charity reach has gone beyond children based NGOs. We have touched souls that have aided us up Mt Kinabalu in each and every past years of APOH charity climb.
Although APOH 9 Mt Kinabalu did not properly happen as planned, this event was real meaningful and manage to help individuals/families in a different sincere need at a trying time. A big thank you to our local liaison and driver Evelyn, Lorenzo and Alas for connecting with the deceased mountain guides families and driving the APOH team to Kundasang. Thanks to China Press and Sin Chew Sabah for giving us coverage for this event (click these links to newspaper cuttings: ChinaPress and SinChewSabah). Finally, to all the ‘heroes’ who contributed to this fund, THANK YOU.
The Mt Kinabalu Heroes Fund has now drawn to a close. The heroes here that we had remembered are not gone forever. They will live in our lives as memories of our past.
Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver 5 minutes longer.
- Ronald Reagan (past president of USA)
A hero is an ordinary human being who does the best things in the worst of times.
- Leon Leyson
(the youngest surviving child on Oscar Schindler’s List during the Nazi Holocaust)
