Meals on Wheels (MOW) Happy Child - latest beneficiary of this program

Lee Cheng Shoon is a 9 year old boy who had severe head injury after an accident early this year. He was in a coma, mentally and physically handicapped. After 9 months, he is at home, and he has shown very little progress - recognition of family members, very little speech, and slight movements in his right limbs. He needs to be cared for 24/7 and he is fed Pediasure milk through a tube. His other needs at home include diapers, suction catheters, and copolymer examination gloves.

Cheng Shoon is the second in a family of 4 children. His father has a small bicycle shop in Kubang Kerian, and makes about RM1,000-RM1,200 a month, to support his family including his grandmother and grand mother-in-law. The mother is a housewife. Whatever little savings they had, have been used to care for Cheng Shoon since the accident, in addition to some donation they received from the public, since the case was in the local newspapers earlier this year.

Doctor said his brain is "unsalvageable". His recovery is going to take a very long time. He consumes about 400gm per day of Pediasure, which the family buys at a subsidised price of RM940 for 1 1/2 months supply. The subsidy was approved by the Dept of Social Welfare.

We are touched by the plight of this family, and will sponsor Cheng Shoon's milk supply for 6 months from Nov 2014 to Apr 2015 under the MOW Happy Child program, after which we will review before deciding on sponsorship for subsequent months.



Posted by: Kim
Pictures courtesy of: Kim Ean

Meals on Wheels (MOW) HAPPY CHILD - Happy Birthday Janice!!!

Today is Janice's birthday ... she turned 2 today. We would like to wish Janice ...

A Very Happy Birthday and Many Many More To Come!!!

Janice is one of our MOW HAPPY CHILD recipient. She was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia when she was 2 months old. Her family has difficulty in providing her with the necessary nutrition and sought our help via the good doctors in UMMC.

We have been providing Janice with diapers, Peptamen and Nutren Junior milk since January 2014. Pictures below show Janice and her mother receiving their monthly milk supplies from Bro Tommy recently.

A BIG THANK YOU from Janice and her family to MOW HAPPY CHILD donors and supporters.

Posted by: Kim
Pictures courtesy of: Bro Tommy

We lost our MOW HAPPY CHILD Umira

Remember Umira, one of our MOW Happy Child candidate? Umira was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when she was 1 yr old. After undergoing chemo in UMMC, the cancer went into remission for 2 yrs. In Oct last year, she had a relapsed and was admitted to UMMC again for treatment. After slightly more than 6 months in the hospital, she succumbed to her illness and passed away on Tues, 10th June 2014.

Our sincere condolences to her family, especially her "Atuk" (her grandma) who cared for her throughout her stay in the hospital.

She is now free from sufferings and may she rest in peace.

We would like to thank our donors who supported our cause in helping Umira and her Atuk.

Umira with her Atuk when she was first admitted to UMMC in Oct 2014

In the 6 months since the relapsed, she was either in the hospital ward and sometimes wheeled to the hospital lobby when her Atuk receives groceries from MOW

Umira's story ...

Posted by: Kim

Pictures courtesy of: Kim

MOW HAPPY CHILD - Please help Hui Lin's family to feed and care for her

This is a truly sad story. Hui Lin was previously a bright and active 9 year old. She had a sudden onset of fever and loss of consciousness just before Chinese New Year. She was intubated and ventilated for several days in the intensive care unit of UMMC. Multiple investigations were done on her, including MRI on her brain which confirmed that she had Acute Necrotising Encephalitis (brain injury with very poor prognosis).

Hui Lin is now out of the critical period. Unfortunately, she has multiple complications: bed-ridden, tube feeding, and cognitive impairment (unable to communicate). Her diet consists of only Nutren Junior milk.

She depends fully on her mother and elder brother. Her mother had also recently underwent an operation and is still recovering from the operation.

The father, who is a self-employed wireman is now the sole breadwinner to support the family of 5. Hui Lin's elder sister who is 15 yrs old is still in school, while her 23-year old brother is a draughtsman (currently on unpaid leave to help care for Hui Lin). With a total household income of RM3,500 per month, of which almost RM3,000 goes to house rental & utilities, lorry (which is used for the father's work) instalment, the family is desperately seeking help to care for Hui Lin.

Hui Lin is expected to be discharged from the hospital in a couple of weeks, depending on her progress. Currently, she needs 1 tin of 800gm of Nutren Junior milk every 2 days, or 15 tins per month. The milk cost about RM60-65 per tin, which will cost the family about RM1,000 per month. She also needs diapers and wet wipes which cost almost RM300 per month.

We are seeking donation to help Hui Lin get the nutrients and care that she needs.
Every little bit helps ...

If you wish to help Hui Lin for the purchase of milk, diapers and wet wipes, you can deposit your donation (cash or cheque) into our account:

Account Name: Ti-Ratana Community Centre Penchala
CIMB Account No: 14660000259057

Please email your deposit slip to trccpenchala@gmail.com.

For any questions or further information, please contact June at 012-2409020 or 03-77849002.

On behalf of Hui Lin and her family, we would like to thank you for your kindness.


Posted by: Kim
Pictures courtesy of: Kim

MOW HAPPY CHILD – These beautiful CHILDREN need your help

We would to introduce these CHILDREN who have been recently adopted into our MOW HAPPY CHILD program. All these CHILDREN are stricken with cancer.

Please click on their pictures to find out more (please note that they are listed below in random order).

Aliya, Janice, Faisal, Fasya, Aiman and Umira are in our MOW HAPPY CHILD program as they need your support for their daily sustenance and wellbeing. They need special nutrients that are very costly and are beyond the means of their families. Most of them also have young and school-going siblings that add on to the burden of their families.

A more detailed profile of these children, their family background and financial situation are attached at the end of this post.

Under the MOW HAPPY CHILD program, these CHILDREN are provided with costly milk powder such as Peptamen and Nutren, as well as large quantities of diapers and wet wipes. We purchase these items and deliver to the CHILDREN on a monthly basis.

If you wish to contribute to our MOW HAPPY CHILD program for the purchase of milk, diapers and wet wipes for these CHILDREN, you can deposit your donation (cash or cheque) into our account:

Account Name: Ti-Ratana Community Centre Penchala
CIMB Account No: 14660000259057

If you would like to contribute to a specific HAPPY CHILD, please let us know his/her name. Otherwise we will pool your contribution into our MOW HAPPY CHILD program general fund.

Please email your deposit slip to trccpenchala@gmail.com.

For any questions with regards to the CHILDREN of the MOW HAPPY CHILD program, you can contact Kim at 012-303 6019 (Saturday through Monday only) or email to yeapkimsee@hotmail.com.

Siti Nurmaisara and Sasitharan, our first two HAPPY CHILD are still in the program, while Valentino has completed his treatment in UMMC and has gone home to Sarawak.

On behalf of the CHILDREN and their families, we would like to express our utmost gratitude and appreciation for your compassion and support.

Posted by: Kim
Pictures courtesy of: Kim

MOW CELEBRATE - Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with Children at HKL

Ever since we started our MOW HAPPY CHILD program, it has always been our wish to visit sick children in the hospital, and organize activities to bring some cheer to them. We finally got our wish when we celebrated Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with children in the Institute of Pediatric in Hospital Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 8th Sept 2013.

As usual, our journey started off from our centre in Penchala, where the MOW van is ready to be loaded with goodies for the children and hospital staff.

After a short briefing, MOW volunteers set off for the hospital. Upon arrival, we quickly offloaded the goodies onto a trolley and headed into the ward. We were quite amused as it was our first time loading  stuff onto a gurney instead of the usual supermarket trolley:)

We were greeted by the sister-on-call who informed us that the chosen ward, KK5, had less than 10 children, and that she would have to go to four to five wards to get 40 children. Furthermore, most of the children are quite ill and not particularly mobile. Our program for that morning was to gather all the 40 children in a ward and have fun with games and other activities. We had to quickly review and rework our program to accommodate the situation.

Fortunately, everything worked out. Instead of having all the children in a single ward, the MOW volunteers made their "rounds" to several wards, including the ICU, the High Dependency Ward and Burnt Unit. With armful of goodies including Minions soft toys, tee-shirts, chocolates, jigsaw puzzles, and coloring books, MOW volunteers happily visited and chatted with the children and their mothers.

However, the biggest excitement for the children (and the nurses too), was the appearance of three superheroes ... namely Spiderman, Incredible Hulk and Captain America, thanks to Bro Steven, Bro Andrew and Bro Ivan. The superheroes had as much fun as the children, if not more! I think the three "superheroes" were reliving their childhood dreams!

KFC's Chicky Mascot was also a big hit, entertaining the children, together with KFC staff who brought party packs for the children.

Lunch was of course KFC lunch box and yummy cup cakes.

The dedicated hospital staff were also not forgotten, and were presented with goodie bags by our MOW volunteers.

After completing our ward rounds and making sure we visited all the 40 children, MOW volunteers gathered for a group picture in the lobby of the Institute of Pediatric, with the colorful wall as the backdrop.

Everyone was all smiles and warm-hearted, after a very MEANINGFUL and BEAUTIFUL morning with the CHILDREN who were indeed the VVIPs and STAR of the day. Ti-Ratana Community Centre Penchala, Datin Catherine Lai, thanked everyone who made the visit a success, and hoped that our new volunteers will continue to support our MOW programs.

We would also like to thank the following donors whose generous donations helped pay for the expenses for this event:

• Selina & Donny Loo
• Cindy Lim-Tan
• Mary Chia
• Felicia
• Empire Stone

And also to ...

• Julian for the beautiful and yummy cup cakes
• Ivan, Andrew, Sharon, Steven for the cute and adorable Minion soft toys
• Ivan, Andrew, Steven for making the effort to dress up as Superheroes
• Bro Lim and Calvin for being our photographer and videographer for the day
• Catherine Lai for the AnimalCare tee-shirts
• Mr & Mrs Tai for the chocolates
• Fieda, Nini and Iffa from KFC for your enthusiastic participation in this event
• All volunteers who contributed to this event, in one way or another.

KUDOS TO ALL!!!

Click below to view a video of the celebration.

http://youtu.be/Sg-rjji69p0

Posted by: Kim

Pictures courtesy of: Calvin Teh
Video courtesy of: Bro Lim

MOW HAPPY CHILD – Home Sweet Home for Valentino

Latest update (18 Oct 2013) : GOOD NEWS!!! Valentino responded well to the treatment for his infection and was discharged on 5 Oct 2013. He left for home in Sarawak on the same day. He will be returning to UMMC for his quarterly check-up, and MOW will continue to support him.

Thank you Datin Shiou Bin for your contribution towards Valentino's well-being while he was in UMMC.

*********************************************************************************
Valentino, an 8 year-old Iban boy from Sarawak was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia, a rare and serious blood disorder, in Jan 2013 by doctors in Hospital Kuching. In Mar 2013, he was transferred to UMMC (PJ) for a bone marrow transplant (BMT). He underwent the BMT procedure and after 3 months plus in UMMC, he returned to Hospital Kuching in July 2013.

His 4 year-old sister was the donor.

Two weeks after returning to Kuching, he had a serious infection on the right side of his brain that caused paralysis on the left side of his body – he could not talk, eat or move. He was transferred back to UMMC in July 2013, and after more than a month of treatment, he is able to talk, eat and move but is still unable to walk. However, the infection has moved down to his lungs and he is now battling with lung infection and tuberculosis. He eats porridge and Peptamen Junior milk provided by the hospital. The mother, Lily, does not know how much longer he needs to be treated in UMMC.

Lily practically lives in the hospital. Her husband sends her RM250 per month, which is barely enough to cover her own meals and her son’s needs. She sometimes skipped meals when she runs out of funds. The good doctors in UMMC personally help with the son’s diapers and sometimes buy food for her.

Valentino’s needs (RM468 per month)
Tena adult diapers (M) – 1 pack of 10 pcs per day @ RM14 x 30 packs = RM420 per month
Wet wipes – 3 days per box of 80 pcs @ RM4.80 x 10 boxes = RM48 per month

Valentino’s family
His father, Edward Sadai works as a labourer in a timber camp with a monthly salary of RM700. Lily, the mother is a housewife. His two younger siblings, Clerrintia Mas aged 4 yrs and Riskey Garie 3 yrs live with the grandmother, as Lily is taking care of Valentino at UMMC. She is not able to get help from her or her husband’s siblings.

Valentino is MOW HAPPY CHILD’s third candidate. His needs of diapers and wet wipes will be funded from Datin Shiou Bin’s donation, for as long as he is undergoing treatment in UMMC. Thank you so much Datin - Lily and Valentino are truly grateful for your kind and generous contribution.



Posted by: Kim
Pictures courtesy of: Lily

MOW CELEBRATE - Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with children in Institute of Pediatrics HKL

Come join us celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with children in the pediatric ward in Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Date:  Sunday, 8 Sept 2013

Time: 10:30am to 1:00pm

Venue: Ward KK5, Institute of Pediatrics, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur







Ti-Ratana Meals on Wheels will be bringing festive cheer to 40 children who are in the pediatric ward for chronic respiratory illness, including complicated lung diseases. Many of these children are not able to run around, play with their friends, go to school and do all the normal things other children do. We hope our visit will turn an ordinary day in the hospital into a special and memorable one.


WISH LIST

To make this happen, we need your support as follows:

	Quantity	Unit cost	Sub-Total	Donors
Lunch for 80 pax (40 children, 20 staff, 20 MOW volunteers)	80	RM15	RM1,200
Goodie bags for 40 children (soft toys, etc)	40	RM10	RM400
Appreciation gifts for 25 ward staff (Raya cookies, etc)	25	RM10	RM250

For all items, you may sponsor the actual items in whatever quantities or donate cash (any amount) by banking into our account as below:

Account Name: Ti Ratana Community Centre Penchala
CIMB Account No: 14660000259057


Please email a copy of the deposit slip to trccpenchala@gmail.com and specify if the donation is for a specific wish list item or general expenses for this event.

If you are contributing items, please inform Kim at yeapkimsee@hotmail.com or  012-3036019. All items must be delivered to Ti-Ratana Penchala Centre by 5pm, Wednesday, 4th September 2013, to give the committee sufficient time to buy and pack any outstanding items.


VOLUNTEERS

For logistic and security reasons, all volunteers who wish to participate in this event are requested to PRE-REGISTER your name and contact number with us by emailing trccpenchala@gmail.com.

Please arrive at the Ti-Ratana Penchala Centre by 9:15am for a briefing. We will depart the Centre for HKL at 9:30am sharp. No transportation will be provided to get to the event venue and back to the Centre, so kindly ensure you make your own arrangements. Please note that parking in the HKL compound is VERY LIMITED, so try to carpool as much as possible.


ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EVENT?

Please email yeapkimsee@hotmail.com or call Kim at 012-3036019.


In the spirit of love and sharing, lets make 8th September special for these children who were not able to "balik kampung" to enjoy their Raya. Lets do whatever we can to give them a reason to smile.



Posted by: Kim

MOW HAPPY CHILD - Introducing our second HAPPY CHILD, Sasitharan

Mr Maran and his wife, Vijaya, have six children.  Their middle son, Sasitharan is a 12-year-old disabled boy.

Sasi was born normal, but at 2 months old he had liquid in his brain. After a series of 5 operations, 3 on the head/brain and 2 on his stomach (at the age of 2 months, 5 months, 1 yr+, 2.5 yrs, and 4 yrs), he became blind and crippled. Sasitharan's head is still swollen due to excessive water in his brain. Sasi can only eat liquids and soft foods and is dependent on his mother's 24-hour care. Doctor recommended Sasi drinks Simlac but the family could not afford this expensive milk. Vijaya finally settled on Everyday which is more affordable and tolerated by Sasi.

His father, Maran, 38 years, works as a gardener at a Sentul school. He is the only breadwinner and has to support his wife and six children with his salary of about RM900 per month. The family lives in the City Hall flats in Sentul paying a rent of RM130 per month. Sasi’s other 5 siblings are normal school-going children.


Apart from having to pay rent and other living expenses such as utilities, food and supplies for the family, school expenses, the family also needs to fork out expensive taxi fares whenever Sasitharan needs to go to the hospital. With an OKU son, the couple is given RM80 per month by the Social Welfare Dept. Sasi's needs comes up to almost RM100 per month which comprise the items below:


Everyday powdered milk – 1.1 kg pack per month (RM27.15)
Nestum cereal - 250gm pack x 3 packs per month (RM3.50 x 3 = RM10.50)
Gripe water (for bloating) – 148ml bottle x 2 bottles per month (RM10 per bottle x 2 = RM20)
L-size diapers – 72 pcs pack per month (RM23)
Hospital visits – 1 visit per month @ RM15 return taxi fare

In his blind and crippled state, Sasi does not have much of a life but he is happy. He has a very good sense of hearing and enjoys listening to music, so he is usually in the part of the house nearest to the radio:)

Sasi's family is currently in MOW FOOD BANK program whereby we provide groceries up to RM100 per month.

If you would like to specifically help with Sasi's expenses, please contact June (03-77849002 or email trccpenchala@gmail.com) or Kim (012-3036019 or email yeapkimsee@hotmail.com).

Donations in terms of cash/cheque can be deposited into our account (Acc Name: Ti Ratana Community Centre Penchala, CIMB, Acc No: 14660000259057).

Please email the bank-in slip to trccpenchala@gmail.com and specify in the email the funds is for MOW HAPPY CHILD - SASI. We do not encourage cash/cheque to be given directly to the recipients, so that we can better monitor how your contribution is spent.

On behalf Maran, Vijaya, Sasi and his siblings, we are grateful for whatever support you can extend to the family.



Post and pictures by Kim

MOW HAPPY CHILD – Introducing MOW’s latest program

First and foremost, we would like to THANK all our DONORS for your support of our projects and activities, be it through contribution in cash, materials or volunteer time. We have grown through leaps and bounds, and this is attributed to the strong support we have been getting from our DONORS and VOLUNTEERS.

We are happy to share the good news with all our SUPPORTERS that we have embarked on a new program, called MOW HAPPY CHILD. The objective of MOW HAPPY CHILD is to provide support to terminally or chronically ill children from under-privileged families. The support can be in the form of sustenance and medicine, to enable the child to have a better quality of life.

Siti Nurmaisara, who has cystic fibrosis is our first MOW HAPPY CHILD recipient. Click below to read more on Siti's case:

http://mealsonwheelspenchala.blogspot.com/2013/04/mow-food-bank-family-with-sick-child.html

We will be recruiting more suitable children for our MOW HAPPY CHILD program, and we will keep you posted.

If you wish to donate to MOW HAPPY CHILD general fund, please contact June at 03-77849002 or Kim at 012-3036019 or email trccpenchala@gmail.com.

Donations in cash/cheque can be deposited into our account (Acc Name: Ti Ratana Community Centre Penchala, CIMB, Acc No: 14660000259057).

Please email the bank-in slip to trccpenchala@gmail.com and specify in the email the funds is for MOW HAPPY CHILD. 

Important to understand our direct cash policy to the recipients
MOW HAPPY CHILD program is set up solely for the intention of giving support in nutrition and medicine only, as such we do not encourage cash/cheque to be given directly to the recipients. This policy by Meals on Wheels Ti-Ratana is created so that  we can manage the donation by keeping you updated on how your contribution is spent and to avoid abuse of the donation.

In the event you wish to donate cash/cheque to them directly for other expenses and other usage you are most certainly welcome to do so but we will not be in the position to manage and report on the donation.

Thank you in advance for your support in helping MOW HAPPY CHILD recipients have a better quality of life.

Posting and pictures by Kim

MOW FOOD BANK – New family needs your help

A son’s and brother’s love knows no bounds. That is Douglas Hyams, the son of Sylvia Hyams and brother of Elizabeth and Sharlene Hyams.

Sylvia Hyams, 83 years old, a former nurse in Assunta, has two children of her own, Elizabeth, 61 years and Douglas, 45 years, and two adopted children Sharlene, 24 years and Peter. Sharlene with Down’s syndrome and Peter with cerebral palsy, were abandoned by their parents when they were babies. Sadly, Peter passed away 4-5 yrs ago at the age of 21 yrs.

Sylvia suffered a stroke in 1999 and 14 years later, at the age of 83, she is still caring for Sharlene and Elizabeth. Sylvia is hunched back, has cataract, and difficulty in walking, and thus cannot do much house work.

Elizabeth suffered a stroke in Nov 2012, and requires physiotherapy at the hospital, 2-3 times a week. She also goes for weekly accupuncture treatment sponsored by a samaritan who paid RM300 for 25 sessions. She wears adult diapers, size M (3 pcs a day), preferably Tena as other brands give her rashes.

Sharlene, at 24 yrs, only consumes milo and condensed milk, still using a milk bottle. When I visited on 1^st May, 2013, she was happily sitting in front of the TV. She wears diapers children size XXL (3 pcs a day).

Both Elizabeth and Sylvia, who were stroke victims, have been advised by their doctors to cut down on oily foods, and eat more fruits and vegetables.

The family sleeps in the living room on the ground floor of the double-storey house. The first floor is not habitable as it has asbestos ceiling and is currently used to store used clothes and other items donated by people that are of not much use to them now. Douglas is slowly clearing the first floor whenever he has the time.

Douglas is the sole breadwinner in the family. Although he completed his SPM, he did not go to college as he has to work to feed his family. He used to do odd jobs and brings home about RM500 to RM600 a month only when there is work to be done. He also looks after two dogs for his uncle and gets RM80 per month to supplement his income. On 1st May 2013, he started work as a night security guard for a nearby Prudential office, for RM900 per month. He cannot do a full time day job as he needs flexible work hours to bring his family members for frequent hospital visits. He buys food for his mum and Elizabeth daily, and helps his mum bathe Sharlene and Elizabeth. He takes them out whenever he can, but not very often. The places he goes to must have wheelchair as his old beat-up 2-door Satria cannot fit in a wheelchair. It will be nice if he has a wheelchair-friendly vehicle (like a van in which a wheelchair can be wheeled up and down easily) to take his family for outings.

Besides Douglas income, Sylvia gets RM300 a month from Social Welfare, while Elizabeth gets RM300+ a month from SOCSO. Douglas main concern now is the RM8000+ TNB bill he needs to settle to avoid supply disruption. He has tried appealing and getting help, but all in vain. Fortunately, their house is fully paid for by a good Samaritan some years ago.

Douglas is amazing … he is selfless and truly loves his family and happily cares for their well-being. He indulges the family, like buying grapes, which is his mum’s favourite fruit, whenever he has some extra cash.

The Hyams is currently in our MOW FOOD BANK program. If you wish to visit/help the family in other ways, please contact Kim at 012-3036019 or email yeapkimsee@hotmail.com.

Thank you in advance for your support in helping the Hyams have a better quality of life.

Posting and pictures by Kim