Celebrating the joy of giving
Meals on Wheels (MOW) celebrated Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with Children from Persatuan Kebajijan Anak-Anak Yatim Al-Habbah on Sunday, 17th August. An annual tradition since MOW was established, the event was aimed at bringing joy to the Children, and to express appreciation to the many dedicated Ustaz who worked selflessly to provide shelter, education and care for the Children.
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| Road leading to the Home |
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| MOW baby van "survived" the bumpy and dirt road to the Home |
The Children's Home is literally "in the woods", away from the hustle and bustle of the KL city. As the MOW baby van curved up the dirt road leading to the Home, I had this nostalgic "balik kampung" feeling. And couldn't help but hummed to the tune of the ever popular song by the late Sudirman ...
Balik kampung oh oh...( 3X )
Hati girang
Ho ho... Balik kampung (3X)
Hati girang
Nestled along the hillside, the 3-storey white building is surrounded by lush greeneries and mature trees. This is both, home and school to 30 plus children, some from broken homes, some orphans and the rest from poor families from the neighbourhood.
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| The Children's Home |
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| What a pleasant view ... lush greeneries in the backdrop |
When we arrived, we could hear the unmistakable sound of festivities in full swing with cheerful Raya music in the background. The moment we stepped onto the porch, we were ushered by the bubbly Ustaz Ghani to officiate the presentation of tables and chairs from MOW donors to the Home. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was organized by the Ustaz and we were so touched by the simple yet thoughtful gesture.
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| Drum roll please .... whats behind the ribboned door??? |
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| Trying out the brand new tables and chairs |
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| Doa selamat |
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| Catherine and Ustaz Ghani - doing a "duet"??? |
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| Happy Children |
This was followed by a simple but delicious chicken rice meal, complete with cendol and kuih raya for dessert, and the Malaysian signature drink of teh tarik, all laid-out in buffet-style. En Khalid who is the caterer for the lunch gave us a very good price, and from the feedback we received, the food was yummy! Terima kasih En Khalid!
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| Puan Aida helping herself to the buffet lunch |
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| Finger-licking good chicken! |
I chatted with three of the younger children eating in one of the rooms in the Home - Zaim from Setapak, Khairudin who sometimes visit his "nenek" in Taman Bolton, and Aizat whose mother works as a cook in a canteen from Taman Medan. From their clean plates, it is evident they loved the chicken rice. But more importantly, they all looked
TRULY HAPPY ... and this is testament to the effort put in by the Ustaz and caretakers of the Home.
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| Three satisfied and happy Children, after the yummy lunch |
While the younger children were savouring their lunch, some of older children were in the make-shift football ground, trying to score as many goals as they can as there were prizes for the top two teams. Catherine's boys couldn't resist joining in the football games. Winners were presented with brand new jerseys, while the losers did not go home empty-handed.
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| Team pic after the game |
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| Washing their feet after barefoot-football |
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| Winners grinning away with their prized yellow tees |
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| Rep from runners-up with their red tees, which is not too bad a prize for coming in second place |
In the midst of lunch and football, Ustaz Ghani conducted a tour around the Home and its surroundings - including the kitchen, the big shower area with a well and a quaint little pond at the back of the home, where one can just sip coffee on a relaxing day (which I am sure the Ustaz does so once in a while to get some quiet time).
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| The kitchen |
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| "Bilik" mandi |
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| Best part of the neighbourhood ... to get some peaceful and quiet moments |
It was such a pleasant and fulfilling morning for everyone at the event. Our MOW Volunteers had so much fun, trying to pluck duku but with little success. The neighbours witnessed this and were so kind to pluck some for us to take home. Of course, bro Andrew could not resist trying some on the spot.
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| How difficult can this be! |
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| Come on Andrew ... just push slightly to the right! |
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| Oh well ... at least we still get to take home some |
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| Time to taste the fruits of my hard work |
Also at the event was Puan Fuzi Hanim, the founder of Fuzi Magic, an organisation with a mission to Build Bridges of Goodwill by linking the privileged to the under-privileged, with the aim to inspire children to be assets to the country and blessing to the world. Puan Aida, an MOW Volunteer, and her children also joined us for this Raya celebration.
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| Pn Aida and her children |
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| Catherine chatting with Pn Fuzi Hanim |
The event ended with presentation of a large rice cooker from MOW donors to the Home, token of appreciation in the form of hampers to En Khalid, the Chairman of the Home, and Datin Catherine, the Chairman of MOW. Common theme in the closing speeches given by En Khalid, Datin Catherine and Kim, was the role of education in the Children's pursuit of a better life.
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| En Khalid, looking pensive, and probably mulling the Children's future |
Salam terima kasih to all our MOW donors and supporters for this event, including:
Loh Yoke Khoon
Chew Yoo Wee
Shakila
Cheah Chor Eng
Dennis
Felicia Ong
Stone Empire Marketing Sdn Bhd
Malaysia Steel Works ( KL) Bhd
****- Any names which we may have left out unintentionally in the list we appreciate if you can please notify us
and to our MOW volunteers for spending a good part of their Sunday with the Children, in the spirit of Ramadan.
Last but not least, we would like to recognise the effort put in by Ustaz Ghani, Ustaz Rasheed, En Khalid and all the teachers and caretakers of the Home in making the Raya Celebration a most joyous and memorable one for all.
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To view more pictures visit
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100609797867594.1073741873.61305812&type=3
Posted by: Kim
Pictures courtesy of: Amar
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