We (Buddies) had our board meeting last night with ngam-ngam quorum. It would be a blessing if we can get full board attendance, even once a year. With everyone busy with their own work and family, and only joining Buddies on voluntary basis, it can be very difficult to gather all the volunteers under the same roof at the same time. One of our board members even tendered her resignation last night as her job requires her to travel a lot, leaving her very little time for voluntary work.
That's why after the meeting last night, when a fellow volunteer asked me if we should be roping in more Malays as volunteers in our organisation, I said I didn't care which race they're from. Malays ka... Chinese ka... Indians ka... heck, if he can get Mat Sallehs oso I don't care. We just need volunteers so that the small group of volunteers that we have don't suffer from burnout!
Nevertheless, we are still proceeding with our plan for an awareness programme at one of the Orang Asli settlements in Perak. During last month's board meeting, we assigned 2 of the board members to get more info from their contacts. One of them was to get in touch with the JHEOA. Well, he did get in touch with one officer, but got a rather disappointing reply. The officer said they are not interested to participate since there are already other agencies/organisations dealing with such matters (HIV). (Ladies & gentlemen, welcome to Malaysia... the land of "that's not my job"!) I'm not sure if that is the stand of JHEOA or just that particular officer my colleague contacted, but frankly, I initially thought going through JHEOA first would be more proper rather than just pandai-pandai sendiri. If they don't want to have any part in this, so be it. Pinggan tak retak, nasi tak dingin, orang tak hendak, kami pun tak ingin...
We still intend to go in anyway. My other colleague's friend has agreed to help us out, and we also have another volunteer who has also had the experience of going into the OA areas. In addition, I've also been liaising with someone from the COAC (Center for Orang Asli Concerns) who seem more interested in the project, and willing to help out at least in connecting us with the OA community leaders.
So yep, God-willing, we're targeting early December for our project, in conjunction with the World AIDS Day.
On another note, remember little Baby K... the hole-in-the-heart baby? Well, she's due for her heart operation in November. The cost of RM20K for the operation has already been covered, so we don't have to worry about going around asking for donations; but Mr and Mrs K still need some money to cover their cost of living in KL during the period when Baby K is hospitalised in IJN. And with the kind of jobs they have, taking leave from work means unpaid leave. In other words, less income for them next month.
But not to worry, the board has approved a certain amount from our Welfare Fund (a portion of the RM20K grant we got from Yayasan Sultan Azlan Shah before Raya has been allocated to our Welfare Fund) and the approved amount will be given to Mrs K before they leave for KL.
Hopefully there will be no other complications for the little girl before, during and after the scheduled surgery...
4 comments:
Aunty Pi,
Our prayers for Baby K. purrr....
My Mama says work in NGO is like that lor! Ramai hangat2 tahi ayam. meow.....
Cat-in-Sydney,
I think our main problem is that we don't have anyone full time. All are volunteers with rather tight work commitments so I can't really blame them when they feel they can no longer cope with voluntary work. But never mind, hopefully more fresh people yang masih semangat berkobar-kobar will join soon.
Salam akak...
My doa for Baby K juga kak.
Alhamdulillah budget approved dah, at least you nak proceed with many of the implementation for your planning...
Ada program nak kejar itik lagi tak?
Nama pun volunteers kak. Ramai kengkawan saya dulu kata keje takde gaji ni macam angin le kak, mula-mula kuat derunya lama-lama sepoi-sepoi bahasa... tapi akak kaaannn... saya mmg salute habis! Tabik Spring utk akak!
That my dear... buat saya lagi sayang akak! Muaaah!
RG,
Yang program kejar itik tu orang lain yang organise... I dok bawak budak bagi join je. Maybe lain kali boleh buat program kejar angsa... yang suka menyudu tu... mau program kejar angsa berubah jadi program DIkejar angsa... :)
Yes, yes, nama pun kerja volunteer, tak leh nak paksalah kalau semangat dah pudar. I pun tak tau semangat I berapa lama boleh tahan... harap-harap long enough lah.
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