Kuching, Malaysia :: Doulos Hope collaborates with Hope Place to help transform the lives of an underprivileged community.
Doulos Hope recently collaborated with non-governmental organisation (NGO) Hope Place to spread hope and help transform the lives of the local community in Kuching, Malaysia.
Reaching out to the underprivileged, Hope Place relies on donations and volunteers to provide food aid, sanitation, health solutions, education, work opportunities and emergency assistance for single-parent households, the elderly who have been abandoned, people with disabilities and low-income families.
Susie Teo, Charity and Retail Coordinator at Hope Place shared how her perspective has changed since working with the organisation. “I never thought that there is such poverty – such people in need of help… I went [outside of the city and] saw that people didn’t have water or electricity. It’s an eye-opener,” she shared.
Hope Place believes in empowering their clients rather than giving temporary help. In addition to food aid, Client Relations Coordinator Griffin Deng, said, “We brought medical teams and firefighters to teach the [village] people how to use extinguishers. [I believe] to share the knowledge is the important part, rather than just giving them something to use,” he emphasised.
Still, Hope Place faces challenges with receiving enough donations and recruiting volunteers. “We’re helping more than 300 families now. If we can’t get constant donations, we can’t provide food for them,” said Hope Place Operations Manager, Yong Tiong Yieng. As an NGO that depends on the generosity of others, Hope Place can always use more contributions.
Doulos Hope collected pre-loved items from crewmembers and visitors to give to Hope Place. “The donations we received from Doulos Hope were plentiful. [They] will help generate more funds for our organisation to give more to our clients,” Susie shared. “We accept items from our donors, sort them out and send them to our shops to sell at a low price. [Although] if someone needs some items, then it’s given to them for free,” she explained.
Doulos Hope also sent crewmembers to help in the charity’s activities. The crew helped in cleaning the homes of the elderly, setting up a new storage facility and making recycled soaps. “I got to meet a lot of [young people] from around the world, and they were all willing to help and get their hands dirty,” Susie shared. “[I see] the happiness in everyone – they get joy from helping… [I hope] to see more of this in the future.”
“Our [motto] is sharing hope, touching lives. So, when we heard that Doulos Hope’s [vision is] to share knowledge, help and hope, we said ‘wow’! We share the same [goal] of sharing hope with the people,” Tiong Yieng said. “Doulos Hope volunteers weren’t only helping us by delivering food aid, but [they also provided] water filters for us to improve [a] family’s situation. [They] provided knowledge and offered help,” she explained.
May Hope Place and Doulos Hope continue to help others see that there is hope for a better future in this world.
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