Dear Friends,
I am new to the Indian-Malaysian yahoo-group and the email report on the orphanage at
Jinjang caught my attention.
As I have always been having the thoughts of doing some charity work to help the poor
Indian children in Malaysia, I made trip myself (together with my daughter 13 yrs and son
10 yrs) to the orphanage on 5th Dec 2008 at and did our food /lunch serving for a day on
the 10th Dec 2008:
Address At:
Sithamani Divine Life Ashram
Rumah Kebajikan (Roc No. 001529609-H)
No.1112, Block 150 , Lorong 5/160, Kawasan A, Rumah Panjang, Jinjang Utara,
52000 Kuala Lumpur
(Jinjang is in Kepong, Selangor)
What I saw there?
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There are 31 children (all Indian Malaysian-8 without birth certificate) at
the Ashram; youngest being just one month old and oldest 21 yrs (who is
now helping there).
There are also 2 Single mothers and an old folk man aged +70 who had
taken shelter there as their home.
The Ashram was started by Praveendran five years ago taking care only 45 kids then but later grew to these large numbers.
Praveen who is only 24 yrs old (still a bachelor) has dedicated himself to
help these children /people. He is local Jinjang born and grew up at the
location where his grandfather built a Durgai Aman temple there.
Praveendran : the founder and care taker of the Ashram
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Praveen had managed to secure the land title for the Ashram but the
building had not received approval from the Bomba (fire brigade)
authority. The house is still a wooden structure with Asbestos roofing (also
the wall extension). Currently there is no proper toilet facility and Praveen
is now constructing a common out door toilet at the backyard.
The front gate sign board at the entrance.
The Home
Old toilet located far from home
New toilet being built.
Kitchen and bathroom (at the right corner).
Praveen showing me the poor state of the home.
Note the asbestos roofing used as wall.
Bedroom, girls and boys are having two separate rooms. One Good
Samaritan donated these double-decker beds. Note the Asbestos
roofing used to extend the wall.
Close up view. Asbestos roof and wall. The roof leaks when rain and
patched many times.
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Accordingly as said by Praveen, he needs at least RM8000 per month to
run the Ashram. He said 2007/08, was so bad for him as he could not
even give pocket money or food for schooling kids for their recess time ,
and the school authority did not help them out either; he was so
desperate and helpless then.
We decided to serve one meal service (lunch) at the Ashram on
the 10th Dec 2008.
(in the picture my wife Rina , daughter Vaneisha and me)
Children in line. Note the construction materials on the ground.
Children saying their prayers before starting their meal. The little
girl second from the left, standing; is the one leading prayer.
Children having their food.
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I could see that the Ashram is in dire need of money to run, giving food
and other needs. Lately, Praveen was forced to rent out part of the land
compound to some rubbish collectors who is dumping rubbish in the
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Compound right in front of the Ashram. This site is used to
discard/scavenged iron scrap metals by the outside collectors.
Praveen says he has no choice as at least this is generating some money
for the Ashram and he assured me that the Rubbish collectors agreed that
they will clear the dumps once they had finished. We hope they keep their
words.
What surprised me further, Praveen also works as a Site Supervisor at the
near by Factory in Kepong sometimes even having to work night shifts
and yet he has all the time for these children. The smallest kids at the
Ashram calls Praveen “Appa” or father and others “Anne” or brother in
Tamil. This is how closely Praveen is related to children.
The Ashram is also Praveen’s home.
All the children are very well mannered and discipline.
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What we could do to help:
If every one of us can contribute some money or materials in kind (like food- babies milk,
rice, sugar, milo, tea, coffee ,cooking oil etc & daily household supplies like toothpaste,
soap, tooth brush, pampers, towels , powder, hair cream, clothes etc) it will help these poor
children.
The building itself is in ruin. It needs to be rebuilt on concrete to get approval of safety by
Bomba (firebrigate) and most importantly to keep this place safe from fire hazard. I also
notice electrical cables being extended everywhere and perhaps the wiring there need to be
checked for safety. The compound area need cleaning, ground is full of stones and
construction materials everywhere – unsafe for small children to play. Of course, the
rubbish dump must be removed from the site immediately.
Action required: We can volunteer to clean the place up. Groups are welcome. Perhaps a
fund raising program can be organized to build a new home for the children?
Education: Sponsor A Child Program
I am personally taking interest in raising money for the children’s education.
For the coming year 2009, there will be 23 children attending school.
i.e (a) Kindergarten – 1 student
(b) Primary school – 17 students
(c) Secondary school – 5 students
The estimated amount for the cost for these students is as follows:
(Kindergarten 1 x RM450 ) + ( Primary school 17 x RM300) + (Secondary 5 x RM400)
= RM7550.00
The said amount is for school uniforms, school shoes, bags, stationeries plus school annual
payment for co-curriculum activities, sports clothing etc.
I am calling for 22 people out there who could come and help sponsor one child each and
help them in their education. (I personally will sponsor one more child myself at this
Ashram for 2009 onwards; frankly I am already a child education sponsor for a
Yayasan in Indonesia, you can check :
http://www.yumindonesia.org/oursupporters.html).
Of course any other donation is also most welcome and the money will be pooled either to
sponsor a child or will be kept for daily school expenses for the kids including van/bas
transport cost & if possible tuition fees.
I am determined that by 25th Dec 2008, we can raise this money for the children and let this
be our Christmas Gift for them.
All donations can be banked in directly to the Ashram’s account: i.e
Sithamani Divine Life Ashram Rumah Kebajikan
BANK SIMPANAN NASIONAL (BSN) :A/c no. 14100-29-00049447-0
(Kindly drop me an email to rveerasa@hotmail.com or an SMS to 0123045446 if you are
banking in the money for the education fund for the Ashram so that I can monitor the
amount with Praveen).
I believe it is only through education that we can change the future of our Indian
community in Malaysia. And, I have decided that I will work along with Praveen to assist the
Ashram children on their education needs. I am also thinking of building a webpage for the
Ashram and any contributors on technical help are most appreciated.
For further enquiry please do not hesitate to contact me:
RAVINDRAN VEERASAMY – 012-3045446 0r 03-56214648 (Home at USJ 2 ,
Subang Jaya)
Praveendran can be contacted 0169046358
Thanking you
Ravindran Veerasamy
More Pictures taken by Volunteers