The 5th Handshake from Dubai!

The American School of Dubai volunteers were here in Peninsular Malaysia and were engaged in a build from the 2^nd to 6^th April. The team comprised of 12 students and 2 teachers. Although ASD has been involved in 4 previous builds, they were all in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, so this was their first trip to Kuala Lumpur.     

During their stay, they were also involved in doing drawing and painting at a local kindergarten near Samin’s home and interacted between the children and local people. As tourists they enjoyed visits to Batu caves, Petronas Twin Towers, Central Market and Chinatown.

A “BIG” thank you to American School of Dubai, on behalf of Samin and all of us at Habitat for Humanity Malaysia!

Team members: Reina Gonsalves, Shalene L. Huth, Farah Al Bahar, Bijan A. Barghi, Hasan Ismail, Rhea Kakar, Brittany D. Leary, Sanjana Kumar, Disha Samaiyar, Fredrik K. Meyer, Cecile Msays, Faisal Roukbi, Neha Khosla & Marie A. Vazelakis.

Job Vacancy - Construction Site Supervisor

ATTENTION -  Habitat for Humanity Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur Office) is currently looking for someone who is interested in becoming the Construction Site Supervisor. If you are interested or have any questions, please feel free to contact the Habitat Malaysia Office at +603 2070 4254 or send your resume to info@hfhmalaysia.org. Positions are only open to Malaysians and those holding Malaysian PR status.

"We Care, We Contribute, We Construct"

On March 2^nd and 3^rd, Habitat for Humanity Malaysia hosted a National Board of Trustees Meeting at the National Office in Kuala Lumpur. The board members from the Kota Kinabalu and Kuching Affiliates joined the meeting, along with members from Habitat Asia-Pacific, who came from Singapore and Thailand. The staff and office volunteers attended the meeting as well. The board took this meeting as an opportunity to interact with the staff and volunteers. For the meeting concluded with the board agreeing on the future vision of how Habitat Malaysia will continue to help out and contribute to the housing support of the underprivileged families in the country. We hope that soon there will be more volunteers who will support Habitat for Humanity Malaysia.

Bosch Build - "Invented for Life"

THREE families in Kampung Orang Asli, Bukit Bangkong, Sungai Pelek got their homes upgraded under the Bosch Build Day programme recently.

The families of Menoh Simbi, Samin Anak Dulah and Saparrudin Abd Hamid were ecstatic with their upgraded homes. The upgrading included building a proper roof structure, improving the drainage system, adding a structural post and beams to existing house structures and replacing timber walls with brickwork.

This initiative was carried out in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Malaysia, a non-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating poverty housing.

The project aims to assist families without a reliable source of income to improve their living condition, sanitation, health and financial wellbeing, amongst other needs.

“The Bosch Build Day programme continues the commitment of Bosch towards community service. It is intended to foster volunteerism amongst our associates, with emphasis on the act of giving, sharing, and drawing out compassion and humanity,” said Robert Bosch (South East Asia) Pte Ltd President and Managing Director (MD) Martin Hayes, who is also MD of Robert Bosch Sdn Bhd, who headed the team of 20 volunteers.

In addition, Bosch donated RM24,000 to further Habitat for Humanity’s efforts in improving the living condition of other low-income families in Malaysia.

This collaboration is one of many projects Bosch has with Habitat for Humanity across Southeast Asia, namely in Thailand and the Philippines.

A Year In Retrospect - 2011

At Habitat for Humanity we believe in the motto of Building Homes, Building Lives. Here a simple home brings enormous joy and a brighter future to the unprivileged. This year we have had a total of 20 house builds including refurbishments throughout Malaysia. The houses brought us great joy despite getting the fair share of challenges along the way. We were not deterred by rainy weather and obstacles that came along. Belief in what we do and what we stood for overcame any barriers that came with it.

We would like to start by thanking our corporate donors for their continuous support:  FedEx, Pfizer, OCBC, Bosch, Cargill Holdings, our sponsor Arjun Malik & Team, Cahaya Mata Sarawak, and Magna Prima who have provided us with expert advice at the build site. We are also grateful to CITI Bank who has generously allotted a Capacity Grant for Financial Education in Malaysia. 

In addition, our youthful volunteers from Garden International School, International School of Kuala Lumpur, and Mont Kiara International School who have contributed their time and energy to help building homes in our local communities. We would also like to thank our Global Village teams: Aoyama Gakuin University, Kanda University of International Studies, Hiroshima International School, Myongji University, Chuo University, Kwansei Gakuin University, Hong Kong International School, Shanghai American School, RWC team from Singapore, Anglo-Chinese International School, EABJM from France, Kwanseigakuin University, CLAPS Korea, American School In Japan, American School of Dubai, Ritusmeikan University, Chinese International School, Dowmans team from New Zealand, Millstein team from USA and Petrenko team from USA which gave a hand to those underprivileged.

The Borneo build in Sabah was further enriched by the navy volunteers from USS Frank Cable and USS Stockdale. Moreover, Sinclair Knight Merz, likewise gave their services at Kg Bahad, Kota Belud. MV Logos Hope crew also volunteered in Sarawak when the ship berthed in Kuching. We were privileged to have Hollywood actor, Jason Scott Lee grace our shores in Sabah for a National Geographic Channel shooting to build houses for the poor under the Habitat for Humanity Project. Journalist Sharon Cheah volunteered her time and effort in Habitat’s Global Village Program at various builds across the world, and was featured in The Star, one of Malaysia's leading English newspapers.

Last but not the least, our amazing and tireless volunteers: Stanley, Vicky Wysocki, Cathy Planty, Ashriel Brian, Simon Brown, YK Hon, Yoshala, Lee Seng, Choke Ling, Choke Wun, Ashley Michelle, Trinity Methodist Church team and Boys Brigade team – many thanks to them. The past year was more than a blessing to be able to work with so many people from different walks of life and unreserved apology in case anyone’s name has been missed out. This would be due to an oversight and not intentional.