written by Baida: As a founding member of the PERTIWI Soup Kitchen I have a lot to say about the ongoing fiasco but Im going to say it briefly in point form, clarifying without repeating what has already been said ad nauseum (although some still have not listened). Excuse my inelegance. 1. Tonights Team Monday Report We had 48 volunteers who served 400 meals at our 2 regular locations. Drs treated over 30 patients. Operations were smooth and trouble free. The 2km ban has not come into effect, although we have been told that the areas where we feed lie outside the 2km radius. 2. Founding & Growing PSK There were about 6 people in the core team who set up the soup kitchen. 12 regular volunteers made up the pioneer team in the first few months of operation after our launch in March 2010. Four years later we have about 150 regular volunteers who are an integral part of the PSK Family, who serve regularly and manage the hundreds of CSR groups and students who come to volunteer. Part of the PSK operations is PERTIWI Health Services, a free medical service with a pool of 16 doctors who treat the itches and aches of the homeless. Also for 4 years we have put out rubbish bins, tidied up, run a Meja Aduan, counselled, found jobs, been on numerous ER visits to GH, cut hair, donated clothes, directed single mothers to the right centres for birth or adoption, and so much more. I want to spell out that PSK is completely volunteer run. JAWI is a regular contributor. No one draws a salary and 100% of all donations are spent purely on food and running costs like petrol and maintenance of our fleet of 3 cars that make up the mobile service. Not many charities can be blessed with a smooth flow of funds and fewer have such a large and dedicated pool of volunteers. PSK is a well run, orderly and is a completely loveable NGO project that serves with purely good intentions. The biggest joy is when a homeless turns his/her life around and comes back to thank us: Ive got a job! You havent seen me because Ive been working for 3 months now! I just came to say hi! My mother said to thank you for helping me while I was at my lowest. She found me a job and Im going back to Kedah tomorrow! We never give out money. Ever. 3. PERTIWI PERTIWI is one of Malaysias longest running NGOs. Since 1967 PERTIWI has been championing the needs of the marginalised, focusing mainly on women and children. Thats 47 years worth of volunteering history. Read more about the wonderful work that has been done by PERTIWI at pertiwi.org.my 4. Aunty Munirah, Vice President of PERTIWI. The charismatic Sargeant Major in charge of PSK. A 64 year old grandmother. My mother. Treasurer & Founding member of Free Tree Society, an environmental organization. Executive Director of Neuramatix Group of Companies which includes a public listed company. After she finishes her corporate job, usually about 7pm, she volunteers and leads PSK operations on all 4 nights a week, directing, chatting and joking with the homeless and team members in the dimly-lit streets of KL until midnight or later. Two of her older sisters are amongst PERTIWIs founding members and, thus, she has done voluntary work for nearly all her life. Do not ever tell her that her contribution to Malaysia, to our society, to inspiring people, has been a waste of her time, is not wanted, is an embarrassment to the image of KL. 4. Moving Forward Sweeping aside inaccurate portrayals (foreigners, laziness, tourists pulak, etc, etc) these are some steps I would like to see happen: a) Firstly, the welfare department needs a big shake up. We have been denied help for our clients on numerous occasions to the point where we have funded some badly deserving people private care-home accommodation from our own pockets. The welfare department should reassess current receivers needs for assistance - situations do change and some may no longer need help. This action may quickly free up badly needed accommodation while waiting for more to be acquired or built. The mechanism for accepting welfare should be widened. The thousands of homeless and hardcore poor in KL speak volumes about the number of people who, while they do not qualify for assistance, do not earn enough to get by. b) Ensuring that those who do work are paid adequately and preferably more than foreign workers. c) Those with mental illness, emotional and aggression problems are given proper medication and counselling. d) Those with low IQ are taught life skills and given job training although some really are unemployable. e) Regulate soup kitchens. With the welfare department unable to cope presently, soup kitchens are very necessary but they should be regulated. A certain number to service a designated area. Ad hoc soup kitchens that operate for a night or a month leads to duplication of services. f) Create the infrastructure and mechanisms of the one-stop centre (that no one has ever heard about) first before imagining it running at ISO900 standards. Anjung Singgah is not actually open to the homeless. g) Gag the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development. Sadly she just doesnt get it and her inaccurate stereotyping remarks are inflammatory, derogatory, embarrassing, and are, ironically, negatively impacting the image of KL. h) When ministers and government department officers turun padang, they shouldnt just stand there whatsapping, updating their Fb and talking amongst themselves with arms crossed. Mingle. Talk. Ask questions. Listen. Learn lah. i) Understand that no one wants to be homeless. j) Dont stop the funding for substance abuse centres, HIV centres and safe houses. And where it was stopped, restart it! (Im quite sure our homeless numbers doubled at that point, cough, cough). k) Refugees are a whole different issue. Dont mix them up. 5. Frustrations a) Press, the double edged sword... Please be respectful of the homeless and their privacy - no flash photography, ask before you snap their pic, or snap it from behind. Thank you for allowing us to have our say. Please clarify. Please get the correct story across. b) Bandwagon Thank you for your support. Please contact us before arriving. People book months in advance to volunteer. We prepare and plan our menu carefully to avoid wastage so please dont just turn up with 100 packets of biryani or something that we need to add in. Information on volunteering can be found at our website or on our FB group. 6. LOL moments this week from the team ...on spoiling the homeless - well cut back on the abalone and caviar... ...on our stance - were choosing cellmates... ...on Ku Nan - if Conan the Barbarian was a super hero, Ku Nan is an anti-souper hero Thankfully we still have a sense of humour. Keep Calm and Go Souping Baida
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 04:11:37 +0000
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