When I moved back to Asia earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to help people. Aside from soup kitchens, gifting shoeboxes to orphans and little projects here and there, I have never dedicated any consistent time to helping charity. The lack of involvement with the community made me realise I had been very selfish and self-centred because my entire life was all about me me me. I knew I wanted to change that but I didn’t know how to start.
(Thanuja, Aishah and I standing infront of Malaysian NGOs sharing our involvement with website www.ngohub.asia)
At the Woman of the Year Award night, hosted by Her World, I sat beside a woman, Teri, who had dedicated the last few years of her life to an NGO, Generasi Gemilang. I was fascinated about some of the programs they facilitated and with Teja, we went to the volunteer orientation to get a better idea of what they do. Finally, I wasn’t just talking about helping with charitable causes but actually doing it. After getting clearance with the background checks for some of their governmental institutions, I began volunteering with a small group at a nearby orphanage.
Since then, I’ve been doing monthly visits and trying to be consistent so that these kids (2-4 year olds) have familiar faces in their lives. We don’t just play with these children, we also monitor their development and with the use of toys, we encourage them to understand colours, animals, numbers and shapes. It has been a great experience thus far and I will still continue to do so because I believe all these children deserve love. I’m really glad that I connected with this charity and found a way to give back to society, and in this case, give and share love to children.
For you who is reading this blog, if there is a small ache inside of you to volunteer – as there was for me, I suggest you go to ngohub.asia. NGOHUB is where we attempt to get as many NGOs to register themselves on the website, so people like you and I have the opportunity to find charities that we connect with. You’d be surprised what you could do and what kind of contribution you could make to these organizations.
I give so much respect to those who dedicate their lives to help people. They look after the poor, the needy, the young, the old not to mention animals who don’t have a voice, and our deteriorating environment. These people are our everyday heros. They manage to sustain themselves through public donations and handouts or being “professional beggars” if I can quote Raj Singh from SOLS 24/7. I am thankful that 7-11 Malaysia has stepped in and offered their “Community Care” donation boxes that are in 1700 outlets across the nation to be used to help NGOHUB facilitate grants.
I know Malaysians are incredibly hospitable and if they have opportunities to give, they would. So here is a site that connects our volunteers with the NGOs. I hope you find a great connection on this site whether you want to donate or to volunteer and who knows, you could be an everyday hero too.
If you are interested in volunteering, sign up.
If you have an NGO you think could benefit from grants this reach, sign them up.
xx
Sarah
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