A house of hope in Limbanak
Published on: Friday, June 24, 2016
Penampang: Few are aware that Faith Caring Home, a non-profit organisation operated by volunteers, lies in a secluded area, in a completely quiet environment at Kg Limbanak in the district here.Currently, it is home to 18 female trainees who are intellectually challenged. Other than medication or treatment, they are showered with companionship, counselling, care and love, and trained to be self-reliant so that they can cope with daily living. The regimen includes undertaking scheduled household chores, like taking turns to do the laundry, cleaning and making the bedrooms. Ultimately, the aim is not only to return to their families but also be accepted by the community after post-rehabilitation.
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The site for the new Home was offered free of charge by a prominent developer cum contractor who wished to remain anonymous. On top of it, he has generously taken care of much of the cost of completing the first phase of the project to the tune of RM3 million, apart from donations and contributions from the public.K.H. Lim, a well-known local Chartered Architect, completed the overall architectural design on a voluntary basis, while the roofing was sponsored by Teck Guan Group.In addition, there are other benevolent people who have given sponsorship in other forms such as consultation fees, furniture, awnings as well as discounts given by business owners in the spirit of charity.This Sunday (June 26), this first phase of the new Home which is fully functional with a capacity of 50 trainees and 10 staff, will be officially opened by Minister of Community Development and Consumer Affairs, Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid.
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Completed in less than two years, its facilities include beds, a spacious living-room, a counselling room, and a wet and dry kitchen. The building is surrounded by a serene landscape, an orchard and a vegetable garden.The lady behind the realisation of this big dream is Pastor Avis Chong who expressed her gratitude to all the benefactors.
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"It is their contributions too that have made the construction of the centre possible. I have received assistance from so many kind people," she said, adding that she has received God's guidance in her endeavour.According to her, the centre for male trainees is located in a terrace house in Inanam town. "Now that the all-female centre (first phase) is completed, we will proceed with the second phase which involves construction of a building for male trainees. It will incorporate a sports centre and other training and recreational facilities on the same piece of land. "We can't help it. This is because there are already many families with kids suffering mental distress waiting in line," the Pastor explained.Calling on members of society to be collectively responsible for bringing a better tomorrow, the Pastor stressed that confidence, hope and care are the most valuable things in life that one could give. At this juncture, she urged the public to lend a helping hand towards realising the second phase. "Please support Faith Caring Home Phase II. After all, the road to mental recovery is the road leading to the new address of Faith Caring Home. Perhaps the people with mental distress and their families have spent a lifetime looking for their very own faith caring home, but to no avail," she said.Pastor Chong, a petite but mentally strong personality, had previously served as a phone counsellor at the Sabah Agape Counselling Association. Admittedly, what prompted her to moot the idea of providing assistance to people with mental distress was that one of her family members is suffering from mental illness. This caused her and her family to be emotionally disturbed. But the main driving force was an incident where she bumped into an old classmate on the street."During that time, I wanted to take this old friend to a doctor as she was suffering from mental distress. However, I was afraid that the treatment procedure would be endless and time-consuming. I thought to myself that if I were to really care for her, I could not give up on her halfway. Doing that would cause greater mental damage to her."Unexpectedly, the classmate died on the next day causing Pastor Chong to feel extremely guilty and suffer from long-term insomnia since then.One night, after having insomnia for almost half a year, the idea of opening up a rehabilitation centre suddenly crossed her mind. Following that, she started her research and studies on counselling, and shared her mission and vision which received support from accountants, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, bankers and other professionals.Initially, the group calling themselves "Oasis" started out with seaside outings (weekly recreational activities) for family members suffering from mental distress. Following a tragedy of matricide in the home (involving a patient) after a picnic, Pastor Chong was overwhelmed with sadness. In 2005, she decided to cease Oasis's operation and activities, and continue her studies in Theology. Three years later, she graduated as an official preacher but her dream had never waned. Which was why she did not go into church ministry work. Instead, she started making preparations for the creation of a psychiatric rehabilitation centre.Subsequently, she forwarded the Plan and Mechanism of the rehabilitation centre to I-Link Berhad. I Link Berhad was established by Pastor Daniel Chin of KK Bread of Life. The decision had the blessing of Sabah Agape Counselling Association. "From a humble beginning with only two patients in 2008, we grew to a number of 12 in 2013.Soon, we realised that we were getting crowded. We started to look around for help and began planning to move to a bigger premise," she recalled.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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