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Kota Kinabalu: The Daegu Songlim Rotary Club of South Korea donated Christmas gifts and RM11,000 to the Sabahan Children’s Welfare Centre Bukit Harapan.

On hand to welcome the visitors were 34 children who received 72 cases of stationaries – including colour pencils, sharpeners, writing paper – candy, stick chocolates, piggy banks and many more presents.

This marked the club’s first official visit to Sabah, a place chosen by one of their members’ prior positive experience here. The club arrived last Wednesday from District 3700, eager to put their slogan “Be a Gift to the World” to action.

Its President, Jaewoo Kim, said the 16 members partook in tri-monthly trips to a foreign country in order to offer donations and services like building houses in Vietnam, cleft lip surgeries or combating polio disease.

“We volunteer for many different causes. Bukit Harapan was actually recommended to us by consultants of the South Korean Embassy as a centre to advocate for.

“We have similar centres in Korea, but they usually benefit from the Government’s financial support. This one was a self-funded home, which we felt was all the more deserving,” he said during his visit to Bukit Harapan, Thursday.

It was originally founded by social worker and lifelong activist Anne John P. Arulnaselam-Keyworth (affectionately known as Mama Anne) in 1989 as a single room building. The non-profit organisation is now home to residents aged 11 to 54.

Long-time trustee and volunteer of the home, Paul Lajumin, said most of them came from disadvantaged backgrounds, with some having been abandoned, others from broken homes, or found on the street or sent by NGOs. Some of them are eventually returned to their families or stable enough to go out into the world, while others – commonly those with special needs – spend a majority of their lives there.

“It depends on the families. Some of them are staying here voluntarily. Some parents will, after many years, remember they have a kid here and ask us whether they can come home. We will assess whether they are able to receive their child back, and whether the child is able to accommodate an entire new environment. Sometimes we allow it.

“But some of them have been here 20 years. We can’t just let special needs kids go like that, unless they are fully able to stand on their own and communicate.

“These kids just needed nurturing, especially from their parents. The only family they know is us. They’re like siblings here.

Bukit Harapan children with their gifts.

“I have kids of my own, I can’t imagine them being abandoned like this. It’s very sad, but there you have it. ‘Bukit Harapan’ translates to ‘Hill of Hope’ and that is what we want to give,” he said.

Paul noted that some of the children were quite smart, with one boy who went on to become an engineer, as well as other success stories from hoteliers, mothers and more. 

“Not all of them are helpless. With all the care and love they receive from Mama Anne, a lot can be rehabilitated. She practically gave her life for this. Her health is quite frail now, because she gave so much of herself to others.”

As an NGO, Bukit Harapan is self-sustaining through donations from other NGOs, well-wishers, corporate initiatives, as well as food supplies from supermarkets, farmers and vegetable vendors.

The home is run by six staff – housekeepers, kitchen workers, personal carers and drivers – assisted by the kids themselves, who are taught housekeeping skills and enjoy helping out with basic maintenance tasks.

According to Paul, RM40,000 is spent monthly on utilities, staff salaries, building maintenance, water and electricity. Sponsors and volunteers are welcomed. 

“We used to have volunteers before the pandemic, especially psychologists and therapists. They were mostly from overseas, but have unfortunately gone back now. 

“Some of the children have motor neuron deficiency and need special needs workers to assist them in their schooling. We have a built-in classroom in the front yard for those who have difficulties in normal school settings, but all of this is expensive.”

For Bukit Harapan, the big festive seasons such as Christmas or Chinese New Year are a blessing in more ways than one, as they signify an influx of donations and gestures – the Daegu Songlim Rotary Club being an example, as well as many other local Rotary Clubs, hotels, student groups and good Samaritans.

Those who wish to volunteer or donate to Bukit Harapan can contact 088-424 567.