It was a bright sunny Sunday when we visited IQ70 Plus, 建安家福, a home currently houses 30 over special need children and individuals with intellectual disability, from as young as 5 to 49 years old.
My friends and I, over 20 of us, gathered a pool of money, purchased some daily necessity after contacting the center and 5 of us visited the center to deliver the donated goods and a cheque. It was my first time visiting a mentally handicapped center and I was a bit uncertain of what to expect, so big guy and I decided to leave the kiddos at home. I'm glad I did as the condition of the kids can be quite saddening and may be too much for my little boy to understand.
We were greeted by Eric, one of the volunteers who worked at the center to help daily operation and chauffeuring the kids to the nearby University Malaya hospital for their weekly physiotherapy session and checkups, and a young lady assistant (I forgot her name..) who too worked there on voluntary basis to manage the general account and admin matters. Both were really friendly and helpful and I'm glad we have big heart volunteers like them to offer their time & effort for the needy.
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| You can easily spot the building from the main road. |
We were given a tour to the center which is actually an old single storey bungalow nested along the main street of Jalan Gasing. We managed to speak with the founder, Mr Chang Ming Kiet，郑明杰先生, who gave us a deeper insight about the kids in this center.
Most of the kids there were abandoned by their family. Some born with genetic disorder, some were due to negligence during the growing age (e.g. brain damage due to prolonged high fever). Too many sad stories that made me felt heavy to breath, like how a normal kid lost his ability to speak and live a normal life after witnessing his late mother committed suicide in front of him when he was a toddler; how a 6 yo, born prematurely on the 6th months of pregnancy, were left behind by the mom after knowing he has mental disability; how a young girl with down syndrome was left behind to live alone with the 70+ yo grandmother when the Thai nationality mom returned to her home country.. and the list goes on.
The 6yo Jia Cheng， 家成(译), laughed so happily when I padded his head softly, and when Mr Chan called out his name he chuckled and waved his hands in excitement. He may not be able to speak like a normal 6yo but he can feel, hear and express his emotion clearly. Jia Cheng is currently undergoing physiotherapy, hopefully one day he can sit and walk like a normal kid.
Only about 20% of the inhabitants at the center are considered severe impaired, while quite a number are considered at the borderline, they are able to take care of themselves and help up with simple chores.
Deep inside I felt sorry for these kids, but at the same time I saw hope in some of the younger ones who may have a chance to get better and live a normal life. Especially when they are under care of such a loving man who spoke of them like they are his own children and trying to give them the proper equipment and medical care they needed. From our conversation we can feel Mr Chan is genuinely for these kids and is proud of their progress.
When asked what made him started this center 2 years ago, we were told this center was setup in memory of his late son, 建安, who too, was a special kid and passed away when he was a toddler. Mr Chan started the center with own funding with the intention to provide shelter for 10 kids, however as more kids were sent to their center over the time (one parent just dropped her poor kid at the center and left silently!), he needed additional funding to ensure continuity of the operations and purchase necessary medical equipment for some of the kids.
From our observation, the center was clean, bright and in a well maintained state. Most of the kids we met there seemed happy, free to roam around (for those with ability to walk), clean and properly dressed.
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| The founder, the man with a big heart. |
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| The center is bright and clean. |
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| The groceries delivered to the center, plus some children clothing and soft toys not in pic. I have never met half of the donors and I truly thank them for entrusting a stranger who just happened to share a common friend |
Contact them to know more and render help if you may. The kids will probably be staying there for a long long time so the center will certainly need monetary aid to run the center and continue providing food, shelter and medical care for them.
Important Note: Do not bring toys that may caused unnecessary danger to the special kids. For milk powder / baby cereals there are few brands that are accepted by the center. Besides, as most of the required items are daily consumable the demand may differ from time to time depending on usage, please speak to the center admin to understand what is really needed before visiting.
Donation items required / 需要的物品 (as published on IQ70 Plus website):
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Contact:
Persatuan Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Terencat Akal Malaysia
Malaysian Association for The Welfare of Mentally Challenged Children
No.118, Jalan Gasing, 46000 Petaling Jaya Selangor.
电话 Tel: 03-7960 8003
传真 Fax: 03-7960 8005
电邮 E-mail: info@iq70plus.org
电邮 E-mail: info@iq70plus.org
Website: http://www.iq70plus.org
Just a final note...
When we returned home after the visit, the duo ran forward to gave us big welcoming hugs. Starring at their happy faces and feeling their firm hugs made me realised how fortunate I am just to be able to be with them, care for them and run freely with them. So what they mess around sometimes? So what they refuse to sleep in early and causing me lack of sleep? I am already the luckiest person with whatever I have today.
All children are God gift and let's love them with all our hearts.
Let's Pass the love around.
* Update *
I am so excited as I received personal message that some friends had visited the center or pulled collections to help the center after reading the post. Thanks for reading & for sharing your love with the needy one. God bless!
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You have a golden heart, may God bless you more :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Edie, just rendering help where it is needed most. Anyone can do it. :)
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