Breakthrough Centre gotong-royong at 17th Mile

Alex invited me to tag along to an informal gotong-royong organised by Breakthrough Network Centre last Saturday. The mission was to clean up and organise the home of a single mother with 3 daughters.

The tale of this family probably sounds all too familiar. The father died from cancer. The mother then became the family’s sole breadwinner until she developed brain cancer and diabetic complications. She has now lost her eyesight too. The eldest daughter had been accepted into Teachers’ Training College, but had to defer to look after the family. This is due in part to the fact that her remaining 2 sisters are  still in Form 3 and primary school respectively.

It’s hard to describe in words the condition that they lived in. It’s something that you have to see with your own eyes in order to be able to comprehend fully. Even pictures do not really convey the entire extent of the situation. This was a family who until recently, survived on RM 170 A MONTH(!) from the Welfare Department. RM 170….that’s what most of us spend on petrol every fortnight (or every week even). It’s not unusual for an average family’s weekly grocery bill to come up to that amount either. And most ladies wouldn’t so much as bat an eyelid to spend that amount on their hair at the salon.

The first feeling that hits you when you see the rooms is to turn around and just….RUN. There was just so much stuff to go through and clear…so much so that you didn’t know where or how to start!

You also start to wonder one time or another, how this family could have allowed themselves to live amongst all the junk. But, speculation is speculation and it is uncalled for, for us outsiders to pass judgment on them based on our fleeting encounters.

Anyways, the gotong-royong pushed on and we did throw out a lot of stuff.

The process was slow, tedious and full of excitement brought on by the occasional discovery of the rogue rat or frog. But just look at the transformation with this room in particular as compared to the ‘before’ picture above.

It was also very tough sifting through what was to be kept and what was to go. What stood out vividly was the eldest daughter refusing to let go of certain items; her father’s motorcycle helmet, the baby cot used by all 3 girls and built by their father, the headboard of her parents’ wedding bed. All these items were broken down in one way or another and became points of debate as to whether they should stay or go.

When narrating how the day went to my parents over dinner, Dad made an excellent point. Who are we outsiders to judge what was and was not valuable to this family?  Value isn’t necessarily something expressed in monetary terms, and obviously all these items were valuable to them because they were the last few reminders of the father. That was all they had left of him. That certainly got me thinking…and when I realised that should any one of my parents die I probably would have a hard time throwing out their stuff, the light bulb turned on.

It was good to see kids being brought along to this gotong-royong. What an incredible lesson to be taught at a young age, that there will always be those who are less fortunate than us. And that there is always something we can do, to help.

Ultimately, the message we wanted to convey to this family that morning was one of hope. And, judging from the smile we got from the eldest daughter, I think we succeeded to a certain extent.

Personally, a fruitful day in many respects. Only damage? A cut finger. Full album of the day’s activities may be found here:

From Breakthrough