Yayasan Suria JB(YSJB) – Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Yes, this nursery rhyme brought back fond childhood memories to me:
“Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Daddy wants to play;
Rain, rain go away
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Mommy wants to play;
Rain, rain, go away
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Brother wants to play
Rain, rain, go away;
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Sister wants to play;
Rain, rain, go away
Rain, Rain, go away
Come again another day
All the family wants to play
Rain, rain, go away”
But being a volunteer now running a Foundation helping the Poor & Needy and being 68-year-‘young’, the sight and sound of the rain, reminds me of the many Homeless people and the many low-lying flood-proned areas in JB.
While we are in the comfort of our homes on high ground which are never affected by floods, the nightmare of the consequences of floods can be intimating – not only once a year but a few times a year due to the low-lying situation.
Why can’t they move out? To where? Who is going to fund them to relocate and buy a house?
Everything is lost – clothings, furniture, kitchen utensils, electrical appliances, etc. Who are going to give them money to buy back what they have lost?
Who are going to clean their houses flooded until chest-deep height? With all cooking utensils and literally all lost, who are going to feed them for breakfast, lunch & dinner?
NGOs & volunteers rushed to their rescue.
Recently, YSJB together with another NGO, Ihsan Johor, took care of 15 families(80 people) at Kg Mohd Amin, Kolam Air, JB.
Food for 3 meals, clothings and literally everything. Cash was collected to buy rice, stoves, cooking utensils, rice cookers, etc to help the 15 families to stand on their feet again. A valuable experience to be there with the flood victims, listening to their plights, concerns and anxieties, the stress each time it rain, hopefully not accompanied by high tides.
The Homeless, on the other side of JB, are all cuddled and wet in the cold sleeping on five-foot ways of offices/shoplots, in bus stops, at railway stations and anywhere where shade is available to shield themselves from the pouring rains and strong winds. I have witnesses these scenarios many times, each time trying very hard to describe how they(the flood victims & Homeless) but I can never do that – I am not them.
As I am writing now, 16/10 @ 7.40 am over in Seri Alam, Masai the sky is dark & gloomy – pray that it doesn’t pour coupled with high tide to prevent another disaster. Man proposes, God disposes. Kita Hanya Merancang Tuhan Yang Menentukan.