Bangi, 3 May 2018 – Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM) sets a new direction in history to keep the environment healthy through a new initiative called “Saving the Planet” in Eastern Malaysia and Indonesia.

 

According to Chairman, Board of Trustee of IRM, Prof. Dr Azni Idris, “We also need to sustain other living things in the Earth such as the forests and trees as they are considered sustainable sources for human-beings.”

 

He continues to explain that through this green initiative, it will be beneficial indirectly to all living things for a long period of time.

 

“Even we only support a tree, the impact is very huge and can last up to 30 to 40 years. This is what we call long-lasting sustainable reward.

 

“Through this project, it can also improve the ecosystem and biodiversity of animals,” he said in a presentation with delegates of Islamic Relief from the United Kingdom.

 

He added, the green project can make a change towards the climate across the world as our Earth is now experiencing irregular structures of climatic change as a result of the increasing emission of Carbon Dioxide each year.

 

Among the components of “Saving the Planet” discussed were to empower local communities to grow and plant trees, to provide sustainable income to local communities by providing jobs, value added local economies, and monitoring activities.

 

Apart from that, the project will focus on agroforestry-based projects and some groups of people such as indigenous people and asnaf.

 

Azni believes that IRM takes a great responsibility in safeguarding the well-being of environment and the public should work hand in hand alongside IRM to ensure the success of this project.

1^St of May is an official Labour Day. However, humanitarian work knows no time limit. Across the sea and across the nation, there are world issues that should be taken into account, especially for non-government bodies to act upon knowing the problem. As an international humanitarian organisation, Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM) has always been on top of the others to mitigate poverty. In simple words, IRM is always committed to offer help in any form.

 

IRM believes in ‘Mujahadah’, a term implemented by the most respectable leader or Chief Executive Officer of IRM, Zairulshahfuddin Zainal Abidin in which everyone sacrifices their own time and skills as to help the people in need. At IRM, the word sacrifice alone shows the truest meaning of work habit to emphasise the strength everybody has in it. And most notably, this is shown by implementing a lot of projects and programmes as a way to be actively helping the people.

 

With over 40 offices in the world, Islamic Relief will continue to provide emergency aids, carrying out long-term development, and strive towards a better impact. In Malaysia for instance, Community Development is one of the projects run by the organisation in the which the objectives may carry several main sectors; Shelter, Sustainable Livelihood, and Education. To date, IRM has reached and gone out to every state in Malaysia in search of the needy to help them. Among the projects are Wakaf Mata Hati, Community Development Bukit Raja, Klang, and Community Development Orang Asli Village.

 

Being an international organisation, IRM also works on several projects outside the nation to show its care towards the world. We believe that help should be offered at all types of people regardless of the skin colour and backgrounds. Some of the projects managed by IRM are Water Supply for Malawi which aims to improve health and hygiene levels of vulnerable communities affected by floods. Besides, IRM is also striving on helping children through Saving Life of Malnourished Children in Serang City Banten Province, Indonesia who suffer acute malnourishment.

 

On another note, as an influental Islamic organisation, IRM has always prepared a number of seasonal programmes which include Ramadan Relief. In March, IRM has taken a major step to promote Ramadan Relief through a campaign namely #SalamRamadan Campaign 1439H to provide basic food aid to beneficiaries in the holy month. This year, IRM targets to distribute more than 20,000 food packs which will be impactful for 30,000 beneficiaries in more than 30 countries across the world.

 

Humanitarian work is never-ending, which is why non-government office like Islamic Relief will never stop becoming the middle point between the public and beneficiaries as in line with the prime vision of IRM, to envisage a caring world where communities are empowered, social obligations are fulfilled and people respond as one to the suffering of others.

KAJANG, 29 April 2018 – The Islamic Relief Humanitarian Programme 2018 participated by volunteers from Islamic Relief Canada (IR Canada) and Islamic Relief Netherland (IR Netherland) for the second phase has come to an end.

 

This programme which applied several interactive approaches showed a positive impact to the Rohingya students as they got to communicate with the volunteers.

 

“Previously, I have low confidence to communicate in English, but after joining activities with IR Canada and Netherland volunteers for more than 2 weeks, I feel more confident to speak and I want to improve my language to be better,” said Juwaidiyah Hanis, Rohingya Intellectual Skills & Excellence (RISE) student.

 

In addition, she hopes the delegation could stay with them for a longer period so that RISE students could gain more knowledge from them.

 

Meanwhile, Juwaidiyah who is also a part-time teacher at Rohingya Education Garden (REG) through the assistance of IRM said, she will use the learning methods implemented by volunteers while teaching children at REG in the near future.

 

REG is a programme under the Heritage of Knowledge project by Providing Education to Rohingya Refugee (HOPE) in Puchong, Selangor.

 

Feedbacks from the students who have been following the activities during the programme also shows passion and excitement to learn new things every day.

 

It is hoped that such educational programs will continue to benefit the Rohingya Community for their survival.

Tebedu, 7 Apr 2018 – 30 beneficiaries under Community Development Project run by Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM) are given exposures on health concerns in a monthly meeting held at Surau Darul Ihsan Jaya.

 

According to a Medical Officer of Klinik Kesihatan Tebedu, Dr. Norshamira Mohd Radzi, the talk regarding Tuberculosis (TB) is held as a way to educate them on the significance of hygiene and cleanliness.

 

When asked about the impact of the talk, He stressed that it is a social responsibility that should be continuously implemented in the future.

 

“A lot of people have little knowledge about health concerns especially the elderlies. With such activity, I believe it’s certainly a good way to educate and spread awareness to them,” she said.

 

She also added, “There’s a significance between health clinics and hospitals. Clinics are in-charge to prevent diseases while hospital are more towards treating the patients.”

 

“Most people who seek for treatments at Klinik Kesihatan Tebedu only experience common diseases such as fever, cough, and cold. This indicates that their health condition is still fine,” she confirmed.

 

The monthly meeting conducted by IRM is also an approach to gather all beneficiaries in Tebedu coming from different neighbourhoods such as Kampung Insan Jaya, Kampung Darul Falah, and Kampung Darul Iman.

 

Apart from health awareness talk, the meeting is also filled with Islamic lectures managed by Ustaz Mahidi from Harakah Islamiah (HIKMAH) Sarawak. The slot is prepared to strengthen their understanding towards Islam while also grow their faith among the beneficiaries as most of them are new families of Islam through public speaking activities.

 

Community Development Project is an initiative by IRM to develop a community through a multitude of sectors namely sustainability, health, education and shelters, as well as to improve the socio-economic level in a community.

A Prime Minister will not be in the office without a teacher’s guidance. An engineer will not be as skilful as he is today without the expertise learned at university. A child will not be as successful as he is today without the parents’ direction. In all such cases, education seems to be the most powerful weapon which is capable to transform the world alongside the existence of various expertise in an effort to develop a country. In general, education is the key to success and the determining factor for every individual to achieve something.

 

As time passes by, it has been a common phenomenon for children to attend school as early as six years old. This can be seen through the responsibility of parents who are very concerned about education for their children, so the future of their kids can be more promising. But the glaring question is, do we think education is really universal to shape the future of a child?

 

Across the ocean, education can seem to be very expensive for some clusters of human as they could not afford to provide their children with education. What’s more to say when the increasing number of refugees are not able attend the school like the other kids around as they have no certified documents. Such situation has raised the question, “Can everyone get proper education?”

 

Islamic Relief Malaysia (IRM) has recently welcomed a special visit by a group of volunteers from Islamic Relief Canada (IR Canada). It is as if the arrangement has been prescribed by One and Only Allah SWT to which the presence of IRC in Malaysia is to foster humanity cooperation. The visit will focally emphasise education as the main driving force in cultivating high spirit to explore the world of education consisting of many different branches.

 

As at September 2017, the number of registered Rohingyan refugees has scored up to a whopping 62,153 and most of them have settled in different states. However, their presence in the country has not been favoured by many because they are labelled as dirty, having bad attitude, and the language which seems to be alien for most Malaysians. On top of that, the community of Rohingya in Malaysia is growing and it poses such difficult situation for their children as they have no legal documents to have a seat at school.

 

The sad part is that, these unfortunate people have to work without a permit to cope with the daily needs. On a side note, if a family has a daughter whose age is around 15, they will let go of their daughter to have a new life with a husband. Now, is this situation appropriate for a very young lady to get married and give up education to change the future of her parents?

 

In cooperation with IR Canada, IRM brought the volunteers to one of the projects run by IRM, Heritage of Knowledge by Providing Education to the Rohingyan Refugees (HOPE) which specially developed for Rohingyan community. HOPE is located in Puchong. Unlike the situation in most government schools, HOPE is insufficient of school equipment and teachers to educate a total number of 37 students.

 

So, IR Canada has taken this opportunity to apply a new set of approaches in cultivating the interests of student to learn so that they will be able to value education. True, formal education is indispensable, but the joy while learning should be another priority that runs parallel as children in the 21^st century are more advanced and that they can get quickly bored with conventional method of learning.

 

Initially, the module provided by IR Canada seemed to be difficult for the all children to comprehend. However, it is noted that their response rate is faster, exceeding the usual expectation. Almost every student is capable and could perform what is taught through several modules such as Bingo Maths, Tale n Time, and Science Bridge. For example, during Bingo Maths session, the approach used is a simple game in answering questions which has promptly attracted them to appreciate numbers.

 

Apart from that, this education-themed programme has concurrently foster a friendlier relationship between the volunteers, rohingyan students and IRM representatives. Language factor is the main challenge for both groups as they do not practice the same communication tool. Besides, students are not well-equipped with English to understand the message delivered by the volunteers. But yet, it is not an obstacle for them to keep learning as hand gestures and simple word usage are enough to work together.

 

For example, Science Bridge activity requires a high level of creativity and deep understanding to ensure the bridge built using straws is solid enough to accommodate the weight of a load. Through this activity, students and volunteers communicate in a more effective way so that every message and instruction are delivered decently.

 

If reviewed, every young child has a high level of understanding and creativity as they are in the phase of growth to develop their critical thinking skill, and of course, that includes Rohingyan children. However, the children have no physical access to formal education in the absence of certified documents to make them have a seat at school.

 

Holistically, the programme is actually a great exposure for IRC volunteers as they have been able to track down the hardships faced by Rohingyan refugees especially the kids in Malaysia. Although the children are further segregated from the ordinary societies, the desire to learn is still strong in the heart. But what are their fate in the next decade?