After my very small contribution to PIT STOP from the sale of my paintings, I was thinking there was more I could do. I listened to the stories Ms.Joycelyn tells me about our street friends. Many of them are very old people like my granny in Scotland and my grandma here and they still have to work like collecting old newspapers to earn some little money like RM 1.00 for every 2 kg of newspapers. Many have jobs but earn very little to rent a house and buy food. Many are abandoned with their babies on the streets or have run away because they are beaten all the time. Many lose their jobs due to injury or illness and cannot work any longer. There is a lot of reasons and I may not know all of them but I do understand this people become homeless not because they are too lazy to work.
Project Tikar is a fortnightly walkabout to distribute some items to these people sleeping on the streets. They need a tikar which is a sleeping mat because they don't have a bed and they sleep on cardboard sheets. They need a bag-pack because they don't have a cupboard to put their things. They need mosquito coils because they sleep outside and get bitten by mosquito. They need toiletries like soap, bath towel, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb and wet wipes as there is no regular place to bathe to keep clean. They need blankets and ponchos because they don't have shelter to keep away from the rain and keep warm.They need band aid and Panadol because they cannot pay to see a doctor when they fall ill.They need bottled water because they don't have access or money to buy clean water.
My mom put out my Christmas wish list to all our family and friends because I knew I could not get everything myself. What I received from the day my wish list went out was surprising. I wanted 100 of each item and more was a blessing and I got just that. I spoke to A LOT of people about my wish list and some were glad to contribute while a few made promises but did not deliver the items, others just gave their opinions and a few scolded my mom for encouraging me to help the bums on the streets. My mom told me it best to just smile, say thank you and walk away from them.
I also sold some of my story books and I bought some Christmas shaped butter cookies for PIT STOP to sell which they sold at
RM 2.50 each.
My job while receiving these items was to count and record them. I found many useless and used items among these things too. While on this project I felt happy, sad, disappointed and frustrated and I understood a little bit of how hard Ms. Joycelyn job was and how my street friends feels when people look down on them.
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| Recording the items received. |
At the end of the project which was on 9 December 2016, I managed to collect 66 backpacks and canvas bags, 45 lighters, 120 pieces of mosquito coils, 395 bottles of water, 160 packs of individually packed crackers, 150 pieces of bath towel, 300 adult and children toothbrushes, 100 and more toothpaste, 200 and more bath soaps, 130 washing soap, 100 and more packs of wet wipes, 100 pieces of poncho,100 and more pieces of combs, 125 sticks of deodorant, 300 pieces of band aids, 35 strips of Panadol, 75 fleece blankets, 73 tikars (sleeping mats).
I did not do this project alone. I had my homeschooling friends, the late Sakinah and her friends, my dad and mom's friends , my uncles and aunties ,my grandma, my teachers, Tesco, Bangsar Village , many anonymous donors and some strangers who helped make this project possible by donating the items and money to get all these things. (Pictures coming soon)
My mom said you never know if the next great is waiting on the streets, homeless and if you never help these people, you may never see the great value that some could bring to making our world a better place.
I dedicate this project to the late Sakinah, my little homeschooling friend who passed away recently who in her own little way tried to make our world a better place too.
This is my biggest project this year and I am grateful to all who helped make this a success. I am not done, I still have plans for more projects with PIT STOP/PROJECT TIKAR and a new Project for kids in hospital so stayed tuned.
But for now Caitlin out.
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