Baby Items Needed in Lahad Datu

I'm sure most of us (Malaysians) already know what is happening in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

My friend was assigned to cover the development of the incident, and she also went to the evacuation centers, which was setup for the villagers following the intrusion by armed militants from the southern Philippines. She said they are in need of mattresses, pillows, blankets and BABY ITEMS as most of them left their homes with only the clothes on their backs.

Let me share one of stories from my friend, which has opened my heart to do something.


SIX-DAY-OLD INFANT UNWITTING VICTIM OF INTRUSION
By Sandra Sokial (March 5th 2013)

Wan Mauliana Amani  Aziati is six days old today.

Her age also marked the number of days she has been cramping with 670 villagers at a temporary evacuation centre in Kampung Embara Budi.

The newborn, who suffers from mild jaundice, has yet to be vaccinated. And already, she is challenged to live in a poor hygienic place.

Fondly nicknamed 'Amoi' by the adults at the centre, she has not been given proper bath due to the lack of clean water supply.

"All we could do was wipe her body, luckily she is not grumpy, may be she understands the difficulties we are in," said her mother, Adawiyah Tuljannah.

The 25-year-old housewife from Kampung Tanjung Labian said Wan Mauliana was borned at 6.26pm on Mar 3, just two hours before they were forced to board a lorry and rushed to the hall.

"She was delivered by my mother-in-law, who is the midwife in my village. I was still weak when we were asked to leave, and only managed to grab two or three pieces of baby cloths and some essential things for my newborn, apart from our change," she said.

Adawiyah said they were excited to welcome the latest bundle of joy.

"We have bought a lot of things for her, but everything had to be left at our house. So I hope we can go home soon and live a normal life again," she said, holding the apple of their eyes close to her.

Accompanying her were husband Bakri Kabir and the couples two other children, Ikwan Mohd Ramdan, six, and Wan Shafiah Nafisgah Balqis, three.

Basri, meanwhile, revealed that Adawiyah started having her contractions at 6am.

"I wanted to take my wife to the clinic at around 5pm but all entries were closed by the security forces. We heard about the attack on Mar 1 resulting on the death of two commandos so we understand the purpose of the roadblock. So since we cannot go out, we turned to my mother instead," he said.

The 26-year-old labourer at the Felda Sahabat oil palm plantation said they were asked to "take a rest" since half a month ago following the stand off here.

Basri is keeping his fingers crossed, not knowing their fate, or whether their salaries would be paid.

"All I know is I need to protect my family and ensure nothing happen to them.

"It is sad that Wan Mauliana was brought to this world at a time when we are surrounded by all these chaos ... but I believe something good will come out from all this. Looking at her makes us forget the challenges ahead of us and I am optimistic that situation will change for good," he said.

After reading this story, my colleagues and I decided to collect used baby items to be donated to the evacuations centers. I focus on babies (and children) because my friend said they are the most affected by the incident. Some humanitarian missions has brought used clothes for the adults, so I decided to focus to the children ONLY.  If I can't go, I will find a way to pass it to my friends, and they will give it to them. Please email me at ladymariah@gmail.com if you are interested to giveaway your baby items before Friday (March 15th) because someone is going to Lahad Datu by road. If your donations arrived after Friday, I will give it to the Red Crescent Sabah because they are doing the same project.
 Children at the Evacuation Centre

Bare in mind, this is not "throwing your rubbish away" but giving it to the FUTURE GENERATION. All donations must be CLEAN and in GOOD CONDITIONS. Remember, they are sleeping on the floor, so please donate according to their needs.

Inside the evacuation centre.

P/S: Kawan-kawan yang di KK kalau mau hantar ASAP, my office address is The Borneo Post, 5th Floor Wisma KTS, 88000 Jalan Pantai, KOTA KINABALU (building next to Little Italy). Kalau saya tiada di office, just bagi sama siapa-siapa yang ada and just mention my name (Mariah), kasitau kamu hantar donations untuk Lahad Datu. Kotouhadan :)

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

3 comments:

Belle Edwin said...

sy share ini post d FB ar..

LM the Traveler said...

Thanks for sharing, Belle...

Sandra's Corner said...

thanks for sharing the story, I am sure everyone had done their best for the good of all the displaced villagers, situation may be 'business as usual' but they will never lead a normal life, there is that black spot that will remain in their minds forever

Post a Comment