Home Sweet Home

I have been away for a week and how glad I am to finally reach home last Monday.London and Paris's trip was good. Learned a lot from our counterparts and again I am glad that they were very helpful.

And allow me to share some good news with you as part my updates on library projects.

Just before I left, we managed to get boxes of books from Asia Foundation for the project.

My colleague,Farouq,appeared in MHI TV3 last Friday talking about the project and we received good feedback from the viewers afterwards. I was told by him that we received some more funds for the project after the show. I will update you on the total funds raised so far on Monday next week.

And I just received another good news today, as a foundation is going to sponsor some of the books.Again, on Monday I shall be able to reveal the foundation's name once the details is confirmed.

I am confident, it won't be long before we could reach the target for Darul Hikmah's project.

The library rack for Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih, Puchong is ready to be delivered on Monday. PTS and Utusan Publications again this time give their full support by giving very good discounts for the purchase.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Londong

Malam ini saya bertolak ke London, UK atas urusan rasmi.Saya juga akan melawat pejabat Islamic Relief France di Paris.Yang pasti saya akan mencari kedai buku di sana kelak.

Jumpa lagi minggu depan.

Terkini:Projek Perpustakaan Darul Hikmah, Gopeng

Alhamdulillah, kutipan dana untuk Projek Perpustakaan Darul Hikmah, Gopeng sudah mencapai jumlah RM16110.

Tinggal lagi RM14000 untuk mencapai dana sasaran sebanyak RM30,000.

Khabar gembira yang lain yang harus saya kongsikan dengan anda, Asia Foundation juga telah bersetuju untuk menyumbang buku kanak-kanak untuk projek ini.

Untuk menderma sila ke SINI.

Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur 2009

Maaf kerana tidak dapat mengemaskini blog sepanjang minggu ini.Sibuk.

Namun, saya tidak sabar untuk menikmati hujung minggu yang pasti menggembirakan bagi semua kaki buku.

Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur 2009 kembali lagi!

Tahun lepas semasa Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur 2008 saya sibuk merayau mencari buku untuk projek perpustakaan rumah anak yatim di Machang,Kelantan.

Tahun ini, saya akan sibuk mencari buku untuk projek perpustakaan di Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih,Puchong.

Inilah masa terbaik untuk mencari buku dengan harga diskaun hebat dan juga mengambil peluang untuk bertemu dengan penulis-penulis kesohor tanahair.

Saya pastinya akan singgah di gerai PTS dan Utusan Publications untuk berkongsi dengan para pendokong utama projek ini mengenai perkembangan terkini projek perpustakaan di rumah anak yatim.

Selain itu, saya juga akan ambil peluang ini untuk berkenalan dengan penerbit-penerbit buku yang lain untuk mendapatkan senarai buku terbaru dan mungkin juga cuba mengajak sama mereka membantu projek perpustakaan rumah anak yatim Islamic Relief Malaysia dengan memberikan diskaun untuk pembelian buku terbitan mereka.

Jumpa di sana!

common sense

I received this via email.Instead of funds, Someone wants to sponsor these books for the orphanage.

1. Terjemahan "Di bawah Bayangan Al Quran-Syed Qutb"
2. The Nobles Quran – Dr Taqiuddin Al Hilali /Dr Mohsein Khan
3. Tafseer Ibnu Kathir

The books are good. No doubt about it. But, do you think these titles is suitable for the children? I don't think so.

I have come to realise that not only we have to find good and suitable books for the kids but also to educate people on how to give effectively.

That is why we encourage people to give funds instead of books. You may ask, why we require funds instead of books?

1. It will allow us to plan carefully on what kind of books suitable to be bought for the orphanages.

2. To avoid duplication of titles.Rugi!

Anyway, I have emailed the person and suggested him with suitable new titles.

Hope he will understands and still helps.

Sanctuary

children's library in Crewe

For some, it could be just a room full of books.
For me, it’s a sanctuary.

Updates: PTS gaves us good discounts for books!

Got RM100!

Just got RM100 today for Darul Hikmah Gopeng!

Projek Perpustakaan Darul Hikmah, Gopeng

The front yard of the orphanage.

When I first came to Darul Hikmah,Gopeng,Perak last Saturday, the first thing comes to my mind was - what a great potential! I was there with IRM volunteers, Ryzah and Niezam to conduct assessment visit for IRM Orphanage Library Project.

Why I said so?

One thing for sure, I was quite moved by what the orphanage manager,Hj Jamal Din had told me that day.

"Kami kalau boleh nak jadikan perpustakaan ini bukan sahaja beri faedah pada anak-anak di sini tetapi juga untuk anak-anak kampung di sini."

I was jumping in joy inside my heart when I heard this.

The other thing I am happy about is, the 'fertile' ground they have for the library.It is a big empty room of 40 feet x 20 feet square - comfy enough to setup a library. In term of size, I think they can easily beat Perpustakaan Daerah Pendang for that matter (Jangan marah ya orang Pendang!).


The fertile ground

Oh, before I go further, allow me to tell you a little bit about the orphanage.

Darul Hikmah is located in Kg.Sg Itek,Gopeng,Perak and it was built way back in 1991 by Hajjah Embun Bt. Mohd Ali and her late husband Haji Din bin Kimi who are both retired head teachers with their pension savings.Currently it has 30 boys and 1 young girl with age range from 7 to 17 years old.


The orphans

The current manager is Hj Jamal Din, the youngest son of the family. I was introduced to Darul Hikmah by Puan Masmah, representing a group of Tunku Kurshiah College (TKC) old girls who wants to help building a library for Darul Hikmah as a tribute to their school friend, Hajah Saadah Din who are now fighting against cancer . She is also happened to be the board member of the orphanage and the elder sister of Hj Jamal.

For us at Islamic Relief Malaysia, we are truly honoured to fulfill their wish for the sake of the boys and also for the benefit of the children in the village.

Looking at the space for the library, there are lots of things need to be done and of course it will determine the cost.I have prepared the detailed budget and the fund needed to be raised is RM30,050.

The funds raised will cover cost for buying books, library rack, floor mats, tables and chairs.In addition, we also need to redo the wiring, install lightings and air-conditioning units in the room.

Anyway, I shall update you on the details of the resources needed to set up the library at Darul Hikmah in the next entry.

At the moment, Puan Masmah and her batch has already raised around RM5,000. Obviously, they are not alone in this effort.I reassure her, that let us do it together to raise the funds.

I am sure if everybody chips in, the amount needed will be raised in no time.

If you want to chip in to help, you can do so immediately by donating online HERE.

Just let me know via email (iskandar@irm.org.my) that you have donate. If you prefer to donate cash or cheque you can do so by bank-in the fund to our account below :

MBB Acc. No: 5621 4270 8704
CIMB Acc. No: 1259 0000 804 058

(ISLAMIC RELIEF MALAYSIA BERHAD)

Cheque is to be issued to "ISLAMIC RELIEF MALAYSIA BERHAD".Please write at the back of the cheque: Projek Perpustakaan Darul Hikmah (Darul Hikmah Orphanage Library Project)

Again for cash or cheque donation I really appreciate if you can notify me via email or fax the bank-slip to 03-8948 6334.

Photos by Ryzah

Projek Perpustakaan Kembali lagi!

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”

—Opening line of A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens-

Saya tertarik dengan ayat pembukaan novel A Tale of Two Cities itu dan signifikannya dengan projek perpustakaan rumah anak yatim Islamic Relief Malaysia ini.

Satu persoalan yang sering saya tanya pada diri saya, apakah di dalam keadaan kemelesetan ekonomi yang meruncing ketika ini,masih adakah insan-insan yang ingin mengubah kehidupan orang lain dengan menderma wangnya untuk menubuhkan perpustakaan di rumah-rumah anak yatim?

Namun sangkaan saya meleset.

"It is still the best of times!"

Buktinya, sebuah yayasan, Yayasan Joseph William Eu telah bersetuju baru-baru ini untuk membiayai projek perpustakaan rumah anak yatim Islamic Relief Malaysia di Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih,Puchong dengan dana sebanyak RM20,000. Alhamdulillah!

Insya Allah,kalau tiada aral melintang proses penubuhan perpustakaan berkenaan akan disempurnakan dalam masa beberapa minggu lagi.