1 May 2020

Dear Donors and Friends,
Thanks to your generosity, the Tabung Covid-19 Orang Asli Fund successfully raised RM353,730.87 as at 30 April 2020.

Of this amount, RM353,437.71 has been disbursed to 6,733 households, benefiting 33,159 Orang Asli individuals. They come from 189 Orang Asli villages, representing 11 (of the 18) Orang Asli sub-ethnic groups across Peninsular Malaysia.

We also assisted the MyKasih Foundation in identifying an additional 1,006 Orang Asli families who received food aid through their cashless scheme. MyKasih’s charitable partners – JTI, Linde, Bertha Foundation & Khazanah – expended a total of RM67,201.00 on these families, while the TaC-OA Fund absorbed the transportation costs involved.

Desperation
When we launched the TaC-OA campaign on 30 March 2020, we were already in Phase 2 of the Movement Control Order (MCO). The government’s food aid and cash stimulus programmes were not announced then, and there was a feeling of desperation among the Orang Asli community with regards to their food security.

We reacted to their calls for assistance by appealing to your generosity and solidarity. The donations received were quickly disbursed to trusted Orang Asli Local Coordinators from the beneficiary communities.

These coordinators used the funds to purchase the food items and other necessities, transported them to their villages, and then distributed these to the community members. This conformed to MCO regulations and also acknowledged the capacity and ability of the Orang Asli beneficiaries to organise themselves.

Targets met
Thanks to your immediate response, we managed to hit our first target of RM30,000 in less than 36 hours. We then revised our target to RM100,000 and this was reached within a week. We cannot stress that we were encouraged and humbled by your support and solidarity with the Orang Asli. As a result of your generosity, we were able to attend to all the requests for aid that has since come in to us.

Government aid
Things have changed as we are now in the third phase of the MCO. The food needs of the Orang Asli are no longer as acute as before. The government’s economic stimulus package known as Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) has been released and will benefit many Orang Asli individuals. NGOs and government agencies have also been distributing food aid to Orang Asli villages.

Still, in line with our original goal to address immediate need gaps in Orang Asli communities, an urgent role that we played in the past week was to ensure as many Orang Asli individuals as possible are enrolled in the BPN, as practically all of them are eligible.

Closure of campaign
In our statement of 20 April 2020 (http://www.raleighinternational.org.my/news/news-and-events/120), we announced that we were no longer actively soliciting donations for the TaC-OA campaign. That is to say, the TaC-OA fund-raising is formally closed. The attached infographic gives the status of the Fund as it stands up its closure.

Terima kasih, thank you! For enabling us to help the Orang Asli, to help themselves, with your help.

But …
Although we closed the food aid campaign for Orang Asli families, we continue to receive requests from the communities for aid. This time, it was more by Orang Asli mothers for their young children (milk formula, diapers, soap) and also for makanan basah (‘wet food’) like ikan bilis, onions and garlic.

And as we mentioned in our statement of 20 April 2020, we will continue to disburse the full amount of any unsolicited donation according to the request and need from the community.

Towards this end, we are grateful to Hong Leong Foundation for their recent grant of RM25,000.00 to the TaC-OA Fund. As such we are happy to continue our commitment to ensure that the full grant is disbursed to where it is needed.

Once again, thank you for your generosity and solidarity with the Orang Asli. Let’s keep this spirit of looking out for each other at all times.

Sincerely,
Shankar Loganathan (017-3755420)
Lili a/p Li (011-15972878)

For the Tabung Covid-19 Orang Asli Fund
Centre for Orang Asli Concerns | Raleigh Kuala Lumpur | Impian Malaysia