Yayasan Chow Kit (YCK) was established in 2011 to assist members of the community, particularly children, with the hope of giving the children of Chow Kit a chance to escape the harsh realities of street life. YCK provides and supports through various programmes and services alike, a safe house called Pusat Jagaan Baitul Amal Petaling Jaya (“Home”).
The KLBC Young Lawyers Committee organised a visit to the home located in Petaling Jaya on 26 July 2015 to have a small Hari Raya celebration with the children residing there. The home currently houses about eight children ranging from the ages of 2 to 11 years old and they are well taken care of by a small team of caretakers and a part-time resident cook. The children staying at the safe home came mainly from broken homes, were subjected to neglect or abuse, and/or single parent households who are poor and unable to support themselves and their child.
We arrived at the home at about 10:00 am and the children were all beautifully dressed in their traditional outfits waiting to welcome us. They were all very excited to see us and instantly felt very comfortable around us despite meeting us for the very first time. We bought for the children some new reading books, activity books, puzzles, toys (all of which were sponsored by Mr. PG Cyril and Ms. Yeap Poay Nee), some colouring books, pencils and goodie bags with balloons and stickers.
We spent some time playing games with the children and discussing their daily routine and activities that they were all involved in before digging into the delicious lunch spread prepared by their resident cook. After lunch, the children performed a Hari Raya song for us and we continued with some game songs and singing. Before we knew it, it was time for our visit to come to an end. It was a bittersweet moment for us to say goodbye to the children and we could tell that the feeling was mutual. We distributed the colouring books and pencils to the children before taking our leave. All of them were very excited and started colouring without hesitation and without a care in the world. With a heavy heart, we slowly departed from the shelter home.
All in all, the children and we truly enjoyed the time we spent together and hopefully, we will continue to visit and support the home in the future.
Contributed by: Jacenta James