AMATEUR RADIO CHARITY DRIVE.

Our plan to transport medical officers and food relief to Kampong Peta in Johor on 13th January 2007 was cancelled due to heavy floods affecting the Keluang to Kahang stretch which had also destroyed 3 bridges linking Kampong Peta.

With the villagers now relocated to higher ground, we decided to convoy to Segamat where we had a few contacts on the ground level. Our plans for medical and relief efforts are now diverted to relief efforts only and donated items have been redirected to other areas as worsening flood situations hampered reach to other parts of Johor.

Our objective was to send donated goods to flood victims who needed them most, especially those cut-off from mainstream government and corporate assistance – and we managed that.

Our group of 16 offroad vehicles comprising 17 Ham and 12 non-Ham members were fully equipped - we even had a boat ready for action. We offloaded half of the load of donations received on Saturday, 13th January 2007, to the worst affected town areas i.e. the 5 villages around Segamat i.e Kg. Batu Badak, Kg. Pogoh 3, Kg Pogoh 2, Kg Tungku 3 and Kg Sekijang.

On the second day, Sunday, 14th January 2007, we made a breakthrough with most effective distribution. We met our objective to distribute your donations to the most needy and neglected flood victims. Through off-road tracks, we were the first to arrive to provide relief efforts to the folks in Kg Orang Asli Segamat Kechil (population of 400) which were cut-off from the main by broken bridges. The balance of our donated goods were unloaded here. Thanks to Tn Hj Abdul Karim bin Hj Harun, the Pegawai Hal Ehwal Orang Asli of Daerah Segamat & Muar who was instrumental in helping us find Kampung Segamat Kechil.

Children and kampong folks came running to greet us. Seeing the people there made all our troubles worthwhile. Houses wiped out by the first flood, even relief shelters was flooded, schools flooded, lost of income due to rain and lost of belongings. The Tok Batin explained that they were the last to get any help and with all the children running to help carry the goods, I noticed Pak Dollah was close to tears. I must say many others tried to hold back their emotions.

We would like to thank all our generous donors - Ham and non-Ham alike – all being united for a good cause. The response was better then we expected with 16 cars packed full. We estimated goods valued about RM7,000 together with bundles of clothing. We were left with one car full of clothes and a bag of 50 kg rice that couldn’t be offloaded to the affected areas. Items are in my possession to be kept for future use.

Thanks to the team effort of our convoy of 4x4 members who went on their own expense and took time off from work for this purpose, especially, 9W2PO, BIL, YZ, BOI, EET, SCM, BON, ICE, SBS, AFY, KYC, CBO, MKK, CBB, KAT, OOM ,VQand finally, our most senior member, 9M2DS. Many wanted to come but couldn’t. Those who didn’t come but helped out with the charity drive – a BIG thank u. Further thanks goes out to Mohd Syahrullaizam Aris (Atan Aris) and 9W2PCK-Choy in helping to identify the relevant villages.

Everyone played a role in this. Our mission accomplished.!!

We cannot do this alone! These people need your help, with all the equipments, off-road vehicles and appropriate gear, we have what it takes to go to the most remote areas. Let us put our differences aside and our hands together and work as a team to achieve our target to bring help to the most needy.
If we have another charity drive join us to help those who need them most.!!

To the person who donated tons of beehoon - Tok Batin says thanks, he loves beehoon!

(Other participants of the convoy include ..Zawalan and Eelyn, Francis & Christine (Ferroza), Sam Lee (XYL 0f 9W2 EET), Foo & Cherlyn, Eric, Madiha (with KAT), Amy and Siow (with YZ)....Also thanks to Amy Leong (friend of YYL) for the food stuff contribution.


Reported by 9W2AXE
Errors omitted thanks to verification from 9W2AXE