This year marks the 10th Famine in Malaysia, coinciding with World Vision Malaysia’s 10th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, the Famine will be bilingual (English and Mandarin) for the first time ever, and the theme for the year is “Hungry for Hope”.

The 30-hour Famine is a global movement against hunger and poverty. It is a life-changing camp aimed at spreading awareness about global poverty and raising funds to improve the lives of needy children and communities.

At the 30-Hour Famine, campers fast for 30 hours in solidarity with millions who go hungry because of war, disasters and poverty. During the camp, they gain insight to pressing global issues via talks, simulation games, and group activities. Best of all, they know their hunger is bringing hope to children and communities because they raise/contribute funds for them prior to the camp.

I will be participating for the first time, will you?

For more information about the 30-hour famine, please visit Famine @ WorldVision Malaysia.

I spent two days volunteering at the Eden Handicap Service Centre in Penang a week ago, and instead of being treated like a volunteer, I was introduced to Eden’s various units and given detailed information on how the centre and the units function as a whole. I was given so much information that it kind of motivated me to do a series of posts right here, and the main objective is none other than spreading awareness on this selfless cause.

Now, if you haven’t heard of Eden Handicap Service Centre (NOT to be confused with Eden Seafood or Eden Bakery, please), it is a non-profit organization independent of any business groups, enterprises or companies. There are a few units under the umbrella of Eden Handicap Service Centre, e.g. the Training Unit, Children’s Hostel, Handicraft Unit and the Recycling Unit.

Since its inception in 1991, Eden Handicap Service Centre has been helping the disabled come to terms with their disabilities, engaging them in fellowship with other disabled and able-bodied friends, and providing adequate training to place them in suitable jobs. For FREE.

Not surprisingly, the overall operational costs may touch RM 50,000 per month (approximately USD 14,588). And that’s a whooping HUGE amount for a non-profit organization whose main “income” comes from the pockets of generous members of the public! And to constantly raise huge amount of funds to continue running the centre and helping the disabled definitely isn’t an easy task, and it will not be successful without sponsors and donors who have been so supportive towards Eden.

Now here’s your chance to help them out a little :) Eden is organizing their Annual Charity Food Fair this coming Saturday (June 9th) at Kompleks Masyarakat Penyayang, Penang. And all you need to do is to bring along your grandparents, parents, highschool sweethearts, neighbours and friends and join them from 10AM to 3PM and have lots of food and fun! It’s *that* simple! For more information, please visit the official Eden Handicap Service Centre website.

One of the Photo Hunt participants blogged about Hugs & Hope last Saturday, and I’ve been combing through the site since then. The Hugs & Hope Club for Sick Kids was created by Marsha Jordan in October 2000, as a ministry of encouragement for children battling critical illness. Every month they feature new stories and photos of sick children on the Hugs & Hope website. Visitors and volunteers pray for, encourage, and send these children cheery postal mail (a.k.a.”happy mail”). Volunteers also sponsor many special projects to brighten the lives of the children on a regular basis!

Now, Jonathan was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was two years old. And since then, he had undergone three brain surgeries within six years to try to reduce his seizure activity, but unfortunately without much success.

Jon is allergic to most anti-seizure medications and suffers from many side effects, so his options are limited. Because of neurological impairment due to the seizures, he has trouble with his speech, coordination, and academics. And as of April 20th, he was still experiencing seizures though lately, it appears that they have decreased some.

And since he has a great love for animals, especially insects and amphibians (his pets include his dog, a parrot, a turtle and his fish), I’m going to send him some turtle postcards, and I hope he will like them :)

And since I’m at it, I might well send everybody whose birthday falls in June a birthday card (June is such a nice month, right??) :)