Eden Handicap Service Centre was established in 1991 with a simple concept, which is to help people with disabilities to come to terms with their disabilities, to engage them in fellowship with other people with disabilities and able-bodied friends in the community, and to provide adequate training in order to place them in suitable jobs.

Through Eden Handicap, the needs of the people with disabilities have been championed as Eden Handicap continues to work to improve their quality of life. However, opportunities for people with disabilities have not been encouraging, whether in terms of education, job training or employment prospects. And these are only some of the challenges faced by Eden Handicap.

Hence, to counter these challenges, Eden Handicap is committed to help equip people with disabilities with practical training, preparing them to integrate into the society. As such, on-the-job training skills was given since 1993. To date, a number of units and sheltered workshops have been established, e.g. the children hostel, training hostel, handicraft unit, recycling unit, and IT classes, with the main objective to prepare these people with disabilities for future job placements.

Hi peeps, this is be my first official Blogathon post. The clock had just strike 2100 (Malaysian time) a couple of minutes ago, and I am already typing frantically. Boy, I am nervous!

So, this is my second attempt at Blogathon, but this is the first time I am doing it alone. Last year, I participated in a team of 5 bloggers, and we also blogged for Eden Handicap Service Centre. In fact, it was because of Blogathon that I came to know about Eden Handicap Service Centre as well as the people behind the organization and the work they do.

Now, over the course of the next 24 hours, I will bring to you entries grouped into a few sub-topics or categories. These entries will be posted in groups to enable easy browsing and to give you an overview of the posts which will be published:

1. Eden Handicap Service Centre
2. My personal experiences with people with disabilities
3. Bloggers with disabilities
4. Disabilities-related issues in the society and what the public can and should do about them

Throughout the following 48 posts, I will also constantly bug and beg and plead with you to sponsor me. It takes less than 2 minutes to sign up for a sponsor’s account, and the whole pledging process will take less than 5 minutes of your precious time. Please, spare a few Starbucks this week and donate for a good cause, OK?

If you are not participating in this year’s Blogathon, please visit other blogathoners to lend your support. We do need lots of comments in our comment boxes to keep us awake!

It is reported in today’s papers that a 68-year-old widow whose husband died 13 years ago has had to single-handedly look after her four mentally-challenged children and ensure that there is food on the table. The widow is blind in one eye, and had to stop working three years ago when she was involved in a road accident.

Her two older children, Siow Ten Onn, 44, and Thien Foong, 42, are unable to work and stay at home. The younger two, Ten Loong, 39, and Ten Fook, 31, do odd jobs and earn about RM400 a month.

Source: The Star, 27 July 2007

So you see, there a lot of people who are far less fortunate than we are. While we worry about which dress or tie to buy, they worry about their next meal. And while we think about our next vacation, they think about their next meal. Seriously..

Hence, the Seremban MCA Caring Society chairman, Titan Ho is appealing to the public to help the family. If you’d like to send some donations their way, please send your cheques to the MCA at 42, Jalan Tuanku Munawir, 70000, Seremban, with Lee Chooi Kuan’s name written on the reverse side.

Alternatively, if you do feel for people living with disabilities, you may also Eden Handicap Service Centre. Eden Handicap provides FREE practical training to people with disabilities (adults and children) and to help them acquire the basic skills to support and take care of themselves. And because Eden Handicap is providing FREE services to the needy, their monthly expenses touch a whooping MYR 50K per month.

More on the Blogathon 2007 series: