By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Oct 14: After an evening inferno that destroyed Rh Naga Rasau longhouse in Engkilili, Sri Aman last month, 85 people from 18 families affected by the incident are still living in a kitchen shelter.
The Salvation Army Kuching is calling for urgent donations from compassionate Sarawakians to assist the 18 families who lost their homes.
A team from the Salvation Army Kuching Corps travelled to Engkilili to understand the families’ current situation and to contribute food and kitchen necessities several weeks after the incident.
Corps Officer Captain Raymond Rubi Aloba shared that they have found that these families were still living in inadequate temporary living quarters which cannot properly protect them from the weather and its elements.
“They are currently living in a kitchen shelter, where all of them will congregate when it rains. The families consist of 85 people, including women and children, and they have not received updates on when and how they can move forward after the loss of their homes,” he revealed in a media release today.
The Salvation Army Kuching Corps will be making two more trips in the months of October and November and will be giving pastoral care, counselling and assisting to build a solid shelter for the families.
As such, they are also currently seeking kind-hearted individuals and corporations to urgently donate to support the Salvation Army to assist the longhouse fire victims.
The items needed are stationeries (pens, pencils, colouring pencils, pencil sharpeners), toiletries (shampoo, soap), groceries (rice, noodles, cooking oil, canned food, biscuits), clothing (for men, women, children and babies), school uniforms and shoes (for primary and secondary school students), sanitary pads for women, slippers, kitchen utensils (cooking pots, pans, ‘kuali’), ‘kain sarung’, vinyl carpet, mosquito netting, mineral or drinking water, first-aid kits, portable public toilets and potable water supply.
All items must be in good and working condition and delivered to The Salvation Army Kuching Corps & Community Services at Sekama Road by Oct 22, 2020.
Cash donations can be made via direct bank-in to The Salvation Army’s Maybank account 5005-1196-0365.
Those who have made cash donations may send a copy of the transaction receipt to kuching.corps@smm.salvationarmy.org to obtain a tax-exempt receipt.
For more information, please contact Captain Raymond at 082-333981 or e-mail kuching.corps@smm.salvationarmy.org. — DayakDaily
