Fund-Raising Update for Village Children in Sabah

Remember the angelic voices of the Sabahan girls in our Attic on 10 December 2006? It was “Pay-it-Forward” for them. Having benefited from the hostel run by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Tenghilan, Sabah, they wanted to give the same opportunity to primary school children living in Liposo and Kelubaan. Every weekday, these children would walk two hours in each direction to and from their school in Pukak.

The concert at our Church raised S$15,901. When Sr Lucy deposited the money at the bank, the teller was touched by the story and personally topped it up to S$16,000. That same day, a parishioner from our Church asked to meet the Sisters and donated another S$5,000.

With this S$21,000 and money raised from other concerts in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Good Shepherd Sisters were able to build a hostel at Pukak for 24 children from Liposo and Kelubaan. When the hostel is fully operational, these children will no longer have to make a tedious 4-hour daily journey to school. The Good Shepherd Sisters would like to say a big THANK YOU to the Holy Spirit parishioners for their love and generosity.

In June this year, a group of our parishioners visited Pukak to conduct cooking classes for the ladies and give English lessons to the children, through Bible stories and activities. The hostel was not yet operational then.

When we conducted the 2-day weekend Bible Camp, the Liposo and Kelubaan children made an additional 4-hour journey on both days, at times, through heavy rain. We were very touched. It meant that for the entire week, they had walked four hours daily.

On the Sunday, the children put up skits of the Bible stories they had heard. We taught them hymns and were humbled by their enthusiasm and energy in singing. They are fast learners and were grateful for whatever little we shared with them.

All of us who went agree that it was a very enjoyable and spiritually uplifting experience indeed!

Jane-Marie Lim