The 3 hour visit started at 2.00pm and were lead by their Chief Coordinator Ms. Adeline Louis. 4 members of the SSVP Conference lead by the Conference president Sis. Cherie Wu accompanied the visitors.
The BEC memebrs were briefed about the type of aid given by SSVP which was in the form of rice and food hampers and also school bus-fare assistance for the school going children. The SSVP members also highlighted that their work was not confined to just giving financial and material aid. Regular tuition for young children were also provided by some of its members over the weekends, and also assistance to obtain documentation like birth certificates, medical reports and job emplacement. Advisory and 'counselling' and networking with other aid related bodies and agencies were also an integral part of the SSVP work in helping the needy. Parallel to these works was the education cum boarding home project of the Conference, the Rumah Pengajian Xavier (RPX) which was set up in Sec. 14 P.J. since Feb. 2002 to provide a good environment for their studies so that they can be empowered to get out of the vicious poverty cycle. Another SSVP project being planned at the SSVP State Council level is the proposed setting up a Service / Operation Centre in the Desa Mentari area whereby young mothers could drop off their young children while they went out to work or to learn new trades like dress making and sewing etc.
The visit has helped the visitors to be more acquainted with the actual living conditions of the SSVP adoptee families, many of whom were young single parent mothers with young children. Although fortunate to be allocated rented shelter, many of the basic living household items like beds, settes, tables and chairs were donated items by caring members of the public directly to them or through SSVP members' contacts. Many of the young mothers were also not working and were fully dependent on help from SSVP and others to survive.
The BEC members were touched by what they saw and are resolved that more can be done by their BEC and others in the field of social justice work as what they saw during the visit was only a sampling of the 30 odd families being helped by the SSVP. Photos from the visit are posted for viewing.
