Siti Mafuzah, never stops being motivated and works extra hard, with every initiative to support her family. 

Pn. Siti Mafuzah is a married woman with four children (16, 14, 8, and three years old). Her husband is a factory worker who earns RM1200 per month. She used to be a night market hawker and a school bus driver, but she was forced to quit during MCO 1.0. She then intended to start a “tudung manik” business. She has connections to a friend who owns a boutique shop, who ordered a total of 300 pieces of “tudung manik” from her due to her prior experience working at the night market. However, she lacked the funds to purchase the fabric and bead materials required to make the “tudung manik,” which cost RM3,750. Thus, with the only RM1250 capital on her hands, she had no choice but to ask for support of RM2,500 business start-up capital from GHCA.

After receiving an RM2,500 one-time subsidy from GHCA for her “tudung manik” business materials in May 2021, she earned a net profit of RM7,500 after deducting the cost. She then continued to grow her business by selling it to a few different boutiques through the Shopee platform. Currently, she can earn a net profit of about RM75 per week, which equates to RM300 per month.

“The first impression I had about Pn. Siti Mafuzah was her being a very honest person as she was being really transparent to us the first time we met, about her condition and plans to start-up her “tudung manik” business. She has a very great attitude and takes initiatives to find ways to support her business. Hence, she pleaded GHCA’s support on the business modal, which was the main challenge she faced. Her actions and attitude made me believe that she has the potential to start-up her business successfully. Thus, I am happy to see that she successfully built up her business, and hopefully this could help her better self-sustain in the long term.” stated by Volunteer Tham.

Siti Mafuzah currently runs a home-sewing business and her tudung manik, children clothes and many more. Should anyone wish to support Siti Mafuzah, you may contact her at 011-37561245.

GHCA looks forward to seeing Siti Mafuzah and his family to lead a better life with his small business, and with support from everyone to help ease his burden.

The post #BusinessSupport: Siti Mafuzah Binti Mat Jali appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Mr.Azizi, is a role model to his family and takes good care of his family while working hard to improve his family situation. 

Mr Azizi is married to Mdm Rohaya, 48, and the couple has two children. They all live in a “kampung house” in the Gombak neighbourhood. Mr.Azizi used to run a burger stand near their house, earning around RM1000 per month. Mdm Rohaya used to work as a babysitter, earning an additional RM1000 per month. During MCO 1.0, however, they lost all of their sources of income. During the three months of MCO 1.0, Mr Azizi was not permitted to operate his burger stand. They intended to restart their burger stall business after MCO 1.0, which is in July 2020, but they couldn’t find enough capital money to do so because they don’t have enough money to buy the burger bun, meat, sauce, and egg that are required for the business.

GHCA has decided to assist them in purchasing business ingredients for a period of six months, from July 2020 to December 2020, with a monthly contribution of RM300. The ingredients for the business include the bun, chilli sauce, packaging plastic, ramli frozen burger, eggs, sauce, and others. GHCA also created a burger stall banner for Encik Azizi in September 2020 to help him promote his burger business and attract more customers from the roadside to purchase his burger.

One of our volunteer that work on Mr.Azizi’s case,Terry mentioned, “I really like Encik Azizi as I can feel his serious attitude to manage his burger business, and all the money he earned, goes to his family. He shows a good role model on how to be a good father and being the breadwinner for the family.”

Mr.Azizi’s burger business operates nearby Batu 8 1/4, Gombak Utara, 53100, Kuala Lumpur. He operates roughly 5 days a week, from 6pm to 12am. His contact number is 010-666 3508.

GHCA looks forward to seeing Mr.Azizi and his family to lead a better life with his small business, and with support from everyone to help ease his burden.

The post #BusinessSupport: Encik Azizi b. Mohamad appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Roshaizan, an inspiring cancer survivor that never loses hope, in order to make life better for his small family.

Roshaizan is a cancer survivor. He is living with his wife and 2 children who are still in school. He used to work as a bus driver but after he was diagnosed with stage 3 intestine cancer, he stopped but still worked as a freelance grab driver. However, after starting his chemotherapy few years ago, he was forced to stop working completely. His wife used to work as a babysitter earning RM600 monthly and they relied on RM400 subisdy monthly from Zakat but it is still not enough to cover their monthly expenses.

GHCA noticed Roshaizan and his wife were doing the nasi lemak home delivery business but they do not have enough modal to expand their business and earn more profit. GHCA then decided to support Mr Roshaizan in business grocery purchasing of RM300 monthly for one year starting from Oct 2020 to Sept 2021. In the same time, we encourage Mr Roshaizan to find more ways to sell his nasi lemak by opening/renting a stall outside. During this one year of sponsorship from GH, Mr Roshaizan had successfully registered a stall in Pasar Moden Subang Jaya SS15 with the monthly rental as low as RM150 from the government. However, this time he needs more business equipment such as fridge, blender, business banner to put in the stall, and all sorts of ingredients like rice, oil, onion and others to start up his nasi lemak business in the Pasar Moden.

One of our volunteer that work on Roshaizan case, Joshua stated, “Roshaizan is very strong and never easily accepted his life condition without fighting for it, he works hard to change and never let his difficulties stop him from achieving more for his family.”

Mr Roshaizan is currently operating his nasi lemak stall in Pasar Moden Subang Jaya SS15. The address is at Jalan SS 15/8a, SS15, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor. He is working from Monday to Saturday, from 11am to 5pm. If you wish to support Roshaizan, you may give him a call at 017-5881048 or visit his stall directly.

GHCA looks forward to seeing Roshaizan and his family to lead a better life with his small business, and with support from everyone to help ease his burden.

The post #BusinessSupport: Roshaizan bin Abdul Wahab appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Mrs.Kalaivahni, an inspiring single mother took on the responsibility as the breadwinner to provide for her small family. Read more on how Kalaivahni took a turning point in her life as a home caterer! 

Mrs Kalaivahni is a home caterer who sells the nasi lemak, bihun, kuih muih and indian biscuit to church weekly, and earning approximately RM800.00 monthly. However, Kalaivahni needed to buy 5 to 6 Pediasure milk and 8-10 Tena drypers for Dayanidhi, her son that is suffering from cerebral palsy. She also needs to raise another 2 children, both aged 9 and 11 years old on her own.

GHCA took the initiative and had collaborated with another private charity to support Dayanidhi with a total of 8 packs of Tena drypers, and 5 tins of Pediasure milk monthly from March 2017 to February 2020, which we had stopped supporting, as Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang (HTAR) will continue to provide the milk and drypers starting March 2020. Great Heart also sponsored her with one-time subsidy of RM1073.30 for the purchase of new oven as her previous one was spoilt.

Besides from selling nasi lemak, bihun, kuih muih, Kalaivahni also sells biscuits like Muruku, Almond London, Semperit, chocolate tart, chocolate rice ball, jam tart, Mazola, red velvet, choco chips, Chuttu Urundai, Nei Urundau and Kelti Urundai. Each bottle of cookies’ prices ranged from RM18 to RM30 depending on the size of the bottle. Customer who are interested or wishes to support her business may pre-order from Mrs Kalaivahni (Phone number: 018-2446107) and collect from her house in Klang.

One of our volunteer that work on Mrs.Kalaivahni case, Tan stated, “Her love for her children is immense, me and my family learnt a lot from her unconditional love towards her children, and I am thankful towards GHCA for giving me an opportunity to contribute to the society.”

GHCA looks forward to seeing Mrs.Kalaivahni and her family to lead a better life with her small business, and with support from everyone to help ease her burden.

The post #BusinessSupport: Kalaivahni A/P Malayalam appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Shayne Koo completed a three-month internship and participated in volunteer activities before continuing to work as an Account Assistant for nearly two years now. Take a read on her inspiring story below!

In my first home assessment, my colleague and I were assigned to a low-cost apartment. The lift was flooded with garbage water, and the staircase had a strong urine smell. However, it surprised me to see children there playing happily at the playground without bothering the environment.

As we were doing the home assessment, the disabled single parent who is working as a garbage collector is raising a disabled child while helping other injured animals. It was really touching to see people trying to help others despite the hardships they were facing.

Another unforgettable experience that taught me resilience and perseverance was when a beneficiary with a degree attempted to recover from a stroke without the use of physiotherapy. He would walk around his neighborhood every day, selling his homemade products.

Our conversation was going well until we asked him about his pay slip. With a big smile, he took out an old and tattered wallet to look for his most recent payslip. It was heartbreaking to see how someone so unfortunate maintained a positive attitude while struggling to make ends meet.

All in all, I’ve learned to look at the bright side of things after working with GHCA. It is a platform for us to lift up people’s lives when they hit rock bottom

– Shayne Koo, Account Assistant

The post #OurStories: Shayne Koo appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Tan Mew Wai has been an Event Team Leader at Great Heart for more than 5 years and has met a variety of people during her time here. Discover more about her remarkable experience and how she views charitable work in her story below.

I’ve been a member of Great Heart since 2016, and I chose charity work because I want to help people who are less fortunate.

For me, the most memorable experience in Great Heart was my first visit and assessment of a paralyzed lady. She was a master’s degree-holding engineer when she fell down the stairs and became paralyzed. She has already lost all of her mobility, as well as her bright future.

I then realized how fortunate we are to have a healthy body with which to enjoy life in our own way. Because we have no idea what will happen the next day. The most crucial consideration is how we live our lives without regret.

Along my journey in Great Heart, I met a lot of people like volunteers, beneficiaries, sponsors, partners, students, and social workers who offered me a lot of information about their techniques, motivation, thoughts, and philosophy when they presented their charity work.

They taught me that there is no perfect way to carry out charity, but that there is always a boundary and a set of rules that we need to follow and respect our recipients and community. Teamwork, respect, listening, and sharing have all contributed to my professional development.

Listening is essential, especially as a social worker, in order to understand the needs and challenges of beneficiaries. Sharing is a way for us to convey goodwill and instill positive attitudes and beliefs in those around us.

– Tan Mew Wai, Event Team Leader

The post #OurStories: Tan Mew Wai appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Ahmad Zawawee fondly known as Awie shared how he was inspired to indulge in charity activities right from his high-school. As the eldest son to his parents, he looked up to his parents and their words of encouragement to help others in need!

I come from a B40 family. My mother worked at a hospital for the government, while my father worked as a machine operator at a rice mill. I recall that our only asset at the time was a bicycle. Before my father goes to work, he will send me and my sibling to kindergarten on his old bicycle.

Even though we were poor at the time, my parents were always willing to help those in need. They offered assistance in the form of manpower and money to individuals in need. My parents used to say to us siblings, “If you all believe we’re poor, remember there are still other unlucky families who are poorer than us, so be good to them, help them with what you have, and Allah/ God will replace us.”

My parents encouraged my siblings and me to study. They believed that education was the key to changing our lives in the future. The most memorable moments that inspired me to do charity work occurred during my secondary school years.

During my SPM, I was accepted to attend Yayasan Al Bukhary’s free tuition class and receive free reference books. By participating in that, I was able to supplement my SPM preparation.

I told myself that when I’m wealthy, I’d like to give the same help to those in need, particularly in the education sector. But, God had other plans which were far better. I was destined to work with the Great Heart Charity Association since February 2018 till now.

Thus, there is no need for me to wait until I am wealthy to assist those in need; instead, I can help through GHCA to provide the best possible assistance to those in need by ensuring all the benefits are provided timely.

-Ahmad Zawawee, Great Heart Accountant

The post #OurStories: Ahmad Zawawee appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Nazihah had no intention of becoming a social worker! She stressed that possibilities brought her here, and that it’s never as simple as people think. Many people, according to Nazihah, confuse social work and social service. But their objectives are the same, to SERVE people!

I got great exposure as a social worker at Great Vision Charity Association, sister NGO of Great Heart Charity Association. I was able to serve the B40 community, listen to their stories, delve into their life patterns and made me called to be the cause they are able to change lives for the better. I learned a lot about real-life trends throughout my year and a half here.

I still remember a “story” of extending assistance to an elderly mother who had just lost her child due to some complications. She was very grateful for the assistance provided, but it wasn’t the monetary aid that made her happy; it was the compassion shown that made her feel that they as a family still had a place in society. Her gloomy face piqued my interest in learning more about their lives.

During a discussion, the mother shared that she had only two children, and that the deceased was her youngest daughter. According to the father, for the rest of his daughter’s life, when she was ill, he would daily bathe his daughter, lead her by hand, and feed food tirelessly.

The routine has changed, if before this they took care of the child physically, but now when the child has left them, visiting the grave of the child has become their routine. A year has passed, during a recent meeting, I found that the routine still continues to this day. Here I can see the love of parents for their children that is poured out without ceasing.

If people ask why social work. It is this story of their lives that taught me to “to give more than take” in this short life.

-Nazihah Maiddin, Social Worker

The post #OurStories: Nazihah Maiddin appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Jeff has spent almost a year now in charity work at GHCA. He has seen lots of underprivileged families struggling for a living throughout his journey in charity work. Read his story below to know more about how his experience in giving back to the society

I have been with the Great Heart Charity Association for almost a year. I saw a lot of underprivileged families struggle for living throughout my journey in charity work. Some families spend only RM200++ per month on groceries for their entire family of eight which hits me personally.

These underprivileged families are also a caring target for GHCA, and I’m extremely impressed with how GHCA helps these families. The goal of GHCA support is to assist people during a tough time and urge them to self-sustain.

As a result, GHCA will strive to avoid supporting an underprivileged family for a longer duration. GHCA will also try to avoid giving them money directly, instead focusing on the goods they need.

There are many needy families in our society that are not visible to the public and who merely require assistance in their difficult times. We only need to lend a helping hand to get them through their difficult times, and then they will be able to live a better life on their own.

-Jeff Tan, Social Worker Excecutive

The post #OurStories: Jeff Tan appeared first on Great Heart Charity.

Peggy Chang has served the Great Heart Charity for about 7 years now! She realizes the importance of giving back in this materialistic world. Spend some time to read Peggy’s take on being charitable.

I chose to spend my time working in an NGO after knowing the importance of spending my precious time towards something meaningful, rather than materialistic fulfillment, is the essence of living a fulfilled and happy life.

The greatest asset of a person is their life experiences. It’s really important how they utilise the knowledge that they have gained to interact with their surroundings.

To me, spending time to seek a solution for a greater purpose in life, such as solving social and environmental issues, is a life well spent. As there is a saying, you want to leave the world a better place than you found it, not worse off.

The greatest lesson that I have learnt over the years is “It’s not about what you take when you leave this world behind, but what you can leave behind that can benefit many generations to come”.

This matches with Great Heart’s mission of making charitable giving a part of everyone’s life, where we believe givers are always the blessed ones and hope to inspire many more people to do the same.

Chang Phay Kee@Peggy – Great Heart Secretary

The post #OurStories: Chang Phay Kee@Peggy appeared first on Great Heart Charity.