PETALING JAYA: Non-government organisations and individuals have come together in aid of marginalised groups in rural areas, whose earnings are disrupted by the movement control order (MCO).
“We managed to reach out to some 200 sex workers and transgenders, 80 single mothers with children, and the homeless in Kedah, Johor, Perak, and Malacca,” activist Aegile Fernandez told theSun.
Together with volunteers, her group has been busy coordinating the logistics. From grocery shops to cab drivers, the group makes sure food, groceries and medication are packaged and sent to the recipients.
“Phone numbers of volunteers are put in each ‘package’ so they (volunteers) can be reached should the need arise,” she said.
Putting a package together is not easy.
“For instance, a mother who has given birth to a child would need extra pads, milk, and other essentials to sustain them for at least two weeks,” Fernandez explained.
In this endeavour, cab drivers are crucial.
“They play an important role ... the go-between, because these communities prefer to stay out of the public eye. Some are undocumented and wary of the authorities. There are also street children and the homeless,” she said.
The programme is seen as successful having managed to reach out to the “right people”, she added.
Nearer home, in the Klang Valley, Pertiwi Soup Kitchen founder Datuk Munirah Abdul Hamid is just as occupied.
She is swamped coordinating with suppliers to help feed the homeless at temporary shelters, and the urban poor.
“About800 homeless are housed at several temporary shelters.
But the government recently announced they will be offered jobs once the MCO is lifted,” Munirah said.
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