Osimal fulfils widow’s dream of owning a house

PENAMPANG: Osimal Foundation led by its chairman Tan Sri Richard Malanjun fulfilled the dream of a widow, Marthina Mojunggal, (44) to finally own a house of her own in Kg Kobusak, Nosoob. 

The house they used to live in was totally destroyed by fire in March last year.

The handing over of the key replica was done recently in front of their newly built house with the presence of the foundation members and donors.

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Marthina, together with her three sons Stanley (19), Alexander (14) and Brandon (5) had to ‘live’ in the village community hall and later makeshift for a year before they were spotted by someone of their predicament.  Her husband, Lee Su Chee died of illness in 2015.

She expressed appreciation to Osimal Foundation for their humanity and generosity in assisting her and her family to have their own home, adding that she almost lost her mind as she did not know what to do after the fire completely destroyed her previous house.

“We actually stayed in the village’s balairaya for four months before I took the initiative to ‘build’ a makeshift dwelling around the area with the help of my brother-in-law. The money I used to build the makeshift dwelling was the monthly financial aid of RM290 (single mother allocation) that I received from the Welfare Department.

I am glad that my 20 years of experience working in a furniture company previously had given me some woodworking skill. So, I built simple things such as table, chair and assisted in the temporary shelter,” she said.

She said Osimal had given her the spirit to live on by providing a permanent shelter for her family, which she would be forever grateful.  

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She said they practically lost everything in the fire which during midnight in March last year. She said they could not save anything.

“Even though I could not save any of our belongings including our documents, I am utterly grateful that my children were safe with me during the incident,” she said. She is grateful with Sergius Ramday who initially communicated with her and connected her to Osimal.

Present at the handing of the key replica was foundation treasurer Datuk Nellie Sikodol who described the aid was timely for the family.

She said part of the donations came from Berjaya Cares Foundation while the rest from donors who wished to remain anonymous.

Marthina also received electrical goods such as refrigerator and fan from the donors.

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Osimal is a charitable body that is mainly funded by donations from its trustees and their friends and companies.

The foundation had so far coordinated  the construction of school hostels in rural areas such as Kg Buayan, Kg Matanggal and Kg Longkogungan. Tan Sri Richard said the word Osimal is a Kadazan word that means generous or plentiful.

“Originally, it is osima which means generous while the letter ‘i’ at the back, represents ‘love’. We do our charity work with full of love and commitments for the recipients,” he said.