Hi! Thank you for visiting my personal fundraising page for SUKA Society’s Empowered 2 Teach Programme. Through simplygiving.com, you can make safe and secure donations to sponsor me. The proceeds of your support will be sent immediately and directly to the charity. Persatuan Kebajikan Suara Kanak-Kanak (SUKA) Society, Malaysia, is a non-governmental organisation that aims to protect and preserve the best interests of children. SUKA society hopes to provide services that would not only nurture, but also to empower children to have the ability of creating and developing their own future, which brings them to start up this project for the Orang Asli children. Many of the Orang Asli (indigenous) children around Malaysia enter Standard One of primary school without any prior knowledge and skills to read, write or perform basic mathematics, as they often lack the critical foundation of having access to pre-school education. As a result, approximately 45% of them are unable to enter secondary school. Moreover, the majority of these children also tend to live in marginalised conditions as an Orang Asli community. Considering the importance and power of education, the Empowered2Teach Programme aims to set up and support the running of four community pre-schools in four different remote villages within Malaysia, to provide them with education from an early age. I believe that education is one of the solutions that can allow them to break free from this cycle of poverty and develop a better future for themselves and their own community. Friends and family who know me well would understand my heart that hopes to help and promote the well-being of children who are in need. As you and I have the privilege to be educated, I believe these Orang Asli children should be given the same opportunities too. Therefore, as part of my effort to support the goal of this project initiated by SUKA Society, I aim to fundraise by living with only £1 or an equivalent of RM5 a day on ALL of my food and drinks expenses for a total of 10 days from the 14th-23rd December 2013. This idea was adapted from the well-known ‘Live Below the Line’ project carried out in UK, US, New Zealand and Australia. I have always wanted to take up the challenge, but never been courageous enough to do it. Being the foodie that I am (as seen through my social media webpages that are often loaded with food pictures), this is going to be a real challenge for me. Nevertheless, I am truly glad to be doing this now to support and raise funds for a cause that I care about! My page allows you to follow my progress; share it with your friends; voice your encouragement or even join me and get involved yourself! Do keep an eye on my Facebook page (or Instagram) for any updates about the project or my effort of living with only £1 a day! Feel free to visit http://www.simplygiving.com/event/Empowered2Teach and the SUKA Society webpage http://www.sukasociety.org/ for more information about the project. Please do not hesitate to also facebook message or email me at [email protected] if you have any questions. If your vision is aligned with mine, and you would like to support me in helping these marginalised Malaysian Orang Asli children by providing them with sustainable, good quality education, please help by clicking the donate button! You can donate in British Pounds too by simply entering the equivalent amount in Malaysian Ringgit that you wish to contribute (e.g. £5 can be entered as RM25)! Any big or small contribution will be greatly appreciated. Every little counts! Thank you very much in advanced for your kind support. I really appreciate it. Sincerely, Melissa