COVID-19 Relief for Long Peran Community in Sarawak
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Long Peran community was badly affected financially as, due to the closure of shops and markets, they could not sell their harvested crops. When FINCO reached out to SK Batu Keling to gather data on students who were in need of support, the teachers quickly provided a list of 46 students’ families who needed a helping hand.
Read further to understand what FINCO and our financial institutions partners had done to support the community.
Members of the Long Peran community
Whilst most other recipients of FINCO’s 3-months worth of food were relatively easy to deliver to, an extra effort was required to ensure groceries reached this remote community. 29 volunteers, including the headmaster, senior administrators, teachers and school staff traveled to the village using our own 4WDs with the return journey taking 6 hours. On arrival we were welcomed with huge smiles and were invited to rest for a while before we went back. The families were grateful for the assistance they received which enabled them to get through this hard time.
While we were there, we also took the opportunity to help them fill up forms for “Bantuan Awal Persekolahan”, a Government initiative to help the underprivileged children and families so that the Government assistance is accessible to the remote communities.
In addition, the children from Long Peran could not learn during the pandemic as teaching and learning sessions were held online so the teachers and staff also visited the village to distribute worksheets and notes as well as food aid and stationery.
It was an exceptionally challenging period for everyone but we hope we did our part to support the students to continue learning during the pandemic.
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