Hi guys, first up, sorry for the very long delay.. I just could not bear to update without good news, so here it is!
After numerous problems that involved changing suppliers, the number of tents etc we could get, people to help us out etc...our tents are now in Islamabad, Pakistan. I know we said we would Rotary Islamabad to help us out, but due to the difficulty of us finding a flight there, and a party willing to transport our little bundle, we are counting on Red Crescent/Cross Malaysia to see it through. After some talk with some RC people I once met during the course of my work, they were alright with taking our load, and the flight left YESTERDAY. They spent a night at Karachi and are now, as we speak, in Islamabad. Unfortunately our pack is in the midst of tonnes of goods, and though we tried to ask RC to look out for our stuff and take a picture, they could not guarantee (they put it quite politely) that they could pay such fine attention to a miniscule load. Ours is 19 tents and 65 blankets...in a middle of 30 tonnes of goods. So, understandably, i kept on subtly reminding my contact and asked her if she could update us, she said yes, they can tell us where the tents etc will be set up. For now we know it will be set up in one of 3 places..Balakot, Batagram or Besham. As for a picture, and boy did I try to push for it! She said, well she will ask the team there, but as you can imagine, RC people deal mostly with medical stuff there and she said they will be busy but definitely take pictures, though WHICH tents they take pictures of, she says, she cant promise. So there you go.
Now you can say you have donated to
providing 19 tents and 65 blankets to freezing quake victims in Pakistan.
The details are below (and we have paid our suppliers. receipts etc will be scanned soon for your viewing pleasure)
We had, in our collection = RM24,085 (this includes a mysterious RM300 surplus which we could not account for)
Winterised tents. 19 (RM1,200 each) = RM22,800
Blankets. 65 (RM22 each) = RM1,430
Total= RM24,230
(I put in around RM49 myself to top up the amount and for there to be some money left in the bank account first for future projects. But to ensure there is no confusion I will take the money out shortly)
In the bank now is RM95.87 (RM15.87 -interest added from bank)
Once I take the money out it will be = RM46.87. This money shall not be touched till the next project.
So folks, it's been an interesting ride. Before I summarise everythin in my next post, here are some pictures of the tents before transportation to cargo flight for Pakistan. Thanks to Mui Yen for ensuring our goods got to Red Crescent/Cross headquarters as promised, and for taking pictures.
our stuff in green
and the poles
our blankets
in the RC storage room
project privilege inspector Ms Thoo making her rounds
OK everyone, a collective PHEW. It sucks to be such a small crew, people may not take you that seriously at all...but thank goodness, our goods are finally there. Now I await for news of where they wil be set up. But for now... PHEW. thanks everyone...seeya at the next posting. Best regards!
laych for project privilege
