Malaysians give K650,000 to charity groups, hospital

 by SALLY POKITON UPNG journalism student
THE Malaysian Association of Papua New Guinea has  donated K40,000 to the PNG Children’s Foundation (PNGCF) from funds it raised during the year.
The association began fundraising drives in July and raised K650,000 to be donated to 14 charity organisations. Some of the monies had already been donated to charity work groups.
The biggest portion – K129,500 – was donated to the Port Moresby General Hospital in July to purchase new equipment. K50,000 was also given to the City Mission in Port Moresby.
MAPNG president Nathaniel Ho said they had decided to increase donation to the PNGCF from K25,000 last year to K40,000 this year.
It is the third year that the association has donated funds to the foundation. It hopes to raise more funds next year and subsequently increase its donation to the PNGCF.
President of the Foundation Yiannis Nicolaou said every year the foundation received between K20,000 and K35,000 from the MAPNG to cater for the children’s needs at the haven.
He was happy to see an increase this year.
He said the donation would assist in its three project areas:
l    Accommodate children who are neglected, sexually and physically abused by their parents and relatives and pay for their school fees;
l    Feed over 300 children from the 6-Mile settlement once a week at the Holy Rosary Catholic church and teach them about hygiene; and
l    Pay for 350 children’s school fees whose parents cannot afford them and monitor their progress in school.
He said previously the foundation raised funds through the Miss Little Princess of the World pageant to assist in their projects.
Currently the haven in Port Moresby has 21 children with five caretakers.
Children are aged between two and 15.