Kaca Centre Receives $6,000 Donation From WyethAid
By Hj Ahmed Shaheeb

Bandar Seri Begawan - A team from WyethAid Malaysia yesterday paid a visit to Kaca Centre in Kampung Kiulap, during which they donated $6,000 to the centre for the purchasing of special education tools for the centre.

To accept the contribution on behalf of Kaca Centre was its president, Dato Paduka Haji Zainal bin Momin, from Sales and Marketing Manager of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Sam Yee.

WyethAid, formed as a proactive corporate outreach to raise awareness on the serious risks and consequences of penumococcal disease (PnD), hoped the donation will be able to expand their efforts across borders to awaken not only Malaysian parents but also their Brunei counterparts on the serious threat of PnD to the lives of infants and children.

Caused by a variety of streptococcus pneumonia, a bacterium that is present in the throats of many healthy children, it is the invasive form of the bacteria that may cause serious illnesses, ranging from meningitis, pneumonia, bateraemia, and otitis media.

If left untreated at the early stage, the invasive form of the disease may cause long-term debilitating complications in the form of speech delay, paralysis, deafness, mental retardation, which may be irreversible and in serious cases, death.

In a recent fact-fording study conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is estimated that PnD results in more than one million'deaths each year, among children under the age of five in developing countries.

In Asia Pacific, 98 children die every hour from pneumonia and approximately 49 cases are due to pneumococcal pneumonia.

Dato Paduka Haji Zainal said, "We are really grateful to WyethAid for their generous support of our centre. With this donation, we will be able to enhance our centre and our offerings to these children by upgrading our facilities with muchneeded special education tools."

He added that these tools would play a pivotal role in equipping the children with vital life skills necessary for independent living.

Kaca Managing Director Haji Awang Abdul Alim Haji Awang Othman, meanwhile, said WyethAid's passion to assist welfare organisations - even translating beyond-borders - reflects on the agency's commitment in raising awareness on the serious burden 'and consequences of PnD.

"As a non-governmental organisation, it is through the generous support and patronages of both private and corporate entities that enable us to go on helping these children gain normality in their lives," he said. "I would like to commend and thank WyethAid for not allowing distance to bar them from supporting the work we do in Brunei."

On behalf of WyethAid, Sam Yee said, "This donation to Kaca represents WyethAid's commitment in helping support welfare organisations that care for children with special needs. We strongly advocate that charity does not have to end at our doorsteps.

"To us, every cent that goes towards helping to ease the burden of PnD on communities, whether in Brunei or Malaysia, is a cent well spent in justifying the reason for our existence.

"We hope that via the purchases of these special educational tools, Kaca, these children and their families would be provided with access to skills needed for leading an optimal quality of life."

Meanwhile, attendees visited an exhibition, set up by WyethAid Malaysia as well as a display of handicrafts made by Kaca children. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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