M KARTIK is 17 but he’s not sitting for SPM this year like the rest of his peers. The teenager is a year behind because he was sent to a juvenile home a year ago after he beat his discipline master up at school. He was expelled and then sent to the home, where he was literally not allowed to step out from, for the first six months as part of his rehabilitation training.

Kartik is one of 12 young boys currently residing in Destiny Starting Point, a juvenile home for boys (there is a sister home for girls). The boys live in a double story home in Klang, Selangor, run by husband-and-wife team Pastor Stephan Samuel and Graceline M. Stephan.

Destiny Starting Point is the beneficiary home of Twestival KL charity event, of which R.AGE is media partner, happening this Saturday. Twestival KL is part of a global movement which mobilises Twitterers (yes, the social media tool) around the world to engage in fundraising.

In February this year, a global scale Twestival brought together Twitter users from over 200 cities to raise US$250,000 for clean and safe drinking water and brought worldwide public awareness to the global water crisis.

In September, the movement is going micro and cities registered to raise fund for charities of their choice.

“We decided to go with Destiny’s Starting Point after recommendations from friends who told us about the plight of the home. We were told that it survives on donations from the public, and that this is hard because of the stigma attached to delinquents,” said David Lian, one of the members of the Twestival KL organising committee.

Twestival KL organising committee members (from right) Chan Hui Ling and Suanie Tew talk to the residents of Destiny Starting Point home for delinquents in Klang.

The committee, consisting of active social media users Niki Cheong, Suanie Tew, Nigel Sia, Chan Hui Ling, Eevon Chung and Radiance Leong, is organising a massive “Tweet-up” to be held this Saturday at Mist Club, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, from 7pm to 10pm.

A Tweet-up is a gathering of Twitter users, who connect and network in person, as opposed to via the Internet.

Twestival KL set out with the aim of raising RM3,000 for Destiny’s Starting Point but have received overwhelming response from sponsors and Twitterers alike, and looks set to be able to donate more to the home. The plan is to provide a computer and Internet access to the home with the money raised, and to use the excess donations to help pay for the home’s rent and utilities.

“We wanted to stay faithful to the idea that Twitter is a online social networking facility, and that is why we decided that our first goal is provide the home with a computer and Internet,” Lian said.

“The committee believes that knowledge is power, and having access to information would help in the rehabilitation of the residents of the home.”

The boys at Destiny Starting Point are referred to the home either by their parents, school authorities or, at times, the police and welfare department.

Graceline M Stephan, administrator for Destiny Starting Point home for delinquents, the beneficiery home of Twestival KL.

“For the first six months, we will not send them anywhere or let go out of the house,” explained Graceline, who is the administrator at the home.

“They are trained in-house and taught discipline. Only when we have seen an improvement will we go to the district office to help them get back into schools and we will monitor them in there.”

Although the home is run based on Christian values, it does not discriminate based on religion.

In fact, most of the boys currently in the home are not Christians. Among its regular donors, besides friends and neighbours, is the Buddhist association.

However, its current fundraising campaigns only bring it enough to get by, and it often misses bill deadlines.

Just recently, its water supply was cut until some good samaritans got together to collect some donations to help it restore the supply.

The Twestival KL committee is looking at helping the home find a more sustainable way of collecting funds.

Besides the computer and Internet access, committee members have pledged to set up a blog for the residents of the home to update the public with their activities and status, and use it as another method to raise funds.

Let’s Tweet-up
COME join over 100 Twitterers and friends at Mist Club, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, this Saturday (Sept 12) from 7pm to 10pm and donate to Destiny Starting Point.

Besides this being a great chance to network, the first 150 people to walk in will also receive goodie bags worth more than RM50 each.

Twilight Action Girl will be spinning on the DJ decks to entertain the crowd, while TV presenter Will Quah will emcee the night which includes lucky draw and an auction.

Based on Twestival rules, 100% of proceeds go to the home. Invites are available for a minimum donation of RM30 (RM40 at the door).

For more information on Twestival KL and how to get hold of your invites, log on to http://kualalumpur.twestival.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/twestivalkl.