By CARLOS RUBEN DOURADO
brats@thestar.com.my

RY-ANN Lim, 20, first pitched her idea of building homes for orang asli communities during a SEALNet (Southeast Asian Leaders Network) conference held in Singapore last June. Her idea caught the attention of the organisers who then flew her to Boston, the United States, for another conference where she further developed her idea.

Founded at Stanford University in 2004, SEALNet’s main mission is to bring service and promote the spirit of service leadership among Southeast Asian communities in the United States and abroad. SEALNet has organised over 40 projects in Southeast Asia since and this would be one of the four projects planned for this year.

Student Ry-Ann Lim, 20, has initiated a project to build homes for orang asli communities.

The economics and finance major from Melbourne University was inspired by Alira Vania Putri Dwipayana from Indonesia when she met her at a SEALNet conference. Lim, an economics and finance major at the University of Melbourne, then teamed up with Dwipayana, who had built restrooms for the orang asli, to make her idea of building homes for them a reality.

They are now collaborating with EPIC Homes, an organisation which aims to build relationships between the urban and rural divide through the activity of building homes for underprivileged Malaysian communities. The endeavour is currently focusing on the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, the orang asli, to build the homes.

“We first asked EPIC Homes how we could determine which orang asli families we would be building the homes for, as many of them are in dire need. They told us that many of the orang asli are on the waiting list, and preference is given based on the situation of their current home, if they have children, and other aspects.

“The homes will be environmentally friendly, built with small and lightweight tools as well as have low carbon footprint,” said Lim.

They will be mentored by EPIC Homes and its Singaporean founder Kevin Teoh, who will be teaching them how to build the homes. Lim added that each house will be equipped with four modules; the living area, kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms. The orang asli will also be helping to build their own homes as they need to be responsible for their respective spaces.

“They will be able to add on more modules if they want, that is an option based on the preference of each family. Electricity and water, however, will be external features.”

From the ground up: Lim will be collaborating with EPIC Homes, who already have experience building homes for the orang asli.

However, due to low funding, she said that they will only able to build one home.

“An entire house in itself is estimated to cost around RM40,000; which is used to purchase materials and transport them to the site. We would love to build more homes, but we would need a lot more funds for that.”

“We will be building the home from July 2nd to the 15th in Batang Kali. Hopefully, after we build the house, we’ll be able to build a bond with the orang asli folk and understand their problems and struggles, as well as work with them. We tend to be oblivious to their problems as we are too urban. But by getting to know them, we might be able to help them achieve much more.”

Lim and her team are currently recruiting volunteers to help in the project. They are looking for high school, college and university students to participate in this movement.

“Hopefully, after we leave, our mentees will be able to continue in our footsteps, touching the lives of others,” she added.

Secondary school, college and university students are encouraged to volunteer for this project. Students who are chosen will receive leadership training and participate in workshops from current students and alumni of prestigious universities such as MIT and Stanford.

“We want to train these younger students to be future leaders and to also give them the opportunity to ‘step up’ and lead subsequent projects,” she concluded.

For more info and volunteer registration, visit http://www.sealnetonline.org/current-projects/project-malaysia-batang-kali-2014/ or email Lim at pm14-bkali@sealnetonline.org. Closing date is March 29. Donations for the project can be made at http://www.sealnetonline.org/donate/