KUCHING: Hope Place Kuching recently assisted a widow and her four children with basic food aid.
The charitable non-governmental organisation (NGO) said Rasidah Mahdi lives with her children who are between the age of 9 to 20 at Kampung Stampin Baru.
The 44-year-old underwent a bypass heart surgery approximately seven months ago and her chronic heart problem resulted in her being unable to work.
“Rasidah has to depend on the financial help from the Social Welfare Department (JKM) which used to be RM200, but that will soon change given her recent status as a widow.
“She also receives financial help of RM300 monthly from Baitulmal, but with three of younger children still in school and the eldest in college, the family’s expenses are quite high,” it explained in a statement on Thursday (Aug 12).
Hope Place noted that Rasidah must use public transportation every time she has to go to the Sarawak Heart Centre in Samarahan which costs about RM15 one way, this drains their finances tremendously.
“Rasidah’s husband passed away suddenly in April this year. According to her eldest daughter, her father became unwell one morning and complained of sweating profusely with back pain. He then fell unconscious and sadly never woke up again.
“She also mentioned that it took the ambulance 30 minutes to arrive at their house, but by then it was too late,” it said.
Hope Place added that the family expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the food aid handed over to them.
“Rasidah hopes that she will recover fast so that she could find a job soon,” it said.
