Monday, April 25, 2011

Refugee baby urgently needs help (new information on bank transfers for donations)

By UNHCR Malaysia

Update as of Thursday, 21 April 2011 - Please be advised that due to problems at IJN with their Maybank account, bank transfers for this donation is now being received by UNHCR's NGO partner, Kumpulan ACTS, for payment to IJN. Procedures for sending donations by cheque remains as per the original appeal note.

Bank details are:
Name: KUMPULAN A.C.T.S. BHD
Bank: Maybank
Account number: 514169334485

Recipient email: infomalaysia@unhcr.org (as UNHCR is tracking the donations)
Description of transaction: Stella

Dear friends
I am emailing on behalf of UNHCR because an urgent matter has come to our attention and we are seeking help.

Last November, four-month old Down Syndrome refugee baby, Stella Dawt Tha Sung was born with a hole in her heart, with the risk of heart failure. Her condition has kept her hospitalised for most of her young life.

Recently her condition deteriorated, and on 13 April 2011, the National Heart Institute (Institute Jantung Negara, IJN) conducted an emergency heart operation. For this life-saving intervention, her parents were charged RM35,000.00, which they were unable to pay.

However, as it is with heart surgeries, Stella is not out of the woods yet. She now needs a pacemaker and also faces continued hospitalisation at IJN before being transferred to Hospital UKM for further care. This will cost her family a further RM30,000.00.

Stella's parents have six other children and they cannot work due to Stella's long hospital stay. Their oldest son works at a construction site, earning RM40.00 per day, to support the entire family. It is impossible to imagine that this family can pay the RM65,000.00 bill they are facing.

UNHCR and our NGO health partner Taiwan Buddhist Tzu-Chi Foundation have mobilised as much as we can from our limited resources, and we are able to cover RM35,000.00 of this cost.

But we desperately need help to cover the remaining RM30,000.00.

I am approaching you to ask if your organisation, or you as an individual would be able to help us with a partial donation towards this cause? We do not expect anyone to donate the entire amount, but we are hoping people will give whatever they can to contribute towards the full amount.

HOW TO HELP

Donations are being received directly by the IJN to cover Stella's expenses. You can transfer donations with the following instructions:

1. By bank transfer
Name: KUMPULAN A.C.T.S. BHD
Bank: Maybank
Account number: 514169334485

Recipient email: infomalaysia@unhcr.org (as UNHCR is tracking the donations)
Description of transaction: Stella

2.  By Cheque
Written out to the "Institute Jantung Negara Sdn. Bhd", and the Reference no: MRN No: 265833 ( Stella Dawt Tha Sung) written at the back. Kindly attach a note with your name and contact details for IJN's reference.

You can send your cheque to:
Credit Control Office
Institute Jantung Negara
145 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur.

It would be so greatly appreciated if you could email a notification to infomalaysia@unhcr.org with the amount donated so we may track it.

You can also help by sending this email onwards to family and friends. We will still be collecting donations till mid-May.

All queries on this matter can be forwarded to Yante Ismail, UNHCR External Relations Officer, tel: 013 352 6286 or email: ismaily@unhcr.org

We are grateful for whatever you can give.
Thank you!

A little bit more about Stella
Stella was born to parents who are refugees in Malaysia. She has six other brothers and sisters, all of whom are below 18 except for the oldest brother who is 19 and is the sole bread-winner for the family.

They are from Myanmar and are among the 93,000 refugees and asylum-seekers currently in Malaysia, having fled persecution and conflict in their own countries. There are no laws in Malaysia addressing the issue of refugees, therefore the situation for Stella and her parents here are complex. While they can remain in the country, her parents cannot work legally - her dad was doing odd-jobs before he lost his job after missing too many work days from being with Stella in the hospital. Whatever means they have now goes towards making Stella better. Stella and her family desperately need your help.

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