The Inside Scoop on Serving Malaysia’s Children!

Vision News 4 min read

Since 2014, World Vision Malaysia has established two Community Development Programmes (CDPs) in Sabah – Mukim Tulid and Mukim Tatalaan. Through our donors, we’re bringing sustainable development to Malaysia’s most remote communities, giving children and families access to education, healthcare, nutrition, child protection and more.

But one may ask: what does empowering local communities really entail? We asked our Malaysian Programmes Assistant Manager Joseph Lai for the inside scoop:

Hi, my name is Joseph! This is my 11th year in World Vision Malaysia. I started in our International Programmes department, helping manage our projects outside Malaysia. When an opportunity arose to join the Malaysian Programmes team, I gladly took it and started supporting our Tulid and Tatalaan CDPs, relocating to Kota Kinabalu in the process. As a Petaling Jaya kid, I do miss the big city, but life here moves at a better pace and I enjoy the lush scenery.

In my role, I work with a team of ten people to transform 20 communities across both CDPs. I oversee operations, ensuring that my teammates are equipped to carry out their duties and keep activities on schedule. I also communicate with our donors. Here’s me with the team:

In the beginning, the communities we work with faced many problems. For instance, our initial surveys revealed high malnutrition among children.

At first glance, they looked physically healthy. However, they were small for their ages and not growing as they should.

My first visits to the Tulid and Tatalaan CDPs were eye-opening too. I have seen communities go without basic infrastructure like paved roads, consistent water access or even electricity, presenting them with real hardships.

On the other hand, the people I met were cheerful, friendly and hospitable. You could see children everywhere. They found joy in little things and played with what they could find. Despite the daily struggles they faced, their lives were still happy ones.

The work we do

If I went over all the work World Vision does in Tulid and Tatalaan, we’d be here all day! But I can give some examples:

To help families improve their livelihoods, we train them to plant cash crops using environmentally sustainable methods. For instance, we supported this family in Tatalaan to grow a home garden. They can give them to their neighbours and keep some for themselves.

To help people make the most of locally-grown ingredients, we conduct Mothers’ Cooking Groups where parents and mothers of infants can learn to make nutritious meals. This group in Tulid is being led by local nutrition officers:

Keeping children safe from harm is also a top priority for us. Through various activities, we raise children’s and parents’ awareness on child rights, child abuse and listening to children’s voices. Here’s one activity for parents and children, facilitated by a trained community member:

Children’s Clubs give children a safe space to learn, play and socialise. Facilitators conduct fun, engaging sessions on topics like Child Protection, Health & Nutrition and saving money. Here’s one Children’s Club in Tulid:

Of course, this barely scratches the surface, but we hope you have a good idea of what we’ve done over the years. And there’s more to come!

Resilience… and rewards!

One of the most difficult aspects of our work is that progress can be slow. For example, low turnout at community training events can hinder our team from moving forward. A lot of effort goes into activities, so cancellations or postponements are disruptive and hurt morale. We also need to balance activities with the team’s welfare while meeting supporter expectations.

On the other hand, we are overjoyed when our work bears fruit! Hearing about mothers reaping good harvests from their home gardens or a farmers' group profiting from the chili peppers they grew is always rewarding.

There are also people faithfully working in the background, such as Children's Club Facilitators or Community Group members. They show tenacity, ownership, and a desire for change. Every day, we see people come together to build up their communities – People like Pn. Allie from Tulid CDP:

From the start, Pn. Allie actively mobilised her community to participate in World Vision activities. She volunteered to run the pre-school and later became the principal; she took training and even sat for a diploma so she could properly educate her students. Pn. Allie juggles a lot – handling the pre-school, facilitating Children's Club, helping at Child Protection activities, participating in the Mothers' Cooking Group, all while caring for her nine children… she’s truly inspiring!

The challenges we face are always evolving, and empowering communities to prioritise child well-being takes patience and endurance. The results of what we do may only be visible years from now, but people like Pn. Allie remind us that it’s an investment that brings a big return!

The Inside Scoop on Serving Malaysia’s Children!

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