JOM BALIK

Our “Jom Balik Sekolah” program began in January 2022 when the committee decided to embark on a journey across 20 districts in Sabah to distribute much needed stationery sets and books to children from impoverished backgrounds. We accomplished our goal on 5th December 2022, by which time our team of volunteers had distributed 10,000 sets of stationery to children from the B40 communities in 80 schools and 20 districts of Sabah. In the course of this journey, the Society of Hope Sabah received the national record from the Malaysia Book of Records as the organization that has distributed the most number of stationery sets and books to children in the country.

These stationery sets have reached children who live in hard to reach terrain in the interior areas, children who live near rivers, jungles, paddy fields, children who live by the sea and children who live in the highlands of Sabah. We have traversed the state from Tawau to Kuala Penyu, from Kota Marudu to Nabawan, from Kudat to Tambunan, and many other districts in between. We have had the privilege of meeting children from every race and religion and their wonderful dedicated teachers. Their joy at receiving these sets made the journey so worthwhile for the team.

When we started this program, we had one goal in mind; to support the educational needs of Sabahan children who come from underprivileged backgrounds. We know parents and teachers try their hardest every day to provide for these school necessities. But when food security remains an issue among the hardcore poor, school necessities become very much a luxury for many. We in the Society of Hope Sabah believe that education is one of the main ways to lift communities out of the cycle of poverty. That is why our focus is to provide as much support as we can to these children to encourage them to remain in school and succeed at their studies.

On the 3rd February 2023, the Society of Hope Sabah celebrated its Malaysia Book of Records achievement in a Chinese New Year Charity Dinner attended by the Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Bin Haji Noor, who extolled the work of the society and encouraged other organisations to do the same.

The Society of Hope Sabah intends to continue phase two of the “Jom Balik Sekolah” program in the second half of 2023 in the hopes of reaching even more children from vulnerable communities in Sabah.