GIVING BACK

CHARITY WORK

Kuah City anchorage

With some time up my sleeve and feeling a bit lonely in the anchorage at Kuah, an email request for help by the Langkawi Charity Club couldn't have come at a better time. The request was to help out at a stall at Green Week hosted by the Frangipani Resort.

We set up a stall selling the charities fund raising cook books, batik bags, bandannas and passport covers. In reality there weren't too many sales apart from what I bought, but it was good publicity and well worth the effort as the resort donated 2000RM to the charity.

View from the Frangipani Resort, The Doctor in the distance

Despite the easy morning we were treated to a beautiful smorgasbord lunch by Anthony Wong, the owner of Frangipani. He is fascinating person and his passion for running a sustainable resort was infectious. Apart from maintaining an eco friendly resort he is committed to spreading the environmental message not only here in Langkawi, but also as a visiting lecturer word wide .Tours of the resort and its environmental features are run daily and I promised myself to put it on my list of must does.

Tamil Indian kampong

Delivering clothes to kampongs around Langkawi with Lyn, a founding member of the charity, was so interesting. It meant getting away from the city and the touristy areas and in to the out of the way kampongs of Langkawi. With the car loaded to the ceiling with recycled clothes and donated toys and linens, we drove to the first village, Hangat a Tamil Indian kampong. We found a shaded under cover area and piled the clothes out ready for people to come and help themselves. Before long the word spread and women and children  soon sifting through the items looking for suitable clothes and linens. One lady filled a huge bag with  clothes, toys, bags and linen which I initially thought wasn't fair, but Lyn assured me that she would distribute it later and so long as it was appreciated, what did it matter?

Checking out the goods

Toys for the kids too

Next stop was a Muslim kampong, but there were only a handful of men there. We respectfully moved away while they investigated our offerings. We asked where all the women were and we were told they were at work. As they would be back soon we left everything there for later. It felt great to be able to help out and Lyn was great company. My only regret was that I hadn't been able to get involved with the charity earlier.

The day wasn't all altruistic as I was invited to Langkawi's Hash House Harriers, known as a drinking club with a running problem. It was with some trepidation that I went along, as I'm not much of a drinker, and running up and down mountains isn't really my thing either.

I was warmly welcomed by a dozen or so expats and with some considerable relief I was not the only person that walked, not ran the course laid by the "hares". The " hares" laid a course, marked with flour, that meandered through a rubber plantation and some picturesque villages, and finished up with a pleasant walk along one of Langkaw's northern beaches. Then there were some weird ceremonies, lead by the grand master and I did wonder what the locals would make if it all. This was where the drinking came in. Participants were singled out for various reasons such as getting lost, having a birthday or being a virgin Harrier (me). We were placed in the middle of the circle and our offenses were proclaimed, then a song was sung and we had to down a beer by the end of the song. Of course my beer sculling wasn't really up to scratch and I was christened with ice cold water!

The evening was rounded off with very yummy fish and chips at of all places, Scarborough. A great night!