In March 2018, Mr Piotr Frąckowiak, a young Polish residing in Germany and on a gap year before starting university this September, volunteered four weeks at the farm. Piotr described his time at the village as a “life-changing, unbelievable, and unforgettable experience of being given a chance to live among the poorest of the poor who […]
There’s an exciting income generation project going on at the village – a home-stay project! After two years of planning with the OA who are involved in the project, including the design of the home-stay, building works commenced in January 2018. From a grove of rubber trees full of mosquitoes, Bada and team transformed our […]
The month of April brought the Orang Asli farmers new team members as well as an opportunity to learn beyond their farm. Let’s say hello to three new joiners – Maslinda, Asanah and Efarinda who are in their early 20s. Prior to this, they were earning RM300 – RM500 from oil palms and a fading […]
OA Organics welcomes young people to volunteer on a sustained basis. Ms Tan Xin Wei stayed in the village for 2.5 months upon graduation with a Bachelor in International Business. Here is an excerpt of her stint at Kg Ulu Gumum from June – August 2017. When I set foot in the village in June […]
There was much to cheer about in Kg Ulu Gumum in March 2018, thanks to our funders and volunteers. The village was plagued with not having safe drinking water for months. But with the funds provided by Vivastar Rotary Club and Rosche, we saw the fruition of the long awaited water project in the third […]
It has been six months since we last blogged, and we are back! Much has actually happened during this period of ‘inactivity’ on our blogs. Let us share a few significant events. On 11 October 2017, Zairu and Manan arranged their farm produce on the organic vegetables shelves at Jaya Grocer City Mall Kuantan. There […]
We heave a huge sigh of relief as the persistent water problem at the farm has been largely resolved. The irrigation at the farm is now improved with the installation of one-way valves to ensure water is delivered smoothly to the water tanks. The pumps are working well, and water tanks can be filled within […]
It was an exciting weekend both at the farm and the village. Gamuda Berhad, with a volunteer force of 30 staff members came to build another greenhouse for the farm. This greenhouse, measuring 50′ x 24′ is an improved version of the earlier two units. The new greenhouse is a tremendous boost to the […]
Facing challenges are all in a day’s work in managing the farm and people – some steps forward, some steps backwards. These two weeks we walked backward. In our blog “Fresh Faces (22-27 May 2017)”, we shared our delight in having four young Orang Asli men joining the farm on a training-cum-work programme. Sadly, three […]
We continue to clear hurdles at the farm. The Orang Asli farmers have now learned how to grow 15 types of crops. Farm planting spaces have increased to 1.4 acres, and there is an operational greenhouse. Farm yields increased to RM9,000 in May from RM4,000 in February. […]