Bandar Seri Begawan – A volunteer group is welcoming interested youths to participate in charity and voluntary work to help people living in poverty
in Brunei and create a community of youths to tackle poverty. The group, named Sounds of Hope consists of local young people who volunteer their time, talent and resources in helping poor families by assisting them to get back on their feet. Their mission is to help achieve His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s vision of zero poverty by 2035 through the involvement of young Bruneians to engage in positive activities and help fight poverty in the spirit of volunteerism and community service. “Sounds of Hope is a small informal group of young volunteers who came forward to accept the challenge of finding out the poorest among the poor in Brunei and look for creative ways to aid these people,” said Amalinah Abdullah, one of the founders of the group. She added: “The whole concept of Sounds of Hope was inspired by someone who is dearly close to my heart. She has done a lot of charity work over the years and that somehow opened my heart to do the same.” The group is under the Brunei Women’s Business Council (BWBC) and is registered volunteers under the Volunteering Programme of the Department of Community Development (JAPEM), Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. Since its formation in March, the Sounds of Hope team visited several homes of Brunei families in poverty and had a glimpse of their living conditions. After speaking with the families, the team realised the families’ needs and what actions can be taken to give them immediate help.
“What we’ve found was disheartening. There are families that need immediate help and these families seem to have been overlooked by the Bruneian community,” Amalina told The Brunei Times.