JOHOR BAHRU: 53% of Orang Asli communities have no access to clean drinking water. Without clean water, many families also lack access to proper sanitation facilities. This not only compromises the health, safety and dignity of families, but also traps them in a cycle of water poverty.

Each year, waterborne diseases afflict hundreds of millions of people, primarily those living without safe, accessible water. Despite making great strides in the past 20 years to end waterborne diseases, there is still much to be done.

As many Orang Asli villages are located near water bodies that serve as their water source, the widespread contamination of food and water due to open defecation often exposes the villagers to devastating illnesses.⠀

In their errand to collect water for daily use, women and girls, in particular, are more susceptible to waterborne illnesses due to their close proximity to polluted water sources. Their safety are also compromised as many would often walk to nearby fields at night to defecate in private. This threatens their safety and make them vulnerable to harassment and assault.

Without proper sanitation facilities, Orang Asli villagers are trapped in a vicious cycle of disease, poverty and hardship.

When villagers fall ill from waterborne diseases, they can become burdened with health issues that not only impact their long-term health and well-being but also opportunities for education, income-generating capacities, nutrition and security.

With access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities, families that previously lacked access to these basic needs are now able to live with privacy, dignity and safety.

Social Hero Foundation (SHF) collaborated with Flex Foundation from the United States to help provide clean water to the Orang Asli community at Kampong Orang Asli Suku Seletar Pasir Salam in Ulu Tiram, Johor.

SHF and Flex Senai handed over Water Filter Pumps to the 22 households at Kampung Pasir Salam.

SHF Trustee Datuk Seri Teo Shiok Fu, SHF Director of Programs Farrah Baptist, Nor Faridah Padzil of Flex Senai, Ahmad Azmi Othman of Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli Negeri Johor (JAKOA), Tok Batin Penduduk Kampung Orang Asli Suku Seletar Lailie Bin Lie and volunteers from Pertubuhan Ihsan Johor were present during the handover ceremony.

According to SHF Trustee Datuk Seri Teo Shiok Fu, the provision of Water Filter Pumps is very important as Kampung Pasir Salam does not have any piped clean water supply.

Teo said the 35 households and 144 villagers rely on bottled mineral water for their daily clean water consumption and collected rain water for their water supply.

“The villagers have to buy mineral water bottles and several NGOs also sponsor mineral water supplies each month,” said Teo.

He went on to say that in December last year, a company donated several 3-gallon water tanks to collect rain water due to a SHF initiative.

He further explained that the Water Pump Filters utilize Ultrafiltration (UF) technology will help provide a clean water supply for the villagers for their consumption and household usage.

Not mincing his words, he said with these Water Pump Filters, they can reduce or stop buying mineral water bottles and the collected rain water can be filtered as clean water supply for their households’ usage.

“This will save them money and also reduce the use of plastic mineral bottles,” he stated.

The reduced usage of single-use plastic bottles, he says will help reduce pollution and minimize the environmental impact.

He added that the provision of clean water is very important for the health, well-being and safety of the villagers, and SHF is grateful for the sponsorship and support from Flex Foundation and Flex Senai for this meaningful service initiative.

Meanwhile Faridah Padzil and her team from Flex Senai were touched by this meaningful project, and they plan to return to help the residents of Kampung Orang Asli Pasir Salam in the near future.

SHF received a USD10,000 grant from Flex Foundation to provide this community service initiative, with the support from Flex Senai, a company of FLEX Ltd in Malaysia.

Flex Foundation is the philanthropic arm of FLEX Ltd, an international business group with more than 140,000 employees in more than 30 countries.

Their community service project partners includes Red Cross and World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), and SHF is honoured to be part of this esteemed group.

Flex Senai also donated food items such as rice and cooking oil to the 35 households.

In August, SHF collaborated with Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli Negeri Johor (JAKOA) and Angkatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (APM) Johor Bahru to carry out the SHF Environment and Community-based Disaster Risk management (CBDRM) project to help improve the well-being, health and safety of the Orang Asli community in kampong Orang Asli Suku Seletar Pasir Salam.