PETALING JAYA, Jan 9 — A small group of university students is visiting flood-ravaged areas to help families clean up their homes.
Nazerul Nazreen, 21, spent two days in Temerloh, Pahang, with 13 other students from Universiti Selangor and Kolej Poly-Tech MARA Kuala Lumpur to clean up the homes of flood victims.
“Many of the houses were badly damaged. Some people lived alone and did not have any one to help them, so we stepped in to assist,” said Nazerul, a former Malay Mail intern and one of the organisers for the trip.
“One of the houses we visited was filled with water all the way to the roof. It was located in a swampy area and there was mud everywhere,” said Nazerul, a photography student.
He said the students, who had watched the floods tragedy unfold over their television screens and in the newspapers, knew it was time for them to lend a hand to the victims.
“We only had a week to plan everything,” he said.
Armed with vacuum cleaners, hoses, brooms and mops, Nazerul and his friends made the three-hour van trip to Taman Indah Gau, a small neighbourhood which had been badly affected by the floods.
“We did not have enough cash to donate because we had insufficient time to raise funds ,” he said.
“So, we decided to donate our manpower instead.
“When we arrived, the victims were really happy to see us. Some of them were old couples with no one to help them, so what we did really mattered to them.”
Besides mud and dirt finding their way into the homes of the flood victims, reptiles began to appear in the most unusual places.
Nazerul related how the students found a snake hiding at the bottom of a box at a victim’s home.
“The house owner dashed out yelling. We took a stick and slowly pried out the snake,” he said.
The students found a tortoise in another home, which they released at a nearby jungle area.
The group plans to make another relief effort to either Kelantan or Perak soon.
