KAJANG: Apoh or "A Piece of Hope" may be a simple name for a group of mountain climbers.
But when one realises that they are passionate about using their love for mountain climbing to help others, the name makes perfect sense.
Members of Apoh, who enjoy scaling the tallest mountain in Malaysia, are once again organising their annual Mount Kinabalu climb for charity.
This will be their eighth climb to bring rays of hope for the underprivileged in society.
This year's climb will see the participation of about 250 climbers from several countries.
As usual, proceeds from the climb will go towards a good cause and this time Apoh has chosen Rumah Keluarga Kami (RKK), a home for children in Kajang, as the beneficiary.
Joseph Netto, secretary of RKK, said the home was managed by the society of St Vincent De Paul, an international organisation headquartered in Paris with branches in 140 countries, dedicated towards helping those in need, irrespective of class, religion, creed or race.
"We have 12 homes in the Klang Valley alone which mainly take care of orphans or children from broken homes.
"We also have homes dedicated to caring for old folks as well as a HIV centre in Rawang for AIDS patients," he said.
At RKK Kajang, there are 41 children (21 girls and 20 boys) aged between 4 and 18 as well as seven full time staff.
"Our home was started in 1990. We recently moved into a much bigger home here in Jalan Bukit, very close to our old house, to accommodate all the children.
"Each month, it costs at least RM35,000 to run the home. We are very grateful to all the sponsors and generous donors.
"We are very happy that Apoh has decided to donate the proceeds to our home," he said.
Ting Ted Sun, 40, a committee member of Apoh, said the society had been raising funds for the underprivileged annually for the past seven years.
"Each participant in the Mount Kinabalu climb from July 12 to 16 pays a fee of RM1,100, a portion of which will be donated to the home.
"We have already collected RM60,000 for RKK. However, we are working hard to raise RM200,000 for the home through various charity initiatives," he added.
At the event, Jimmy Lim, a mountain climber, who has scaled Mount Kinabalu 13 times, and Ting presented a mock cheque for RM60,000 to Netto and Emmanuel Culas, president of RKK Kajang.
"Our Mount Kinabalu climbs have become so popular that not only Malaysian climbers but also climbers from countries including China, Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Vietnam and Germany join us," he said.
When asked about how Apoh came about, Lim said, "Apoh was conceived in 2007 by a group of mountain climbers as a non-profit society to support the underprivileged".
Last year, they raised RM232,000 for Persatuan Penjagaan Kanak-kanak Cacat Klang Selangor.
Another interesting aspect of the upcoming Mount Kinabalu climb is the fact that each of the climbers will be carrying a piece of jigsaw puzzle with them on their hike up the 4,095m high mountain.
The entire jigsaw puzzle will be assembled later at Laban Rata.
The jigsaw puzzle is meant to symbolically show that each Apoh participant is bringing hope to the less fortunate in society and together, bringing hope to a future generation.
When they come back from the climb, the jigsaw puzzle which depicts a beautiful scene of Mount Kinabalu will be given to the children of RKK.
For details, visit www.apieceofhope.blogspot.com or call Lim at 012-202 0511 or Ting at 012-201 6121. By Naveen Mathew Menon