KUCHING: A single mother struggling to raise her three young children while working part time has received assistance from Hope Place here after appealing for urgent help.
Shalyavine Mohd Sallehin Fam, 30, lives with her three children, aged between four and nine, in a small rented room along Sungai Maong Road.
She currently works part time at a grocery shop located below her rented room while caring for her children on her own. Her income is insufficient to cover daily expenses, including food, school related costs and rent.
Adding to her challenges, her eldest child, nine year old Syawal, has been diagnosed with mild autism and is non-verbal. He attends special education classes at the same school as his sister.
Despite his condition, Syawal is able to look after his younger siblings when their mother has to work late.
Shalyavine shared with Hope Place that she left school at the age of 12 after growing up in a broken family.
Following her parents’ divorce, she stayed with her elder sister during her teenage years before moving out due to her sister’s own financial and family difficulties.
She has since been raising her three children independently.
Shalyavine also revealed that financial hardship forced her to feed all three of her children condensed milk when they were babies, as she could not afford infant formula.
Her youngest daughter, now four years old, continues to drink condensed milk and refuses to switch to milk powder.
“I was desperate and I never had enough money. The only milk I could afford was a can of condensed milk,” she said.
The only financial assistance the family currently receives is a RM150 monthly allowance for Syawal as a special needs student.
Hope Place has begun providing the family with ongoing basic food assistance to help ease their financial burden.
Members of the public wishing to support the family or obtain more information about Hope Place, also known as Persatuan Kebajikan Harapan Kuching, may contact the organisation at 082-505987 or 013-5672775.
