july, 2019 | The Health
Junior
21
The Ronald McDonald House in Hospital Canselor
Tuanku Muhriz has been in operation since 1990.
and have gone back to their homes would often come
by and visit us.”
The second pillar
with four main programs; the Ronald McDonald
House, the Ronald McDonald Sensory Rooms, the
Gift Of Smile, and the back to School program. All of
which are centred around providing a helping hand
to the families and their children who are in need,”
Nasri explains.
The four pillars of RMHC
FAMILY COOKING: The residents of the house often
cook for the families with the ingredients donated
by the public.
The four main programs of RMHC serves as its pil-
lars. The first Ronald McDonald House in Malaysia is
located inside the compounds of Hospital Canselor
Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM, UKM formerly HUKM). And
the concept is exactly the same as the one created in
Phladelphia all those years ago.
“We provide parents, particularly the ones living
far away from the hospital, a place to stay while they
keep their children company during treatment. And
treatment for their children could take days, weeks,
even months to complete. So we have had residents
here who have been staying for years because of their
children’s long-term treatment.”
Parents and other family members are given the
option to stay for a small fee of RM5 per day. Food
are usually made available for free as they live their
temporary lives at the house. The impact of the house
can really be seen through some, where they might
need to resort to quitting their jobs because of their
long-term commitment at the hospital.
“We have residents who had to quit their jobs back
home because they have to be here for their child. And
so they’ve lost their source of income. That is why we
believe it is important to help out as much as we can.
In terms of food, there is always donations, and people
willing to cook for others,” Nasri says.
The house has become a big, extended family for
many who had lived and the ones currently living
there. “It can be very lively here, especially during
festive seasons. Some who had been living here long
The second pillar of RMHC is its Ronald McDonald
Sensory Rooms. A sensory room is a place made
especially for children with autism and cerebral palsy,
a room that is equipped with therapy equipment to
help them focus, learn, and calm down.
“RMHC has donated 30 sensory rooms to various
special children centres nationwide in supporting
autism. The rooms are usually chosen to be done
in special education centres and hospitals that has
empty, unused space which can be used for good. The
rooms are also 100 percent maintained by RMHC,”
Nasri states.
The third pillar
The third program RMHC has been operating is
the Gift of Smile program. The program is perhaps
RMHC’s most known programs in Malaysia.
“We started to see that children born with cleft lip
or palate – specifically the ones between the middle
income segment and the lower income segment of
society, have trouble getting corrective surgeries. With
the resources we have, it was decided that we could
lend a helping hand in sponsoring them.”
The fourth pillar
The final pillar that holds RMHC strong is the Back to
School program. A more recent one that was formu-
lated, the program aims to help families struggling to
provide their children with school uniforms during
the start of the new year.
“We started the program in 2017, where we help
the schoolchildren to start their year without the
worry of new uniforms as we would provide them
with a set as well as backpacks.”
A new house
The Ronald McDonald House in HCTM has been its
only house since 1999.
Yet a wind of change is here as a second Ronald
McDonald House recently opened its doors to the
public in Hospital USM in Kelantan.
“We have achieved in opening our second ever
house since we started. It is an exciting development.
However, the house project won’t just stop at Hospital
USM Kelantan. Plans are in place to add more facilities
in other hospitals as well,” Nasri teases. — The Health