BY YASMIN AHMAD KAMIL

Two volunteers sanding down the veranda’s wooden railing.

A GROUP of 35 volunteers showed that youth is not wasted on the young when they built a house for an orang asli family in Kampung Ulu Geruntum, Gopeng, Perak.

Aged between 18 and 34, the volunteers endured challenging weather to see a new 60sq m home built in three days.

The initiative was Berjaya Youth’s (B. Youth) second project in collaboration with Epic Homes from May 29 to 31.

Epic Homes is a social enterprise which aims to provide sustainable homes for underprivileged Malaysian communities, with its current focus on the orang asli living in peninsular Malaysia.

Roni Hassan, a 25-year-old orang asli from the Semai tribe, was the beneficiary of the new home.

He makes a living doing odd jobs in construction and lived with his family of ten in a dilapidated house.

Roni expressed his happiness in getting a new home, adding that he was thankful to those who helped.

Designed by Epic Homes, the new house comes with a living room, kitchen and three bedrooms.

Volunteer Arunn Suntharalingam, 18, who came with his sister, said he came to do something useful as he was on his semester break.

“I felt extremely tired but despite the rain we wanted to get it done,” said the A-level student.

Project manager Andrew Yeong, 21, said it was not only about building houses, but a relationship with the orang asli people.

The almost-complete house.

Epic Homes co-founder Loh Jon Ming, 27, said the project was their 52nd home.

He said they planned to develop a design that would allow the orang asli to be more sustainable and build their future homes themselves.

Roni’s family were chosen after an evaluation and selection process by B. Youth and Epic Homes, with the help of village head, Judu Tangoi.

Selection was based on various factors including the extent of dilapidation, number of people living under one roof and their means of livelihood.

All the volunteers had gone through a builders’ basic workshop, which required them to learn about the construction methods and skills including carpentry, hammering, drilling and knowledge on tool handling and safety precautions.

Berjaya Corporation Berhad senior manager of corporate communications Emily Tan said they had spent about RM40,000 for the house while the total expenses for the project came to RM80,000.

Their first project was in August last year, which saw more than 30 youth volunteers building a new home for an orang asli family in Gombak, Selangor.

“We are very pleased with the enthusiastic response from the volunteers,” said Berjaya Corporation Bhd senior general manager of corporate communications Judy Tan.

“This shows that there are many young Malaysians out there who are willing to volunteer for meaningful activities such as this project,” she said.

“This has not only given the volunteers an opportunity to learn about teamwork, organisational skills and endurance, but also exposure to the orang asli way of life and tradition. The sense of fulfilment at the end is certainly good.”