KOTA BELUD: Hopes Malaysia had helped to raise funds and fix a badly damaged 5-story suspension bridge, crucial for daily life of the people at Kampung Tiong here.

Over 700 young children and villagers from the surrounding areas relied on the dangerous bridge to
cross the rushing Mount Kinabalu river and sharp rocks separating them from Sekolah Kebangsaan Malangkap on the other side of the village.

Neglected families had been appealing locally since 2017 to no help, with the bridge’s broken wooden planks and rusty wire mesh only becoming more of a hazard as time went on.

More than 20 local villagers volunteered to repair the deteriorating structure, and with the materials, skills and knowledge provided by the Civil Society Organisation (CSO), were also empowered with ownership of their new asset.

The community united, working tirelessly to replace the bridge’s unsafe wood and wire mesh; providing a long-needed safe bridge for the young students.

Their efforts paid off with the completion of the upgraded bridge after a few work sessions, ensuring safe education for children to prosper.

“I don’t have to be worried about my son slipping off the bridge when it rains. My son and I can safely cross to school without any worries of getting hurt,” said the father ” said the father of a local SK Melangkap student.

This is Hopes Malaysia’s third community suspension bridge restoration.

Hopes Malaysia’s Founder Sam Lee said they are ensuring lasting sustainability and quality assurance with our bridge projects.

“The community is empowered to look after and maintain the bridges for years to come, ensuring that they will not be obstacles for villagers and students.

“Sabah’s rural community faces many livelihood challenges, with no clean water and food insecurity, safe rural infrastructure is also a basic need so that families and their children can have brighter, sustainable futures.”

Hopes Malaysia hopes to get more support to fix other unsafe bridges and for their continuous work in sustainably improving rural life.

The CSO is in search of Corporate Social Responsibility partnerships to create this much needed Sustainable Development Goals impact within the Decade of Action.

For more details on their sustainable project proposals, email Aaron at pr.hopesmalaysia@gmail.com or contact +60109072801. Visit http://www.hopesmalaysia.com/ourwork for more on their rural work.