JENJAROM, Dec 9 (Sin Chew Daily) — The Jenjarom new village in Kuala Langat district of Selangor is known by the local residents as the “Village of Happiness” because somewhere inside the village a group of people have been tirelessly taking care of some 30 special needs children.

Generation Impact (Genpact) is the brainchild of three passionate women, namely pastor He Xueqing, retired headmistress Cao Cuicui and Laynah Tan.

He Xueqing was a teacher at Jenjarom before she was transferred to Kuala Lumpur. She returned to the village after 30 years and started Genpact in 2008 with Cao Cuicui who had been serving at a local Chinese primary school for 21 years, and Laynah Tan.

They intended to start a language centre that charged nominal fees to help the needy students in the village.

Serving the neglected kids

Cao Cuicui, Genpact’s executive director, told
Sin Chew Daily they hoped they could instil positive values into the young people through language teaching.

“To fully devote myself to the education of special needs children, I quit as a school principal at a local Chinese primary school.

“We have a group of neglected children with special needs who have missed the golden opportunity to learn due to lack of resources and a conducive environment.”

The first special needs student was enrolled in June 2009. Thanks to the generosity of the public, the centre has since expanded to accommodate some 30 students today.

These students are put in various individualised early intervention classes according to their characteristic differences. The training programme will include modules such as occupational therapy and speech therapy, among others.

Cao also said the centre would organise activities from time to time to prepare the students for their future in the society, such as to learn about the community, how to behave, be grateful and have a strong sense of responsibility.

“More than nine years now, some of our first batch of language class students have already started working and five of them are now returning to the centre to serve the children on a full-time basis.”

She said Genpact hoped to upgrade its cooking class equipment and set up a special youth vocational training department, a special education therapy department, as well as an independent living training room, over the next five years.

As for long-term goals, Genpact aspires to have a brand new campus and set up an eco education garden.

Many of the centre’s teaching staff are working on a voluntary basis.

In addition to language classes, Genpact also organises regular events such as motivation talks, health talks, camping, day trips, etc for young people as well as parents.