S’porean Who Founded Vietnam Orphanage Met With Accident & Needs Donations For Surgery
Some selfless people dedicate their lives in service for the poor, but what happens when unfortunate accidents arise?
A Singaporean man named Poh Weiye founded a Vietnam orphanage to help underprivileged children, leaving his steady job in Singapore behind.
He even set up a private firm – Blessed Discoveries – to fund his charitable cause and coordinate humanitarian trips with local institutions here.
But tragedy struck on Saturday (25 May), when Weiye was involved in a motorcycle accident. He broke his limbs but he was able to get surgery.
Unfortunately, Weiye is a foreigner so he is not entitled to receive subsidies and currently isn’t covered under any insurance. The severity of his condition has led to mounting medical bills so he appealed to Give.Asia for help.
You can watch his full story here:
Dedicated life to service in a Vietnam orphanage
Weiye discovered his calling once his mother passed away from stomach cancer. He took a break from his corporate job to collaborate with NGOs in Southeast Asia.
The experience led him to give up his finance job in Singapore and set up the Thi An orphanage, whose name means “to accept everyone”.
In an interview with TODAY, he recalled,
(During) those six months, I fell in love with helping the kids. I felt that in developing countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, the kids are very vulnerable.
The orphanage has been based in Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City, since 2011.
His efforts were recognised by our Prime Minister too
It’s never easy to run an orphanage to raise a few kids.
In an interview with TODAY, Weiye revealed that the cost to setup the orphanage was S$14,000 (US$10,000). He took in 20 children and the operating costs increased to S$48,000 (US$35,000) by 2017.
To cover the expenses, he created a private firm – Blessed Discoveries – which was praised by PM Lee Hsien Loong. The firm enables schools and businesses to join social responsibility and humanitarian missions at Vietnam.
Humanitarian mission gone wrong
On Saturday (25 May), Weiye led a volunteer mission for NUS students.
He left the project site on a return trip to check on the students’ programme. He was supposed to meet them for dinner.
A few hours later, Weiye was found lying on the road because of a motorcycle accident. His arms and legs were reportedly broken.
Due to the severity of the injury, he was rejected by 2 hospitals. While he had surgery, his recovery would take time and money.
Calls for goodwill donations
As a foreigner, Weiye is unable to receive subsidies for his medical bills. He is also not covered under any insurance scheme.
Weiye dedicated his life to help the less privileged but now he is suffering from severe pain and the stress of mounting hospital bills.
To help him out, Give.Asia started an online fundraiser which can be found here.
Today (30 May), the campaign has raised around S$5,445, but he still needs S$19,555 to cover the full cost of hospitalisation.
Weiye’s Thi An Orphange is also accepting donations to keep children off the street. You may view their campaign here.
Giving back to a selfless Singaporean
Weiye is facing a difficult period, but his case is one out of many. There are hundreds of people around the world who are suffering from diseases or accidents, and they’re asking for help too.
Give.Asia lets people like Weiye raise funds for personal causes, besides the Vietnam orphanage that he founded. Check out some of the ongoing campaigns on their website to see how you can give to the ones who need it the most.
We wish Mr Poh a smooth recovery, and thank him for the good work he is doing abroad.
Featured image from Give.Asia.
