Dialogue in the Dark Malaysia Looking to Rebuild and Restart Discovery Centre Affected by the Pandemic

 

For more than 10 years, the non-profit organisation Dialogue in the Dark (DiD) Malaysia has been at the local forefront in bringing hope and a voice to some of the less-advantaged groups in Malaysia, particularly among the visually impaired. Part of a network of social enterprises with a presence in multiple nations, the local branch of DiD was founded by Stevens Chan, himself an overcomer of many immense challenges. Recently, we caught up with him to find out where Dialogue is currently.

 

 

The ministry at Dialogue has always been to fight and stop unnecessary blindness. As part of this initiative, they provide education, jobs, and micro-business empowerment opportunities for children, youths, and adults stricken with all forms of disabilities and medical conditions. 

The foundational pillar of this mission is the Dialogue in the Dark Experience Centre. ‘For us, it is GOD who provided us with this Impact Stone through which we aim to hit our 5 birds/missions with one single action,’ Stevens shared.

 

 

Stevens outlined these 5 missions, which are:

 

1. To Create Awareness and Appreciation of the gift of eyesight to the centre’s visitors, especially in these modern days when practically no one can escape the trap of Smart Phones and Digital Devices.
2. To Counsel family members, caretakers, and patients with eye disorders on the importance of taking care and maintaining their sight.
3. To Empower the visually impaired and other disabled people with employment and training
4. As a social business that will help in sustaining the organisation through their own generation of revenues, and so as not to solely depend on grants or donations
5. To foster and cultivate empathy in visitors for those who are less fortunate

 

For the past decade, the Dialogue in the Dark experience tours and workshops have impacted more than 40,000 visitors from the Public, Private, and Education sectors. In their years of existence, they have also helped to provide training and work opportunities for more than 120 disabled youths and adults, in addition to providing free online tuition aid to more than 200 Blind and Deaf students studying in Special and Mixed national schools annually. Dialogue often partners with other organisations and governmental efforts nationwide in helping less advantaged groups.  

 

 

However, the various MCOs have impacted the organisation and changed all that. ‘We could not operate due to the social distancing rule and we were only able to operate again in early 2022. But by then, we were already without the Dialogue in the Dark Centre, which was closed just after the first MCO,’ Stevens conveyed.

‘We are now working hard to rebuild and restart the centre, which has been renamed the DIA Discovery Centre. To rebuild and relaunch the centre, we need RM2.5 Million, which we are praying can and will be raised through impact investments, grants, and donations. We pray that these funds will be raised by the 3rd quarter of 2023 as it will enable us to launch this new centre by the end of 2023,’ he said.

 

 

Knowing Stevens as someone who has weathered many storms, we followed up with him on how he was doing personally since our last interview. He continues to weather many challenges with close scrapes but is also steadfast and resilient in his faith in a faithful God who is always by his side.

‘Since our last interview, I have had 2 strokes which have left me limping on my right leg. I fell down from the 1st floor of our centre, which resulted in me suffering from frozen shoulders until to date, and in December 2019, I suffered a massive heart attack which resulted in a seven hours bypass surgery in Seoul, Korea, of all places. 

‘I guess it’s not the time for me to go home, yet as GOD arranged for my heart attack to happen in Seoul so that I can be operated on by the top heart surgeon in Korea. The operation lasted 7 hours and cost an astronomical sum of RM450,000.00, but we managed to cover it through our travel insurance. 

‘Upon my return not long later, ie. in March 2020, the country was locked down, and so was our centre. Then Lashawn, my beloved Guide Dog, passed on in May of the same year due to a bacterial infection. 

‘In early 2021, I had an open sore wound on my right foot that required two surgeries which nearly caused my right foot to be amputated. But thank GOD that didn’t happen, and after two years of weekly treatments, it’s almost healed up and prayerfully soon I can walk again without depending on a wheelchair for mobility.

‘I often cry out to our Lord. I am still fighting daily to be still and patient and to wait for deliverance. I don’t know when the storms will end, but I know that God is watching over me, and I praise GOD there is somehow Peace and Comfort during these storms which can only come from HIM!’ 

However, Stevens’s personal trials have added to the challenge of rebuilding Dialogue’s Experience/Discovery centre. 

 

 

For the time being, Dialogue in the Dark is operating from a smaller venue that is partially-sponsored. Nevertheless, the hope is that Dialogue will regain its former strength and vibrancy in the near future.

‘Thankfully, we are now operating from a temporary partially-sponsored small venue at the Strand Mall in Kota Damansara to create awareness of our works. Prayerfully, through this venue, we will be able to raise more awareness of our need to relaunch Dialogue in the Dark,’ Stevens expressed.

 

 

You may reach out to Dialogue in the Dark either to bless them in their work or to find out more about them at https://www.diadiscover.com/dialogue-in-the-dark or contact them at https://www.diadiscover.com/contact Donations can be made via bank transfer to DIA Academy at CIMB Bank 8001349445. All photos kindly contributed by Dialogue in the Dark Malaysia.

 

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