Yvonne Foong

Ken saw Malaysian students at University of Strathclyde wearing my Heart4Hope t-shirts. In a separate occasion, his friend’s girlfriend surprisingly wore it to his place.

To these folks in U.K. I want you to know that I am deeply touched hearing this from Ken. Thank you for the encouragement.

To those who still want to buy my Heart4Hope t-shirts or books, you can send me an e-mail at yvonnefmn(at)gmail(dot)com. Once the remainder are sold out, I will not be printing this design anymore. I need to channel my resources into helping others..

Do you remember the folks who studied at Segi College, Kuala Lumpur? They helped me raise funds for surgery in 2006.

It’s Labor Day. Many of them working now are on leave. Instead of spending time in bed, these people drove all the way here to meet up with me at mom’s work place.

There wasn’t a choice for inexpensive restaurants, so when they asked me what I wanted to eat, I picked Pizza randomly.

All eight of us drove to a shopping mall and dined at Pizza Hut. We were entertaining ourselves chit chatting like old friends when food came.

Each was served a bowl of creamy soup, bread stick, and Coca-Cola. Five out of the eight including myself shared a regular and a personal pan pizza. Yvonne had just enough to fill her tummy for ½ hour. Imagine the guys! It was a very generous treat from them that humbled me.

Here where I live, college students can pay RM15 a cup of Starbucks Coffee and still have money left for food.

One girl in the group asked whether I normally go out with college mates and watch movie like this. I said to her, just getting the class together for a party before the lecturer leaves is almost impossible.

This is the difference between Segi College students in Kuala Lumpur and Subang Jaya. Very different culture.

Although these people who were in my company this afternoon are thrifty, some need to repay their study loans, they do not hesitate at the chance of helping people, they even go on hands and knees to save a life.

One day, two years ago, a friend remarked that these people might just support me today and forget me soon after. How wrong was he!

Meeting up with Dickson Hiew, Kenny, Patrick, and the gang each time is a good wake up call. Living in Subang Jaya, one can get distracted by the up and trendy. It’s difficult to appreciate the simpler things in life.

I will never forget them in whatever I do.

Segi College a huge encouragement.

I remember when the friend saw these photos, he asked whether I gave them the t-shirts.

No! They each bought one. Wearing my tees, they went to shops near college and asked shop owners for contributions to my cause. Unbelievable, huh? Someone jokingly said the bosses were becoming afraid of them. Haha!

These guys helped me raise several thousands, purely by selling my t-shirts and other accessories.

Photos taken by Cheryl Leong.

Preparations began on Sunday. A tucked away idea, a mental representation gradually took shape and materialized. By Wednesday, the Powerpoint presentation was ready, so did my idea became 70% real.

Time to write the proposal. By penning down my hopes and dreams, and the goals I want achieved, this idea at first so distant, became a part of me. It made the Powerpoint no longer consistent, somewhat.

Thursday evening, time to present. Upon meeting and chatting with the prospective partner, it occurred to me that spending four days on the PowerPoint was unnecessary. My written proposal explained it all plain and direct.

While I finished up my cake, he read my work and liked it. At that point, our parallel wavelengths became apparent. I mentioned Starbucks Coffee in there. Without knowing, he brought along their CSR brochure to show me as well.

Unbelievable.

The presentation and proposal was an honest and direct showcase, of my passion, my creativity, or just plain me. Maybe he would not understand, so I wrote at lengths. The brief report spanned five pages.

“It is better to over explain than to under explain sometimes,” I grinned sheepishly.

How glad, realizing I could have saved tons of saliva. So, when presentation time came, I felt a little awkward, as if I talked down at him who already knew it all too well.

But better to be transparent and show who you are, than to play the guessing game.

I also felt at ease. The last two hours had proven to me, this guy is intuitive toward all things entrepreneur, Not your typical chinaman business.

When we parted, my mind felt as if all it’s contents had been laid out on the table, minced and overwritten. Now empty, I need to fill it up again. I won’t do it alone this time.

The empty feeling was unexpected. Perhaps, this is how all great minds work. Always emptying itself to be filled up again and again.

I am talking about Joel Neoh.
One wonders if he would sleep well tonight after hearing my damn honest opinion about his projects. Sorry, it was unintentionally controversial.

Okay, so I sent three big boxes of t-shirts to Holly in Arkansas. The first one I sent in…. February? It was to take three months, so hopefully that arrives soon.

The second one was by airmail and it arrived in two weeks. Holly has this one now.

The third box was sent out last Monday. Estimated to arrive in the next two weeks.

So when she get all the boxes, Holly should have more than 150 t-shirts (estimate) in black, white, and grey (you all know my shirts, right?), 20 Ambigram caps in both black and white, Dweey badges (about 50 pieces perhaps), and Korean Big Heart Earrings (50 maybe?).

I did not have time to count them. Was busy with college and writing for the paper. Wish I could help Holly physically, but things are difficult when we live in different countries. So I can only sponsor, and sponsor I did, easily 2-3 thousand ringgits went into those boxes.

So you folks staying in the United States, please, please, help Holly out. Buy some stuffs from her. Send her an e-mail. Arrange a phone call. A house visit. Anything. Just get things going.

The city where Holly lives has about 3,000 residents, or so she said. Fundraising might be tougher under such a condition with limited social exposure. Do help her out in any way possible.

The mother of a bright baby is at risk of losing her hearing. She’s already blind. Don’t let her bring up Isaiah unable to hear or see at all.

Holly’s Blog
hollyalonzo (at) centurytel (dot) net

Here’s what I set aside for Holly to sell in America.

HEART4HOPE T-SHIRTS!

White
51 Extra large
40 Large
33 Small

Black
11 Extra Large
13 Large
33 Small

Grey
4 Extra Large
14 Large

HEART4HOPE AMBIGRAM CAPS!

10 Blacks
10 Whites

I asked the NF2crew to see whether it’s feasible sending more caps to Holly. The caps aren’t doing so well in Malaysia so I’m not sure if it will sell better in the U.S. Don’t want to send something that she can’t sell because additional weight costs more postage fee. Let’s see what the folks say.

Thank you Rajiv for the boxes.

I am mailing a bulk of Heart4Hope t-shirts to Holly Alonzo in Arkansas so she may sell them on her own. These still-new shirts of mine have been occupying a corner in my house for some time. I have a lot of XL that the average Malaysian find too big. They are just nice when used to raise funds for Holly being where she is. Most Americans her area can use an XL.

I will not be claiming back any money for the shirts. I just want to see Holly well. I believe she needs them more than I do. If waking up from surgery blind eight years ago wasn’t bad enough, she was later deafened in one ear, and now her residual hearing is going too. Holly’s determination to save her hearing has touched me. Thinking about her young child, Holly hopes to preserve her hearing so she may continue to care for her family.

Holly is proactive herself. All I had to do was give her that vote of confidence before she decided to stick with Dr. Friedman’s offer to help and work hard to purchase the A.B.I. Together with her family, Holly is constantly finding ways to help herself. I am so proud of her.

I can’t help as much as I want to from a distance. Pelf kindly designed some banners for Holly and I did up Holly’s blog over here.

I want to help her out more. So I decided to donate my shirts to her. It would be much cheaper to send Malaysia-made t-shirts to her than expecting her to print them on her own. Not to forget, Holly’s loss of eyesight is problematic too.

Now, postage might be a little expensive, even by regular airmail. The bulk would come up to several kilograms. I hope someone would sponsor the cost of posting these shirts to Arkansas, please?

Estimated cost is RM200 for 5kg worth of postage.

Here are some updates on Holly. Pelf will soon jump-start an online blog campaign. You will be reading about Holly more often in the blogosphere.

I am seeing whether we can channel donations directly to the hospital intended for Holly’s surgery. At the same time, I wish to bring HEART4HOPE to the states, Holly‘s home country, by first raising funds among my friends in Southern California.

Please consider donating to Holly while we work on our respective fundraising projects. You can send money directly to Holly using Paypal at this page. This PayPal account is run by Holly herself.

Meanwhile, Dr. Friedman will try persuading St. Vincent Hospital to give Holly a reduced price package for hospitalization.

Below is a photograph of Holly with her husband and child, followed by a portrait of her son Isaiah. E-mail me if you need larger versions.

Here is a photograph of Dr. Friedman and I.

I came to know 21-year-old Holly Alonzo from Arkansas. Like myself, Holly suffers from NF2. At the time of diagnosis, a tumor was found at her brainstem. It was successfully removed, but Holly woke up blind.

She also has bilateral Acoustic Neuroma. First she became deaf in one ear. Now, her good ear, the one with residual hearing, is also in danger.

Afraid of becoming fully deaf, Holly is trying hard to obtain an Auditory Brainstem Implant. “A little sound would be better than no sound,� she said.

If Holly could see, going deaf won’t be so scary. But she can’t. Holly is married with a newborn. Already blinded by NF, Holly cannot bear the thought of not listening–the least she can do to communicate with and protect her child.

Holly had no prior work experience at the time of diagnosis and does not qualify for insurance. The only thing she has is Medicaid–a form of government support, but Medicaid only covers basic medical expenses.

Determined to get the ABI, Holly persistently contacted hospitals and clinics that perform ABI implantation. Unfortunately, none of the places would take Medicaid for ABIs or help her in any way. Her calls were repeatedly unattended.

Now, my doctors, Rick A.. Friedman and Marc Schwartz at House Clinic reviewed Holly’s MRIs and offered to help her. House Clinic does not take Medicaid from outstation, but my doctors would waive surgeon fees just like what they did for me.

What’s left now is hospital charges and the cost of ABI. Dr. Friedman himself does not work with the hospital, but he is going the extra mile in trying to persuade St. Vincent Medical Center to reduce the price of hospitalization as much as possible.

Even so, Holly is left to worry about paying for the ABI implant, which costs USD30,000.

Deaf and now at risk of losing my own eyesight, I empathize with Holly‘s predicament. Should I become blind, my ABI would be the only thing I can rely on.. What more when Holly has a child to care for?

I wish to help Holly. Not just by pointing fingers and making suggestions, I want to take a proactive role in getting Holly the ABI she so badly needs. On top of that I want to help Dr. Friedman in helping others.

I think geographical distances won’t be a problem. There is bound to be a way. I just have to find it. Frequently traveled to the states and now an external student of Upper Iowa University, I believe that if I try, I will find a way to help Holly.

When I came to know Holly, I noted that most only told her to call this and that place. Someone even suggested her to act sweet and beg sympathy from doctors! So even when people live in the same country, it does not always mean they can help more. Some want to help but lack the experience. That said, geographical distances should not be a hindrance from helping out another.

And I’m going to keep telling myself that. Let’s see what we can do.

Those looking for my books in stores have been told they are out of stock. A natural reaction would be to push for restock.

My friend Ari has been the one associating with MPH Distributors on my behalf. He’s M.I.A. lately, and I have no motivation to get my ownself tangled in the publishing business. (It would be so cool to use the word “show business” instead)

Making small talks on business terms is like speaking a foreign language. You can bring me into a friendly conversation that I have no financial interest in anytime. I can talk, alright. Just not business talk. It makes me feel bad. Reason why I enjoyed the previous blog gathering so much was because I had no intention to please those people and hope they would support my cause.

That is not so say I do not want to be supported. Of course I do. But now it’s time for the support to come by its own. Time for people to support me because they like me or treat me as a friend.

I’m feeling so glad now. A friend, Malaysian working in New Jersey, had just ordered 20 copies of my book and 20 handphone straps.

There are a couple of hundred more copies heaped up in my room. They scare me sometimes. But I comfort myself. I tell myself that these are not “products” per se. They are a part of me. And there will always be chances to give a part of myself away. If sales are slow then there’s no harm retaining my other half. Much like how remaining single does not make you any lesser than those attached or married.

So when people do come along and buy a copy, I know they are buying because of me, truly. And that makes me feel good.

Look it! Found this at a bookstore near my place. So neat! Why didn’t I think of making something like this? Could have saved me so much trouble and help generate lot more sales.

Last Sunday, I was given a booth to sell my books at the AYA awards night. No one bought any but I didn’t make an effort to “push” them. I’m not a business person. I don’t believe in selling deliberately by asking people passing by to look at my books.

No wonder I’m a poor author.