A School Visit in Malaysia: We Learn, We Play, and We'll Get Stronger and Better

Even though refugee children in Malaysia have the right to go to school, they often don't get to have a normal childhood or go to school. Based on the data from UNHCR, some 21,880 refugee children are of school-going age; however, only approximately 28% of these have access to proper education, which means over 70% of refugee children have to attend schools run by NGOs, or classes organized by refugee communities themselves.

The United Learning Center (ULC) in Malaysia is located in Bukit Bintang. It is a volunteer school that provides the children of Burmese refugees with education. It helps the children to prepare for resettlement, and with its education, most of the children stay away from begging on the streets and learn basic knowledge for living.

Given the school's financial constraints, we decided to provide some books and sports equipment so that students could read something new and exercise after school.

In the school, we played a game named "Guess What It Is?" with students. Students were divided into groups, and two of them were picked, one of whom was asked to describe the animal drawn on the paper in English, and the other one guessed what it was with his or her eyes covered. Learning English through activities is a good way for students to practice oral English.

Playing with School Children in Malaysia

After the game, we played with them on the playground. "Students crave physical activity, such as basketball, football, badminton, and even table tennis!" Wanda, our assistant sales manager, and one of our volunteers on this visit said, "But just a few of them have the chance to play because of the lack of sports equipment." We hope we can bring them more supplies, more chances as well."

Take Photo with Students in Malaysia