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100 Literacy Centers in Sabah!!

Since the beginning of 2011, we’ve started another 5 new literacy centers in Sabah.

Considering that we took 2 years to start our first 7 centers, starting 5 centers in 2 months is quite an acceleration!

This prompted us to dream of having 100 centers in the northern part of Sabah as a very do-able dream. When our teachers (mostly mums in the respective villages) gathered for their regular Friday meeting last week, we threw this challenge to them and they embraced it with hearty agreement.

The major reason why we have managed to speed up our expansion is because communities are now embracing Goducate Literacy Centers as THEIR projects, rather than look at them as Goducate’s.

Community leaders and parents who have seen our centers have “spontaneously” started centers in their kampongs by offering their living-rooms as classrooms or even building school-houses. They are the ones pushing us to train them to teach their own children.

In the past, we had to think of which village to start our next project, we had to talk to the community, we had to look for suitable people in that village to train, we sometimes had to convince the men to build class-rooms, etc. This took time and resources and slowed the process.

School-house that Ali built
Ali (in white T-shirt) and his daughter (blue T-shirt) and teenage teacher (in brown)

In these photos we see center #11, started by Ali. Ali built the school house on his own, The only thing that Goducate provided was the black-board. His daughter and a teenage neighbor have been trained to be the first teachers there. A supervisor from our first school (who was in the first batch of teachers we trained) travels there each afternoon to supervise the work. The school has functioned for 2 weeks and has 60 students.

There are hundreds of such villages with no schools for these undocumented aliens.

Therefore, the dream of a 100 Goducate Literacy Centers must be a reality!

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Aussies encourage our Sabah Literacy Centers

Our centers in Sabah was visited by Australians!

This Australian Chinese family was planning for a holiday at Hong Kong but later changed their mind to explore Sabah. They were able to see the proboscis monkeys and the flora and fauna of the jungle at the Labuk Bay and the Rainforest Discovery Center. Then they went on an adventure, that is visiting our literacy centers, walking on mud, riding a sampan and crossing a footbridge.

Our teachers are always encouraged when someone takes interest in their work and visits them.
Tom, the head of the family shared to our volunteers that love means giving. The way that they are giving their love in teaching these less fortunate children is what the world needs, he said. Pauline his wife, shared a true story about the housemaid who took care of his dad in old age. That time, the housemaid could not read nor write and had to ask someone to fill up immigration form. But this person instead of helping, took advantage of her by charging rm50 for his services. She also has to ask someone to interpret for her each time she receives mail from home. Later she learned to calculate, read and write taught by Pauline’s old Dad. I believe this sharing affirmed the value of what our teachers are doing.

The most fun though was when their two daughters Mel and Sarah made a presentation about Australia, their food, the fashion there, and the animals that are found there. They taught our teachers English in Australian accent and Australian slang. It was so fun! When it was time to say goodbye, they taught them the slang expression for goodbye. But our teachers said, no, we don’t want to say goodbye, teach us how to say, come again!

The fun and high spirits brought by this visit cannot be dampened by the rains which kept on pouring. Hoo roo!

Our teachers learn about Australia

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Camaraderie at Goducate community center in KL

It was early morning in Kuala Lumpur when my sister and I headed out to the Global Friends Hub, a Goducate community center for migrant workers and others to gather and engage in wholesome activities. On our way we stopped to get some Roti Canai, a local food that is a must-try if you’re ever in that area. We were warmly greeted by some of the volunteers as we walked through the doors of a comfortable gathering place where in just a short time people from different parts of the globe would gather to chat and do what we do in South East Asia: eat food.

When we arrived, our new friends were preparing breakfast—it was a pity that we had just eaten! We were eager to meet the faces that came through the door and for the next few hours we seemingly had non-stop conversations with people from many different places. Some joined us because their current employment is there in KL and they wanted to find some friends to spend time with, others were there because hard times had hit and getting to have a well-rounded meal was not a normal occurrence. Either way, the friends who gathered together spent time encouraging each other. As friends shared with each other what challenges they’ve recently faced there was a great sense of camaraderie there.
One of the volunteers of Global Friends Hub shared with me that one of the men that frequently visits, originally came as a beggar. On this particular day she was surprised because he was cleaned up, wearing clean clothes and seeming to make a turn for the better.

Another delightful aspect of this center is that it’s not just for adults—children joined in the time of fellowship and had fun together. My sister played Jenga (a tower-building game that requires physical and mental skill) with one of the children while other youth were strumming their guitars. I enjoyed talking to the youth, getting a glimpse of what their life is like. There was an elderly man who joyfully chose to serve others there by washing the many dishes. Different ladies, who have busy work schedules, took time to prepare delicious dishes to share with all that came. There’s no question why people return to this center, the atmosphere is filled with love and is very family-like. You never know what kind of impact a community of friends can have on a life. Yet this I know, spending the day with new friends was a refreshing reminder that race, nationality, and status level shouldn’t create barriers when it comes to developing healthy friendships