Category: Malaysia

Last week I had the opportunity to meet most of the 40 Sabah teachers that Goducate had trained.

Firstly, it was a joy for me to see how many had been trained. When we first started recruiting teachers for training, we had few trainees because these mothers did not believe that they could be teachers. They had never taught before. In fact, most of them had never had a “white-collar” job before. We had to persuade them that we would train any one who had a high-school diploma. We were convinced that the most valuable asset was their desire to help their own kids.

Secondly, it was amazing to see how different they were. I had seen many of them before they became teachers. I had met them in preliminary Goducate “meet-the-mums” meetings where we shared with them our dreams of educating their children. They had come in their simple work clothes – appropriate for their various had manual jobs. But when I met with them last week, they looked like teachers, they talked like teachers and they behaved like teachers. I believe that Goducate gave them more than phonics and maths skills, we gave them back their dignity!

Thirdly, I was so happy to see the unity of the team. They had come from different villages, different tribes, different regions in the Philippines, different religions. When I first met them, they did not trust us, nor did they trust each other. It was basically, every man for himself in their difficult daily struggle to survive. When I met them last week, it was like one big family – just eating, laughing, crying, planning and dreaming together.

As I watched these teachers, I realized that was a dream fulfilled for Goducate and more importantly, it was a dream fulfilled in the lives of these dear teachers!

They were now had the tools to help themselves, their families and their communities!

Tens of thousands of children in Sabah do not have the opportunity to go to school because they are “undocumented aliens” – the children of illegal immigrants from southern Philippines. However, the best possible team of volunteer teachers are now teaching some of these children in simple learning centers. This “dream team” of teachers are the very mothers of these children.

Many of the mothers of these children had the opportunity of going to schools in the Philippines. Many of them have finished high school. However, three decades of fighting in southern Philippines between Muslim secessionists and government troops has devastated that part of the Philippines. To flee the fighting and the poverty, many Filipinos sneaked illegally into Sabah on little boats, where there is peace and jobs. However, as undocumented aliens in Sabah their children have no opportunities to go to school.

As a mother said “In Philippines we can go to school but we have no food. In Sabah we have food but no school.” It is a tough choice but food is a more basic need than education. However, Goducate believes that we can help Asians to help themselves. So we said to these mothers “If your kids can’t go to school, then why don’t you teach them. We will help you to help yourselves!”

Today, after a year and a half, about 40 teachers (mostly mothers) have been trained to teach phonics and arithmetic. It is hard to get a more enthusiastic and motivated group of teachers than mothers who want to teach their own children! They don’t miss a day of training, they don’t come late to their classes, they never miss a day, they stay back to help the slow learners. They are a DREAM team of teachers.

Though they are willing to work for nothing because they want to see their sons, daughters, nephews, nieces and neighbours learn to read and write, Goducate raises support for them because they have to give up other means of livelihood (eg. house-maids, doing laundry, selling lottery tickets) to focus on their students.

It’s so easy to help poor Asians help themselves in Sabah.

All that’s needed is a little organizing, a little encouragement, a little training, some basic school supplies and plenty of LOVE!