Meet the Volunteer Driving Change in Malaysia's Refugee Education Landscape
We’re always delighted to have international schools joining Hamilton Brookes. We love hearing from schools around the world and celebrating all the wonderful diversity in education. We’re proud to say that schools across six continents - in rural areas, busy cities, and even on remote islands in the Atlantic Ocean - have found lesson plans, support, and inspiration from our website.
Early in 2024 we were contacted by a very special learning centre in Malaysia. When we heard about their work, we knew that we wanted to help. We’ve already supported them with a subscription to Hamilton Brookes and we look forward to supporting them with training too. We were so impressed by the centre, its aims, and the volunteers who teach there, that we decided to help bring their story to a wider audience. Read on to hear from Catherine, one of the volunteers who keeps this extraordinary lifeline open for young children and their families. You’ll also find links to Hriphi Community Learning Centre's Facebook page to find out more.
Catherine, volunteer at Hriphi Community Learning Centre
Hriphi Community Learning Centre was established in June 2005. At that time, many refugees from Hriphi, a small region in the Chin state of Myanmar had sought safety in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with many families settling in the same area and creating a close-knit community, the Malaysia Hriphi Fellowship.
Unfortunately, in Malaysia, refugees do not have access to the Malaysian formal education system and the cost of private education is not within reach for these refugee families. Mg Aye a Myanmar refugee and member of the Malaysia Hriphi Fellowship founded the school to ensure the young minds from the community would grow. He offered basic education and hoped the centre would provide a better life and hope for the children who attended.
Since 2005 many Hriphi families have been resettled, predominantly in the USA and Australia and today we have 38 refugee students from the Hriphi community enrolled in the centre. Our student numbers may be small compared to formal schools, but our impact is life changing for the students who attend. The children are aged 4-12 years old and span nursery to year 5. They are eager learners and approach each day with enthusiasm.
Volunteers have been involved from the centre’s early days and our volunteer team has grown significantly. We currently have a team of 43 dedicated volunteers and the centre would not operate without them. Our volunteers come from all over the world, and all have different reasons for getting involved.
I joined the volunteer team back in early 2020 after having moved to Malaysia with my family from Australia. My children had both started pre-school and without a visa to work, I found myself a little lost. I was looking for something to simply fill a morning or 2 each week, but I ended up finding so much more. My initial 2 hrs a week quickly became a fulltime passion, not only for the children and community with which we work, but for education as well.
Growth is very much a part of who I am, so naturally I love leading change in the centre. One of last year’s projects was the implementation of a new maths program for our reception class, to better suit the needs of this group. The level of English is very low, so the new program was chosen as the learning is very interactive and hands on. With the donation of some basic maths tools including linking cubes, magnetic ten frames, and teddy bear counters, maths sessions became a lot more fun. We had such success seeing the children actively engaged throughout the lessons and watching their progression with not only their mastery of tasks but also their maths talk, that we have expanded the program to our year 1 class this year.
Despite its age, the centre is very much still in its infancy from an organisational perspective. I have a very long list of projects to tackle, and we face challenges at every turn: from a lack of ongoing funding, volunteers and basic classroom resources, right through to natural disasters. Life in the centre is always challenging and certainly never dull. Currently we are focused on building strong core foundations from which to grow and this year we are focusing on 2 areas that have been ongoing challenges for the centre: fundraising as a non-registered charity and all the issues that surround this; and establishing an English curriculum to meet the specific needs of both our students and our volunteer teachers.
There are many ways in which people can help, but the quickest and easiest way is to follow us on social media via our Facebook page. This allows them to share in the centre’s journey, keep up with our latest news and contact us directly about volunteering and other opportunities.
I absolutely love being a part of this community and I will forever be grateful for the small role that I get to play in our students’ education journeys.
Although I love being part of this community, my biggest dream for the school is actually that we are no longer needed! My hope is that eventually all the families will be resettled in countries where they have access to quality education, healthcare and jobs. In the meantime we will continue to teach these wonderful children and support all the families that we can.
