AT 36 and after 10 years in Malaysia, Rohingya refugee Halimah could not read and had to swallow her pride every time she asked someone for help to read or write something for her.

But she feels happier and more positive these days, after enrolling in English and Bahasa Malaysia classes offered by Women for Refugees (WFR), a recent initiative to empower refugee women by teaching them to read and write.

“After this, hopefully things will be easier for me. I don’t need to go around asking for people’s help to read or write something for me,” Halimah told The Malaysian Insight.

WFR was founded a month ago by two law students, Arissa Jemaima and Davina Devajaran, with the help of a refugee community leader, Abdul Razak Jalal.

WFR holds English and BM lessons at a flat in Selayang, Selangor, with about 20 students and nine teachers.

Most of the students are Rohingya or Muslim refugees from Myanmar.

Razak first reached out to Arissa, who is also a Malaysian Relief Agency volunteer, requesting lessons for the women in his community in Selayang.

“I was helping out refugees by sending them to hospitals for check-ups and other errands, which was when I realised that they struggled with reading and filling up forms,” Arissa said.

The 23-year-old said it was also about the same time when Razak asked her about setting up a teaching programme for women refugees.

Razak told her that women in his community did not have jobs and stayed at home caring for the household.

“We decided to set up a poll on Instagram to see if people were interested to teach refugees and many came forward saying they were and that’s when we started recruiting teachers,” Arissa said.

“This initiative is to help empower refugee women in the hope that they will be able to integrate later on, if they want to look for job opportunities, or if they want to earn some income.”

Razak, a refugee from Myanmar, said he wants women in his community to know the value of education.

“Some of them can’t read or write and that has made it difficult for them to move around,” said the 50-year-old.

Arissa, and WRF co-founder Davina told The Malaysian Insight that they have plans to add other subjects once the students have a better grasp of English and BM.

The classes are at two locations – a small rented room in the Selayang area where most of the refugees stay and the other at a refugee’s house.

Arissa said for the rented space, the refugees contribute RM30 each a month to support the monthly rental of RM250. The individual contribution is also to ensure a sense of buy-in into the programme.

Challenges, distractions

Razak said it is difficult to convince women refugees on the need to get a basic education. Used to staying in the home and doing chores, many did not see the value of education.

“The value of education is something unseen and untouchable, it is difficult to make them see how it can help them. I have had to convince them a couple of times to join the programme,” he said.

The classes are divided into beginner and advanced classes, with the former for students who are illiterate. The advanced class is for those who can read and write.

Since most of the students are mothers, they are allowed to bring their children as they can’t afford babysitting services.

This poses a challenge during lessons when the children cry. When The Malaysian Insight observed a lesson, the class was stopped for an unscheduled break at one point because of a crying child.

Razak said sometimes some of the women would leave class abruptly because of their children and not show up for a week.

Despite these challenges and interruptions, the women still feel they will benefit in the long run.

Halimah said she is grateful for the chance to learn while looking after her children.

“I used to work as a dishwasher but then I started having more children and eventually I had to stop because I could not afford having anyone else look after my kids,” she said.

Another refugee named Zaleeha said she is grateful because she’s always wanted the opportunity to learn how to read and write.

“Back in Myanmar, we got a bit of lessons, but there weren’t many teachers then during my time, so I only learned how to speak,” said the 50-year-old.

The volunteer teachers meanwhile, told The Malaysian Insight that one of their challenges is modifying lessons to suit each student’s level of proficiency.

But volunteers are heartened by their students’ eagerness to learn.

“Sometimes it’s difficult because they have a different level of understanding, but when I see their interest to learn, I get so excited and happy to teach,” said Sarah Edrina, a 22-year-old neuroscience student.

As of end August 2020, there are some 178,140 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Malaysia, some 68% are men, while 32% are women.

Those interested to volunteer or assist WFR may reach out to at [email protected] (012-4595318). – October 6, 2020.