His name is Rohollah. He’s 17 years-old and was born in Iran; he and his family then moved to Afghanistan. Fearing for their lives, in March they fled Afghanistan and were temporarily resettled in Malaysia. Rohollah is very smart, but it’s tough adapting to a new country after escaping a country at war; especially when you don’t speak the language. Rohollah attends Pandawas Academy, a school for refugee children in Kuala Lumpur. Pandawas Academy employs five teachers, only one of whom speaks English as their primary language. The school charges no fees, which is a great thing because, while these families were all settled through the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), they receive no financial or educational assistance.
I had the pleasure of tutoring Rohollah, one-on-one, for two-hours one recent Saturday. Tutoring was organized by the volunteer group Let’s Tutor a Refugee Child which I found through Facebook (see link at the end of this article).
Each Saturday volunteers show up at the school to offer tutoring to some of the child refugees who have been temporarily resettled in Malaysia. While this group has been assisting at the Pandawas Academy for over a year, they’re now planning to search for another school to help, as there are many others in even more desperate need.
Volunteers arrive at 11:30am where they then meet to find out more about the organization, as well as the structure for the next couple of hours. This group has an international group of volunteers from Germany, America, Malaysia, Australia, England and more. They’re either living in Kuala Lumpur or visiting temporarily. Upon arrival, volunteers meet in the office while students in the warehouse-like classroom are assigned a desk number where they take their seats. At 12:00, volunteers are asked to choose a piece of paper with a number on it and head over to the desk with their corresponding number. There they find their student, along with some basic school books and a notebook. In the back of the notebook they find the notes on that student which previous tutors have written. As volunteers are not required to commit to coming every week, the children tend to work with a variety of volunteers.
Though the concentration is teachingEnglish, the students and tutors also work on math and science. Still everyone recognizes that the kids need to learn English in order to thrive in Malaysia, or wherever they eventually end up.
Though Rohollah is 17-years old, the books he is using are for five to eight year-olds as Pandawas Academy works with students of a variety of ages, yet funding for books is limited. While not the perfect tool, it’s fine to teach English. Unfortunately, his math and science books are at the same grade level. And while languages vary from country to country, math and science are the same wherever you go. His math book offers basic arithmetic, but Rohollah knows Geometry. I spend part of a day during the next week buying books for all the kids, but especially some math books for Rohollah which, while not completely up to his level (they’re difficult to find at everyday book stores), are definitely more advanced than his current ones.
The final half-hour of our two hours working with the children is allotted to games. When the whistle blows, the students go running to the game desks where they find Connect Four, Chess and Checkers, card games and more. They return to their desks to teach their tutors their favorite games. Many have missing pieces but the kids don’t seem to mind. They’re just happy to have games to play. Volunteers have also begun smaller tutoring groups which teach photography, music, football and chess.
On May 9th, Let’s Tutor a Refugee Child will be holding a fund-raising event at the Bentley Music Auditorium, in Kuala Lumpur, in which attendees can receive advice from top Malaysian investment experts. Tickets to this event are for sale through the contact below and proceeds will be distributed amongst some of the schools for refugees in Kuala Lumpur. They will ask the UNHCR to advise them on the ones most in need. Information on this fund-raiser, as well as volunteering and other ways to help this great group of volunteers is on their Facebook page.
If you’re in Malaysia, they’d love to have you come meet the kids and teach for a few hours. There’s no long-term commitment, but you might just find yourself wanting to return. (I did!) It’s rewarding work with people who are making a difference.
To find out more, please visit the Facebook page Let’s Tutor a Refugee Child
Visit the Pandawas Academy Facebook page to find out more about the school and how you can help at https://www.facebook.com/pandawasacademy/timeline
To find out how to secure your ticket to their fundraising event please write to jessica.wee@cimb.com
Rebel With A Cause 
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