Iskul

Tag: Annual Visit

  • Iskul Home Visits & Group Interviews (2019)

    “Home is where one starts from.”

    T.S. Eliot

    Since the formation of Iskul in August 2015, Iskul team has always wanted to visit homes of our students with the intention to meet their parents and other family members as well as to understand the condition of their living at home. It is important for us the team to meet the parents as we want to inform them that Iskul belongs not to any individuals exclusively but owned collectively by the Iskul community comprising of Iskul’s students and families. Additionally, being able to visit respective homes of the students enabled us to establish a rapport and for us to understand the condition under which our students return to after class. Such information allows us to build empathy and identify support that is essential to allow the children to attend classes to learn.

    During the field visit in September 2019, Iskul prioritised the visit to each and every home of Iskul’s students with the help of our in-training Field Coordinator, Khairul and Mastal Arikik Sakinas and Delah. In total, we have visited 16 homes.

    As the team visits from one home to another, we notice some distinct aspect of the Omadal stateless community which really puts the perspectives in place.

    The condition of the homes of our students, in general, is loosely categorised as:

    Living By, One Space for All: Stilt house made of rusty zinc rooftop including its four walls, and there is no distinct compartmentalisation of function spaces, i.e., kitchen, living space, bedroom etc. These houses only source of light is from the oil lamp and their source of drinking water is from the rain or the seawater surrounding them.

    Managing, Distinct Spaces: Stilt house made of leftover woods for its four walls and there are the obvious separation of functional spaces such as the kitchen and the living space/bedroom, with or without wall partitions. These houses may have electricity powered from the generator or connected from neighbouring stilt houses that are ultimately connected to the houses of the residents on the island. Their source of drinking water collected from rain.

    Stable, Comfortable Space: Stilt house made of plywoods for its walls and have several rooms compartmentalising functional spaces such as the kitchen, living room, bedroom, and toilet/shower room. These houses have electricity and collect rainwater in large tanks.

    Besides the materials their houses were made of and access to electricity, we also observe that they prioritise procurement of certain furnishing that mark the improvement of their living standards. Two of the main items they will attain for the display of change are audio speakers and kitchen utensils. We think that this also informed us of their sense of community because the availability of these items showed that they are able to share and to host neighbours. During our annual visits, we found that several houses with speakers and electricity enjoy blasting music over their speakers and it is so loud we could hear from across! There is usually no particular reason for the festive. We are in the opinion that it is just their way of breaking the silence of the night or perhaps a boost of energy as they prepare for their weekly fishing trip out into the sea.

    The ability to work independently also directly reflects their state of income. If the sole breadwinner of the family works for another fisherman, their means of income are usually the lowest with less than RM5 per day. Meanwhile, if the family has a boat and dry their catches of the day for sale in the town, they are most likely making more than RM50 per day, also depending on the catch per trip.

    “Home can be a happy place with surety, knowledge and security; but it can also be a place where people develop confusion, doubt, and a low self-image.”

    Christian Olsen

    Indeed, we observed that children from the impoverished family are more reserved and shy when in class and often comes to class, dishevelled. However, over time, we noticed progressive changes when we help them be aware of the importance of keeping nails short and clean and combing their hair, tying up if wanted to. Their appearance becomes neater and they become more confident. We noticed that boys start learning to style their hair while girls learn to put on eye shadow and lipsticks as well as having fancy clips when they come to class. Although Iskul may be seen as a source of income for some, the changes we have seen in the students are comforting and it is what motivates us to focus on servicing our beneficiaries and their well-being.

    Besides home visits, Iskul also conducted group interviews as one of our consistent method of assessing/evaluating the impact of lessons provided to our students in Iskul. Due to the new intake of students in May, most of our current students have only attended less than two (2) months’ classes, thus, many are still unable to recognise or identify A to Z and numbers. Nevertheless, many of them are able to recite A to Z in one go. During the group interviews, we observed that they are still shy when in contact with us – a stranger to them as they have only seen us probably the first time. When asked if they like coming to Iskul, they nod their heads in much eagerness and tinge of excitement. When asked for a reason, many of them simply just want to ‘belajar menulis….membaca’. And that is really what mattered.

    Although Iskul is now educating a new batch of students, we are eager to reconnect with our students from the pioneer batch. They have all grown into fine lads and ladies. After losing our Field Coordinators in early of the year, they have not returned to Iskul, except two of them who are now teaching our new batch of students. We are informed that the reasons are that (i) there are no more (adult) teachers who could teach them, and (ii) because of that, they do not think they can learn more from Iskul. It is a crucial point we reflect on. Iskul has been practising the concept where peers teaching is the key – school-going Malaysian teens teach their friends from the stateless community. As we conclude the fourth year, we realised that this concept limits the learning potential for our students as most of them are the same age as our Master Arikik and our Master Arikik are also students who are performing less than average at school. Hence, we find their request for an adult (or qualified) teacher as reasonable and a request we prioritise for the year 2020.

    A quick one-to-one evaluation with a few of our pioneer batch students revealed that they can still identify, read, and write A to Z, numbers from 1-100, and do simple calculations. We are also exceptionally glad that we are able to hold the session with them in Bahasa Malaysia! While these are great news, it also justifies that we need to open classes for these advanced students to learn more and create other activities for them to stay connected with Iskul such as creative classes and alternative livelihood plans. Iskul wants to continue to inform and make aware that Iskul is established for the community and one day, we hope that it will be maintained by the community, therefore, we will continue to review our progress and be conscious of our effort to empower them.

  • Annual Field Visit 2019 (Finally!)

    For the most part of the early journey from the Tawau Airport to Semporna, the view is mostly oil palms and coconut trees, bushes, and occasionally, houses. Well, the road definitely has greatly improved as there are no more dangerous potholes. Ah, still the familiar trip nonetheless!

    It has been over two years since any of the management team members visited Semporna and boy, did the town changed! As the distance to Semporna town closes, the first obvious change is the lack of rubbish on the roadside where previously it was almost unmissable. Well done, Sempornians!

    As the major eyesore issue is now finally taken care of, there was really nothing major we thought Semporna really need, but boy oh boy, the town has upgraded! The second you passed the archway that welcomes you to Semporna, a 5-6 storey high new hotel greets you. Then, there is a McDonald’s! If previously you needed to make a trip to Tawau (the next nearest town) for the fast food, now you do not need to! New concept lodging facilities mushroomed all across the town and you can hardly miss it because it is just so-out-of-place (in a good way, perhaps?). Restaurants and fancy cafes are also spotted as you approach the centre of the town.

    When you approach the most happening side of the town, well, apparently, it is no longer the most happening side anymore because a Seafest Mall with Starbucks and Tealive has been constructed on reclaimed land on the northeast side of the town. Wow.

    We wonder if Omadal Island has changed too?

    The road heading to Jeti Umum Semporna situated near Giant mall Semporna remains very much the same – crowded and wet as catches of the day are being traded. The journey to Omadal begins by getting on a 12-15 person passenger boat to Balimbang. The whole journey takes about 45-60 minutes to reach Omadal Island. Nothing has really changed in this part of the journey, apparently.

    Upon arriving Omadal Island, find your way to the resident of the Ketua Kampung to make your presence known and then register yourself at the General Operations Force (Malay: Pasukan Gerakan Am; PGA) centre for security check and protection.

    All in all, Omadal Island has not changed much. The goats are still roaming around, grazing on any plantations they can find, the turtle hatchery and the football court. Well, there is now a beautifully re-constructed Balai Raya (Community Hall) and a fully functionally mosque.

    After making our obligated rounds, we finally visited Pondok Iskul! Since the completion of its construction, the management team has not made any official (physical) visit and this time, we will be putting up in the Pondok for the next 10 days! As we toured the space, we were overwhelmed by gratitude that this dream of a conducive learning space is a reality!

    The trip was a packed one as we arrived just in time to celebrate Malaysia Day on 16 September. Following that, visits to the homes of our Iskul students were also arranged in an effort to register them officially and to gather basic family background. Our group interviews with 3-4 students in one session were also conducted to evaluate the current understanding of our new batch of students and find out if our previous batch students still remember the lessons they took.

    Whilst Omadal Island remains peaceful and calm, it has recently been receiving more visits from groups of loud foreign tourists carrying professional cameras. Children from the stateless community gathers upon receiving news of incoming visitors and soon gathered around these visitors. One young girl instinctively began “modelling” in the signature pose of flipping their long hair, and younger kids with their wooden boats are asked to flip over into the water as these visitors start snapping away. Once, we observed that the group of tourists intentionally bought coloured powder packets and with the help of a local tourist guide, they have “orchestrated” so that the children are on gathered on the boat and on their count, to release the powder for photograph effects.

    The scene was very difficult to observe, however, we are in no position to stop them because we are not a resident of the Omadal Island and for all we know, these visitors have sought permission from the Ketua Kampung.

    Nonetheless, we have a few burning questions we are dying to ask:

    To a tourist guide:

    • Why would you bring tourists to go watch stateless children and allow them to request these children to make a circus out of themselves i.e., flip hair, jump off the boat, etc?
    • Why is it that it is not okay with Malaysian children but okay with stateless children? They are children all the same, isn’t it?
    • Why would you allow tourists to take thousand dollars photo of stateless partially/fully-clothed children and in return, they only received small packets of sweets, snacks and maybe few ringgits as compensation for their “modelling effort” and their unique skin colour and background

    To the residents of the neighbourhood village:

    • Why would you allow such exploitation in the backyard of your own house and to the community that have stayed your neighbour for many years?

    To the visiting tourists:

    • Why did you think it would be helpful to compensate them with snacks and few ringgits for the effort these kids take in “modelling” under your instruction?
    • Why would you think your photos could make any difference to the state of these communities?
    • Why would you be trespassing on the privacy of these children for your own selfish needs of photography portfolio or travel memories? At some point, where is your photography etiquette to ask these kids to either remove their shirt or put on their shirt or change their shirt to fit your photography needs?
    • Do you really think that the amount you pay the guide to take you to these communities benefits the communities at all?

    As the sun sets on Omadal Island on the day before we leave, we realised that while the Semporna town has changed exponentially for the past 2 years, none of these developments has positively impacted the stateless community on Omadal Island.

  • Annual Field Visit & Induction with Iskul’s first Field Coordinator

    The management team made the second visit for the year represented by Ee Chia. The visit while it was in conjunction with attendance to the invitation to the UNHCR Roundtable on Bajau Laut in Sabah in Sandakan. The brief 5-day visit from 5 – 9 August was also critical to follow-up on permissions from District Officer and Ketua Kampung to build Pondok Iskul on Omadal Island.

    Dr Hj Chacho Bullah, Semporna District Officer has written a support letter for the construction of Pondok Iskul and recognising Iskul as a citizen initiative to provide basic education to the stateless Bajau Laut community residing at Omadal Island. The recognition provided us with the confidence to continue the project and injected a boost of faith that this initiative is a welcomed one. It was an important milestone marking the 2nd anniversary of Iskul.

    Besides the meeting with the District Officer, Ee Chia also took time to provide a brief induction with Iskul first Field Coordinator – Roza, observed classes and conducted meeting with Headmistress, Mastal Arikik and students to find out challenges they still faces.

    During this visit, it was also decided that a monthly allowance of RM 100 be provided to Headmistress, Pn Roziah for her management of Iskul operation base as well as a decision to increase the food budget from RM 1 per meal to RM 2 per meal for Iskul students.