Bathrooms and Blackboards
The contrast is quite stark - just two storeys above busy and noisy Jalan Imbi, the visitor steps into one of the schools of the Chin Student Organisation.
Here, up to 80 children refugees from Myanmar, aged between 5 and 15, find a daily safe haven while their parents are at work.
Focus and discipline determine the students' approach to schoolwork. Several volunteers, often wifes of expatriates, teach here. Funding from the German Embassy's Micro Project Fund has helped to improve some aspects of the three classroom school.
Long overdue repairs and renovations in the two bathrooms and the open kitchen were accomplished. The installation of shelfs and cabinets has created extra space, whiteboards and additional fans certainly help students as well as teachers. Dedicated Chairman Roger Huap walks us through the tiny classrooms, his office, shows us the two upgraded bathrooms and the new kitchen equipment.
Later he presents the visitors from the Embassy with a letter of appreciation and two thank you songs, beautifully performed by the kindergarten class.
