Volunteers working with Myanmar refugee children in Kuala Lumpur

Building Bridges Beyond Borders (Malaysia), Just Volunteers! News 31 Jul 2016

This summer Jamie and Alex from Korea are working at the MRCLC school for Myanmar refugees in Kuala Lumpur.

Jamie sent us the following post:

It has already been a month and a half since I came to Kuala Lumpur to join Myanmar Refugee Center Learning Center (MRCLC) as a teacher. Simply put, I just love this moment of my life, kept in the most simple way possible, helping others to stand up to face the world and much sharing of cultures and ideas with others.

 

What brought me here

I was born and raised in Korea where we share only one language and one culture. As a little child when I first traveled abroad it was very shocking to see that not all the people are the same as me! However, the taste of difference was very addictive, made me so fond of traveling and eventually led me to study abroad.

Now I’m just ahead of my last year of university and I wanted to do something meaningful before I go for job hunting as it would be my last long vacation for some time. As an Asian student studying Politics and International Relations to become a journalist, Asian refugee crisis has been always the topic on my reading.

I wasn’t sure how to make my way to a refugee community, but I was lucky enough to find Josephine through just-volunteers.org who bridged me to Dr Saradha of Soroptimist International Damansara and MRCLC. I’m very thankful to these two ladies who let me be a part of the BBBB project and for helping me to settle down in Malaysia. Without them all the awesome things I’m experiencing now would be impossible.

 

Getting by in Malaysia

Thanks to Dr Saradha and Myanmar teacher Ruth, Aung Pi and Muang, I settled down in Kuala Lumpur nicely and feel the local area comfortable as home. My daily routine is having Roti Canai at an Indian Mamak for breakfast and going to school to meet children and enjoying free time afterwards roaming around KL or relaxing at my room.

I’m staying at a flat nearby the school provided by the BBBB program and the fact that I don’t travel a long way to the school makes my life in KL very comfortable and easy. I can rest at my room during lunch break and always can pick up something I forgot to bring.

Furthermore, the surrounding of my flat is just amazing. Located in a Chinese town, it is fully satisfying my needs from food to leisure. Thanks to my East Asian look very similar to the locals, I don’t drag much attention from people and this makes me feel very comfortable. Now I have my favorite go to places around and know where to indulge myself after hard work at the school. When I get a little bored of the town, I grab a Uber and go to enjoy modern life of KL.

Malaysia is a paradise for foodies. Luckily, my fellow teacher and also flatmate Priyanka, my sister Alex who joined us just last week and I are all such foodies. We like to try new food place nearby our flat and make little trips to hidden food places in KL.

More later, Jamie.

 

 

JV MRCLC by Jamie Kim5

Two volunteers run an English Class

JV MRCLC by Jamie Kim2

The start of Jamie’s creative arts class

 

JV MRCLC by Jamie Kim3

Trying to design a basket!

JV MRCLC by Jamie Kim4

Two friends chat in class

Ella recalls her time volunteering at Building Bridges Beyond Borders in the first half of 2023

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur just before the beginning of Chinese New Year. This meant two things: The first, I was introduced to the beautiful and whole-hearted celebrations of Malaysia. Malls were full of dramatic displays, glowing red lanterns adorned the streets, and fireworks lit the sky each evening. One of the schools I taught […]

read more

Rachel leaves Kuala Lumpur after completing her 6 months volunteering

Rachel sets off for a brief last trip in Southeast Asia before returning to the UK after 6 months as a Bath University Placement Student at the BBBB project. My name is Rachel and I study International Development with Economics at the University of Bath. I chose to do my placement in Malaysia as it […]

read more

Miza, our BBBB Project Coordinator writes a very personal account of her 5 years with the project

Five years with Building Bridges Beyond Borders Miza contacted the programme when she was finishing her Masters at Edinburgh University and about to return to her native Malaysia. After being a volunteer herself, she completed her PhD and has now become an invaluable member of the BBBB management team! Here she remembers some key moments […]

read more

Rachel is Our First International Volunteer to Arrive in Malaysia for over 2 years!

For the past two years our projects in KL have been sustained by a number of hard working and dedicated Malaysian undergraduate volunteers working in person, as well as international volunteers working online. After two years we are delighted to be able to welcome international volunteers in person again! Rachel arrived at the beginning of […]

read more

During the pandemic we have had a wonderful group of international volunteers working with the children in Malaysia online

While the largest number of online volunteers have been placement students from the University of Bath, we have also been very lucky to have a dedicated group from the University of Durham volunteering a few hours a week online throughout the second half of this academic year. The experience of both sides has been very […]

read more

Harriet finishes one year of online volunteering as a Bath University placement student and expects to travel to Malaysia this summer to finally meet all the kids she already knows so well!

With Just Volunteers, I have been privileged to teach for three inspiring organisations in Malaysia: the Rumah Aman Orphanage and Welfare Home, the [Myanmar Refugee school supported by SID] and the YTL Foundation. Just Volunteers has been supportive and encouraging from the outset. As this is my first time ever teaching, having a strong network […]

read more

Ciara has learned more than she expected volunteering online!

Ciara will soon finish her more than 6 months volunteering at BBBB online. (And this summer we will be welcoming in-person volunteers to Malaysia for the first time in over two years!) My name is Ciara and I am currently studying Social Sciences (BSc) at the University of Bath. Working for Just Volunteers has been […]

read more

Madalena is finding online teaching much more interesting than she expected

Maddie talks about how she has been dealing with an internship done entirely online and working from home – when she would otherwise have expected to be in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia working with disadvantaged local children. The experience is challenging for everyone but the attitude of the kids has made it a […]

read more

Building Bridges Beyond Borders (BBBB)

A collaboration between Soroptimist International Damansara  and Just Volunteers! Sponsored by YTL Foundation. MALAYSIA