Volunteers working with Myanmar refugee children in Kuala Lumpur

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.