Diana was awarded a special bursary through her university to work with the BBBB project in KL this summer.……………
Over summer 2025, I had the privilege of teaching and acting as a role model to refugee children in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia through St Mary’s College, Durham University and the BBBB programme. This extraordinary experience allowed me to teach in 5 different schools and get to know over 100 different students who were always so eager to learn!
Before this, I had never travelled outside of Europe, so the 13-hour flight to Malaysia was both exciting and daunting. However, after arriving, I quickly fell in love with Malaysia’s vibrant culture, diverse cuisines and stunning architecture! I also lived with two other volunteers who I got on with very well, and soon our weekends were filled with exploring Malaysia.
During teaching, every class was different, with varying levels of English. Therefore, when planning, I had the freedom to experiment with different English lessons and fun activities of different academic levels. While mainly teaching English, I also had a chance to teach lessons in maths, science and geography which I especially enjoyed since science is my passion.
Furthermore, I have always been quite a shy person and public speaking would make me extremely nervous, so when I found out my application was successful, a part of me was stressing about going half-way across the world to stand in front of 10-20 kids and be their role model! But honestly, straight away, every school made me feel so welcome and the teachers were always so kind and respectful. All my worries quickly disappeared within my first few lessons as I got comfortable in my teaching style and could also see the kids enjoying my lessons. I quickly saw myself become not only a teacher, but also a friend to my students.
This amazing experience has been full of time management, collaboration, innovation, resilience, and continuous learning for both me and my students. I am beyond thankful to BBBB for giving me this opportunity and I would recommend this to anyone, if you want to go into teaching or just have free time to dedicate to an incredible cause that you’ll remember forever. Saying goodbye to my students was difficult but I am happy to have had the pleasure to meet them and experience their constant positive attitudes and excitement! This experience has highlighted the importance of education, especially in setting a strong foundation for the future of disadvantaged kids.
