Project to help stateless kids in Pulau Mabul

KOTA KINABALU: A project to help stateless kids in Pulau Mabul was held recently.

It was organised by Persatuan Ekspansi Amal (EXA) with collaboration of Persatuan Mabul Education Society.

Persatuan Ekspansi Amal was initiated by 10 MBA students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

According to the report of Borneo Post Online, there are about 30,000 stateless kids in Sabah.

The project received strong support from UKM-GSB Dean, Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Zaher bin Mohd Zain who strongly believes the involvement of students in corporate social redponsibility (CSR) and humanity work will not only benefit the society but also contribute a better future for our country.

The kids have poor access to  education, healthcare and social welfare service. Therefore, as part of their responsibility and awareness related to the humanity works, EXA in collaboration with Mabul Kids Society in Sabah  conducted  the Mabul Kids Education Event 2018 with the main objective  to help the kids to access the proper facilities and basic need of education. The program was held from January 24 to 26.

School of Hope which is a learning centre for stateless kids, is under the management of Mabul Kids Society. It has a teacher and 50 students aged from eight to 17 years old.

Currently, the school is facing a financial burden because its operation cost totally depends on the sponsorships and the teacher’s side income. Furthermore, the condition of the school is poor due to aging and heavy rain storm.

During the three-day and four-night stay, EXA in collaboration with Mabul Kid Society and local people were actively involved with the activity to improve the infrastructure of School of Hope.

Basic needs such as projector, laptop, speaker, microphone, table, chair and school stationery for learning purposes were provided for the kids to have a better education. During the second day, a sport day was held and the basic sport activities included tug of war, sack race and run.

This program was sponsored by Staedtler Malaysia, Knight Auto Sdn Bhd, Pelikan International Corporation Berhad, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, AE Creative Studio, Sri Tanjong Bookstore, Dason Auto Service Centre and Sunrise One Enterprise, and funded by families, friends and the public.