Kuala Lumpur: Burmese Chin Women's Organization Refugee School

Chin Women's Organization (CWO) Hidden Refugee School Entrance:
Note there is no sign outside the school entrance indicating that there is a refugee school inside

140 Chin refugee students. 6 rooms. No desks. One fan.

During the day, the Chin refugee women teach.
At night, they sew creations like placemats, CD/book covers, etc. to raise money for the school.
The refugee teachers sleep in this room also.

Material used

Final creations for sale. They gave me the soft sell before showing me the school.

I was so proud of my children's school, ISKL, for partnering with CWO school. One ISKL 12 year old came over a month and painted this mural. ISKL middle school teachers and science students come once a month to teach science. Then the CWO students are bused by ISKL to the middle school campus to go to the science lab there for a class. Bravo, Middle School ISKL science teachers!
After school, the students are hanging out, waiting for...Hip Hop class! Yes, here in Malaysia, Burmese Chin refugees are doing hip hop, taught by a foreign volunteer who comes after work to teach. They are excited for a rare exercise-based activity.

Note the one fan because it can get pretty hot once over a hundred students come. No tables because there is not enough room. It's also the way most Burmese live back in Burma -- no clutter, clean floor, no furniture, just sitting on the floor.
Head Teacher, Stella. She is in final interviews at UNHCR to come to the U.S.! She seems downright bubbly and hopeful about it. I hope the US isn't too disappointing for her, since it can be a very tough adjustment for most refugees there, despite the wonderful dream.

ISKL donated these science texts

The CWO teachers

Prisilla, the CWO teacher who's also starting an adult education program which prepares adults for education in the US or other countries where they may get resettled.

Prisilla, me, and Enrique meeting over watermelon juice and french fries

May 23, 3011

I went to the Burmese Refugee organization in Kuala Lumpur called Chin Women's Organization (CWO) to see their children's school and talk to them about their adult education start-up for refugees. The CWO school seems more safe and well-resourced than most other hidden refugee schools I've seen here. It has a well-organized system of Chin refugee teachers and volunteers. It has a number of rooms for classes, although they still add up to way too cramped a space for 140 students. At night, the refugee teachers sleep there. They seem to feel safe there, saying that the students and teachers rarely get harrassed by local citizens or immigration police, explaining that they feel confident showing their UNHCR school certificate, if necessary, to protect them. I know the UNHCR certificate is meaningless for the government and immigration department since no matter what, refugees are illegal here, but my guess is that it slows down or deters an immigration policeman when they do that. Also, that particular part of the Cheras neighborhood seems to accept the Chin refugee presence, which is extensive. Click HERE for a video of the school and kids.

Most families live nearby the school, with 5 families per 1 bedroom apartment. The husbands often work and sleep in construction sites or work hidden in the back of restaurant kitchens.

Still, the Chin Burmese men still live in fear there. I met with Enrique and Prisilla about their plans to start a refugee adult education program. Enrique works at the US-funded International Refugee Committee as a volunteer translator for Chin moving to the US -- they prepare refugees for the move to the US with a cultural training. He speaks solid English and is very well-educated, having gotten a master's degree in India. Still, he lives in fear in Kuala Lumpur, he says. "I am very scared, especially walking around at night" when the immigration police roam the streets. The immigration police like to target younger Burmese men, especially, is my impression. "I have fear. I have no confidence anymore," Enrique said.

Prisilla said she has no confidence either. I asked her how happy she is living in Malaysia, where she seems to be surrounded by a strong Chin community, work, and contributions to make. She said "I cannot be happy here," not when Burmese are not allowed to live here legally. She says the resettlement process takes about 5 years for the Chin (it never happens for other groups like the Rohingya Burmese here), and she started her process last year. She seemed demoralized over being stuck here indefinitely, forced to take care of her brother in return for his housing her, perhaps being too old to marry now, and with no idea what her future might hold.

I felt bad that there was not much concrete I could offer to help them develop and get funding for their adult refugee education program. At moments, I felt silly, like here I am just drinking juice and eating their fries, not helping anyone. I warned Prisilla of that before I came for the meeting too. Maybe it helped a bit to talk about their curriculum plans and attempts to get volunteer teachers to teach the adults. It might help for me to put them in touch with UNHCR head of expat volunteers who could help them teach, but I doubt it'll work since they are not an official refugee education site yet with UNHCR.

They both walked me back to the LRT subway stop, through their quiet, poor Cheras neighborhood. As we walked, I noticed that the poor housing was being cleared out and a high rise built, because they were so close to the LRT public subway transportation system and a shopping center.

I thought of how ironic it was that they felt like they were protecting me by walking me to the station at night. At the same time, I had dramatic visions of my grandly pulling out my Fulbright card to say they were working with me in US state department work in Cheras, if any immigration policeman came to harrass them.