PETALING JAYA, Oct 2 — Like many around the world, life threw Nadia* a curveball when Covid-19 broke out across Malaysia.
The 17-year-old from Pakistan has been living in Kuala Lumpur since 2014 with her brothers and mother in search of a better life.
The well-spoken teen who loves baking, spoke to Malay Mail about her lockdown experience when the movement control order (MCO) was implemented in March this year to curb the spread of the virus.
Just like her school-going peers, Nadia found adapting to e-learning tough, yearning for face-to-face interaction with her friends and teachers.
Adding salt to the wound, her older brother who is the family’s breadwinner, lost his job, forcing their family to seek financial help elsewhere.
He has since returned to work but is only receiving 60 per cent of his usual salary.
Nadia is one of 1,700 students under the care of non-governmental organisation Dignity for Children that provides displaced and stateless children with holistic care and affordable education to break the cycle of poverty.
Despite tough times, Nadia is thankful for being able to spend time bonding with her loved ones.
“I don’t normally get to spend time with them during regular school hours so that’s the good part.
“But when you’re not good financially, that also doesn’t give you happiness when you have no food to eat,” she said.
Delayed resettlement and exam woes
Admittedly, staying home all the time was a challenge as she couldn’t go out but praised her teachers for being pillars of support.
“We had homeroom where we can share how we’re feeling for the day so when we have someone to talk to, we get our burden lightened which so that was good,” she said, adding that counselling services provided by her school also helped.
Currently in her final year of school and preparing for the IGCSE exams, Nadia is worried she won’t be able to afford her exam fees.
She also fears the pandemic will delay her family’s resettling to another country.
“It’s been taking so long and now with the borders shut, it will take even longer to resettle,” she said.
Her classmate John* who is from Myanmar, also found online learning a challenge with unstable internet connectivity and low mobile credits.
“There was a lot of help from teachers.
“It might be easier for others to adapt but harder for some of us,” said John, who has been in KL since 2012.
His father temporarily lost his job and his mother, who works in a dog café, is supporting the family of five.
“My mum is the only one working and since my father’s boss fired him temporarily because of the pandemic, so my dad is helping my mum with her work.”
The 17-year-old who enjoys photography and hopes to study mechanical engineering is glad classes are back to normal.
“The worry I have now is exams — online learning was tough and my studies didn’t go smoothly,” said John who’s also worried about the exam fees.
At Dignity, the IGCSE curriculum is adopted as it is recognised worldwide in the event of resettlement.
The non-profit also provides vocational skills which will enable students to survive and thrive financially in case they aren’t able to pursue a tertiary education here due to financial shortcomings.
Fighting two battles at the same time
Outside of their homes, rising xenophobia in the country is another element that John and Nadia’s community have to weather amid a pandemic.
“I heard many people were blaming refugees for spreading the pandemic because most of the refugees are the ones infected and people were saying refugees didn’t follow instructions.
“It’s quite upsetting because not all refugees are the same but we have been grouped into an entire category,” said Nadia, who hopes to open her own bakery one day.
John added that the silver lining was seeing people come together to fight the common enemy that is Covid-19.
Since the pandemic swept across Malaysia, the number of families who have pleaded for help from Dignity has risen exponentially.
Over 10,000 beneficiaries, including Nadia and John, received food and a school fee waiver from Dignity during the MCO.
“Most of them have experienced sudden unemployment and this has put them in financial restrain that has impeded them to access basic necessities such as food, paying rent and health services,” Dignity for Children social worker Rebecca Segran told Malay Mail.
“It’s been a two-tiered battle where they also had to battle the financial restraint and climate of xenophobia so they’re fighting two battles concurrently.”
Rebecca explained many have sought refuge in Malaysia not for financial gain but to escape war-torn countries and abusive environments.
“It’s a life-preserving step so it’s almost pushing them to the corner when the climate is xenophobic.
“The contrast would be that pre-MCO, we didn’t have people asking for food and supplies,” said Dignity for Children communications and marketing director Liew Tong Ngan.
“We are very encouraged that Malaysians, even though they themselves are facing difficulties just like us, are stepping up and helping others.”
“The beauty of this field of work is you will see both the worst, the tragedy and the beauty of humanity and the strength of it,” added Rebecca.
* Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
