In January, two of our board members – Mike and Bec Lush visited children who are recipients of school sponsorship under the School Support Project, operated through The Charity Club, Langkawi (Malaysia).
The Reading Seed is in its 3rd year of providing support to The Charity Club and sponsoring two families through educational support in Langkawi, making school possible for the children. Zaharah, the mother of one of the families, spoke openly about each of the children during her visit and was very appreciative of the support offered. Zaharah is a single mother; she works hard as a cleaner at a school, without the support provided for her four children, an education would not be possible.
Mike and Bec were fortunate to meet two of her children during the visit to the school, 6 years old Azim, the youngest of the four siblings is in Standard 4 (which is the first year in primary school after two years in kindergarten).
Azrizal, aged 9, the second sibling is in Standard 4 at the same primary school. Both the boys were initially quite shy with the visitors however soon opened up with the assistance of a translator.
Azim was very curious and has an amazing smile that beams from ear to ear. Azim enjoys painting and super heroes; his teacher told us that he is normally shy however has many friends in his class. Azim really enjoys reading.
We talked about animals and pets, Azrizal shared that he had a pet rooster, they used to have many more but the cheeky snakes keep getting in! Azrizal enjoys learning English and often practices by playing scrabble. At their home the boys do not have many games, however they do enjoying playing chess.
It was great to see that the two boys were proud of their school. It is located in a rural town on the island of Langkawi, bordering a beautiful national park rainforest. Azim was especially excited to show off the school’s fishpond. It was great to see the communal lunch eating area; which was decorated with motivational statements in Malaysian and translated into English.
The Reading Seed also supports the older two siblings of this family. Zaharah was able to update Mike and Bec about the eldest boy Azahar, who enjoys his sport, was attending a soccer workshop over the weekend. Azlinda the eldest daughter, studies at a school based on the Malaysian mainland. She has long school study days and is doing exceptionally well. Zaharah mentioned that Azlinda really enjoys mathematics and is interested in the idea of becoming an engineer.
To finish the chat, Mike and Bec asked Zaharah if there was any reason for all the four children’s names beginning with ‘A’, she said that with four kids it was easier to remember!
Thank you very much to Mike and Bec for touching base with these children and seeing the School Support Program firsthand.
If you would like more information about this project please write to us at info@thereadingseed.org.au
