Your Hell is Someone's Heaven
Today I visited a refugee school that house 96 students. It is located in the poorer parts of the city. The school is right on top of a restaurant. They took about 3 floors.
When I walked up the stairs to the school, the first thing it hit me was the smell. It is a unique smell that I could not describe. It is unpleasant. The doors to the school were mechanically locked and I have to take off my shoes to enter.
There were wiring all over the place and the walls are due for a good coat of paint. As I observed from the classroom door, the students are happy and eager to learn. They have to wear their traditional school costume to attend the classes. Before each class starts, the student has to meditate for about 5 minutes. All the teachers are volunteers, some teachers are local and some are from their home country.
I sat down and talked to the head teacher. He told me some stories of these refugees. All the kids have parents, but the parents are busy working either in restaurant or rubber tapping in the Northen states of Malaysia.
I asked for a list of resources that they need. All the items that they need are things that we all take for granted. They urgently need a water filter system, cough medicine and fever medicine. Other items such as single lined exercise books, marker pens, washing powder, sanitary pads etc are also short in supply.
The school is being supported by the refugee's parents and also receive small amounts of help from the nearby Buddhist temples.
As I look around the school, I wondered what future lies for these children. They are learning to speak their local language, English, Mandarin, Malay, Math and Science. They were all excited to see me and wanted to practise their English with me. They speak surprisingly well.
The living condition is poor by local standard. Yet, everyone carries a smile and look hopeful. This place is my definition of hell, but it is these people's heaven. A place that they can stay and escape prosecution.
The school's main hall which also serve as the sleeping dorm for the male children sits three buddhas. As I look at the buddhas, I pray for the school and everyone. I do not know whether my prayers will be answered.
I made a commitment to the school that I will pay for the school's internet expenses for as long as the school is open. A friend asked why I would want to make such commitment? I told him that I made a private deal with the buddha. How would I know buddha will honour the deal? I will never know. The very least, I want to give a fighting chance for all the kids that I met today. These students have showed me what it means to be in heaven. It is a state of mind. It is about not giving up, not knowing when they can ever go back to their home country. Yet, they still carry that hope and smile to face life's uncertainty. That's bravely and that's heaven.