KUALA LUMPUR – It’s not everyday one stumbles upon a classroom of students who have had harrowing experiences in their life that saw them fleeing their country of origin and seeking refuge in another.
Hence, it makes so much sense for American film academic Ray Kril to document the stories of refugee children into a potential short film.
Currently living in Malaysia, Kril worked as an associate professor at a media and broadcasting faculty of a private university prior to teaching English to a classroom of refugee children.
It was during his days of being with these children that Kril managed to complete a feature film synopsis titled Isle of Delusion, covering the plight of refugees stranded on an island.
The plan is for the feature film to be shot next year and co-produced by Australia and Malaysia.
“The inspiration for this feature movie came from my experience with the United Arakan Institute of Malaysia (UAIM), a newly opened refugee school in Puchong Perdana,” said Kril, who volunteered as an English teacher for eight months at the institute, a registered NGO.
The Vibes met up with Kril, Abusumaiya, the founder of UAIM, and his team of refugee teachers at the school, where classes were in progress for the refugee students.
When I first visited the school, the classrooms were makeshift tents, and the students could hardly communicate in English.
“But over time, they responded to the many films I played for them during class,” said Kril, adding that the students slowly opened up to him and began speaking in English.
Abusumaiya, a Rohingya refugee teacher, together with his childhood friend and fellow refugee teacher, Mohammed Salim founded UAIM in 2017 that was located in a shoplot at that time.
Together with another refugee friend, Syed Mohammed who joined as the school’s principal, UAIM opened its doors to some 40 refugee children.
“I was born in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, but my family originated from Myanmar.
“We are Rohingya who fled persecution, but I was lucky enough to be educated right up to being trained as a teacher at the camp.”
Due to his training as a teacher, he was appointed as a trainee teacher to the many refugee children in various camps, but unfortunately problems arose regarding the salaries and working conditions of teachers in the camps.
“I was forced to flee as the authorities did not support our requests for better pay and conditions, and equality with the pay of local teachers, so there was unrest and unhappiness with the conditions of work,” said Abusumaiya.
At that time, Abusumaiya’s wife and two children were living in the refugee camp, and he had to leave them behind for their own safety.
When Abusumaiya arrived in Malaysia in 2013, times were hard but he worked two jobs so that he could send money home to his family.
Later, he successfully obtained the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees card, which allowed him freedom of movement and it was then that Abusumaiya was approached to give regular tuition classes to refugee students.
“It saddened me that refugee children could not attend school in Malaysia. So having been educated myself, I knew how important it is for them to get education.”
The refugee students who applied to attend the school are mostly Rohingya, but many originated from Indonesia, Yemen, Syria and even Pakistan.
However, the running of the refugee school hit a roadblock in 2019, when the operating costs started spiralling.
Due to financial constraints, UAIM was eventually forced to move out of its shoplot premises.
The school was, however, rescued from its dire situation by a good Samaritan, Malaysian Mohd Zainal Khamis, who responded to their call for help.
With the help from the local community, Zainal raised funds sufficient to lease a piece of land, located in Kg Seri Aman, Puchong with a building on it, which was renovated and turned into classrooms.
Using the donations, books and other materials were also purchased for students’ use.
Abusumaiya and his team heaved a sigh of relief as more volunteer teachers came forward and Kril is one of them.
“I was in between jobs and was so impressed by the determination of the team to establish a refugee school that I volunteered to teach English and be a mentor to the children,” he said.
As Kril documented the various harrowing tales of the refugee children and how they had escaped with their families, crossing rivers, and climbing mountains to escape danger, he decided to write the synopsis for a feature film.
“Talking to the children, some as old as 16 years of age and others as young as 6, I realised how important education means to them and even when Covid-19 struck, many went online to study with the help of sponsors, who purchased devices and Wi-Fi for them,” said Kril, adding that he hopes his dream of producing his feature film will come to fruition next year. – The Vibes, November 21, 2021
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