Homesick, lost and heartbroken. This is the brutal reality that 79.5 million people in the world live through when they’re forcibly displaced from the only homes they’ve known.

Desperately fleeing to any country that will accept them, refugees run for their lives to escape the life-threatening situations that rage in their homelands.

Sadly, nearly half of this population is made up of children, who have dreams bigger than themselves. But instead of dreaming, they exist in a state of constant fear, unsure if they’ll live to see another day.

FMT spoke to former Miss Universe-Malaysia Deborah Priya Henry, 35, co-founder of Fugee School, who is appealing for donations so that 200 young refugees from around the world can continue to attend school there.

“Anyone can be a refugee,” says Deborah, noting that most of the 33,640 refugee children in Malaysia will grow up illiterate and unable to write even their own names.

However, Fugee School has been trying hard to change this sad reality since 2009.

As a UNHCR-supported refugee school, Fugee School educates children from troubled nations like Somali, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Palestine.

Through the power of education, Fugee School has already helped shape the lives of 500 children who’ve sought refuge in Kuala Lumpur.

However, due to the economic turmoil brought on by the pandemic, this livelihood of this non-profit initiative is hanging by a thread.

“Our fundraising and funding from corporate donors have all dried up and we’re unable to hold fundraising events due to the pandemic,” Deborah says.

“Fugee School is literally living month to month and every month we have to scramble to get enough money to pay for teachers, education resources like laptops and textbooks, rent and other bills,” she says, explaining that the school requires around RM30,000 a month to stay in operation.

Of the 11 teachers at the school, half are refugees themselves.

Apart from running Fugee School, the Fugee ‘team’ also provides additional support to struggling families in their community.

“We’ve been raising funds to pay for food, medicine, rental and the basic survival of these families as many parents have lost their jobs,” Deborah says, adding that the pandemic has been a huge blow to their livelihoods.

The team has also been feeding four Pakistani families and a few weeks prior, had paid the delivery bills of a refugee who had just given birth.

“The problem is that we don’t know how much money we’re going to have next week,” Henry says about the predicament Fugee School is facing at the moment.

She says that even a RM50 monthly donation from those who can spare the cash, would help provide more stability for the non-profit.

“You can help make a difference. Your equivalent of RM50 a month could just be a meal or a coffee and a cake,” Henry says, explaining that to someone in need however, RM50 can help them live on for another month. All the same, she stresses that every single donation, big or small, is welcome.

If you’ve lost your job because of the pandemic, or taken a huge pay cut and cannot possibly see yourselves parting with cash, consider volunteering instead.

She says there are numerous activities and programmes to run and manpower is always in short supply and therefore most definitely welcome.

“For most of us, we are very blessed and privileged in how we live but now we need to find it within ourselves to support another person and help them rebuild their lives regardless of their religion, race and the colour of their skin,” she says.

“Education is the most powerful tool that we can use to change the world and it’s truly the greatest gift that you can give someone.”

Make a donation here to help keep Fugee School open so 200 young refugees can continue to study there.

Fugee School
36A, Jalan Jernai 2
Medan Idaman Business Centre
53100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Tel: 03-4032 2107