Wishing to make a difference in these children’s lives, Sunita Christine Vincent took action.
A primary school teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Lok Yuk Tamalang in Kudat, Sabah, she has been shipping boxes of school supplies to her students using the baggage allowance that she and her family enjoy once a year when they travel back to Peninsular Malaysia to see family.
Sunita, 48, explained that while her friends in Peninsular Malaysia wished to donate school supplies, the shipping cost to Sabah was high.
To overcome this expense, Sunita uses the “Kemudahan Tambang Antara Wilayah” she and her family receive to ship essential school items to her students in Sabah at no cost to donors.
This benefit, offered to civil service workers like her, provides free return tickets to Peninsular Malaysia, and baggage allowance of between 30 to 40kg per family member. “At most, we usually only use 50kg. So I thought: why not make use of the extra baggage allowance?” she said.
She has been doing this since 2023. One or two months before her trip, she contacts donors. Once she’s home, they pass the items to her. Apart from school supplies, some also contribute books and toys.
She usually ships around 120-150kg of donated items on each trip back to Sabah.
Packing everything into boxes and transporting them is no easy task, requiring the effort of her entire family. However, seeing how happy the kids are to receive the donated books and toys makes it all worthwhile.
“What keeps me going are the smiles on the faces of the children. Even if they don’t say thank you verbally, you know that they are motivated because they keep coming back to school and they’re happy. That’s the best reward,” she said.
“When I show pictures of the happy children to my husband and children, they understand why I do this,” she added.
She recalled how one student, ever grateful for these “gifts”, would give her a hug every morning.
Sunita shared that many of the students in her school are undocumented. Some are stateless, which means they don’t have access to government aid. Their parents, she added, were mainly fisherman and farmers.
Some students also travelled great distances, about 20km, to get to school every day. “During the rainy season when their parents can’t fish, they can’t afford the transport fees, and the children often miss school.”
Sunita said only education would help the children break the cycle of poverty they lived in, and give them a chance at a better future.
“But if they don’t have enough food or have proper clothing, how are they going to be emotionally prepared to study? Cognitive development depends on proper nutrition and motivation, among others,” she said.
Sunita is no stranger to going the extra mile for her students. During the pandemic, when many had no access to online learning tools, she personally delivered hard copies of their lessons to them. To boost their morale, she brought along biscuits and healthy drinks.
Next, she plans to implement a programme by MYReaders, an NGO dedicated to empowering children by providing structured and sustainable reading programmes.
Sunita said she was thankful that the NGO has sponsored books and other resources for her students. She is currently working to raise around RM640 to cover the cost of teacher training sessions.
For this dedicated teacher, her efforts are about planting the seeds of hope in her students’ lives, so that they can build a brighter future for themselves.
“In Kudat, there are many children who are suffering, especially those who are undocumented and stateless. If you can help us in any way, we need it. Even small acts of kindness will bring a big impact,” she said.
If you’d like to help Sunita Christine Vincent, send her a WhatsApp at 016-2352016.