Just a year ago, this teenager could not have imagined this luxury. Like many others in his family, he would have been dead by now.
But life was kind to him as someone in the community grabbed his hand during a strike by military elements and pushed him into a rickety boat to Malaysia.
Uzaifah is one of the 75 Rohingya children at an education centre here. He teaches survivors to have the will to move forward and excel in life through education.
The centre is open six days a week from 9am to 5pm to teach these children languages, science and maths, according to a syllabus prepared by the United Nations.
The children also learn music, art and communications skills.
“They learn very quickly,” says the founder of the year-old Humanitarian Aid for Rohingya community, Badariah Abdul Hamid.
She said some of the children here were victims of rape, abuse and violence. Some live at the centre while others return to their families after classes.
“When they first came to the centre, they were terrified, dull and depressed. Today, there is a change in their attitude and they look forward to life.
“Furthermore, they can read and write. Some of them can hardly believe it themselves.”
The children are also taught not to be tricked or influenced by criminal gangs who often prey on troubled children. “We have managed to keep them off vices and scams.”
Badariah said other than teaching the children, the centre has become a “beacon of hope” for others in the community as most of the services offered there are free.
The older people attend family planning classes, dental and medical check-ups, undergo counselling to escape domestic violence or get guidance on how to give birth.
The centre has a qualified midwife, who charges RM500 per delivery as compared with the RM3,500 fee at public hospitals.
“Some of them pay us in instalments. Sometimes, if they have no money, it is free. It is based on a case to case basis.”
There are times, she said, when Rohingya wives would come to the centre crying for help after their husbands are taken to detention camps.
“Sometimes, they don’t have money to visit their husbands. We will give them cash assistance to visit their husbands.”
The centre at Taman Selayang runs on donations.
Badariah said they had been raising funds through crowd funding and are thinking of approaching companies to help them raise the RM35,000 needed monthly to run the three-storey centre.
The centre also gives out 200 bags of food aid weekly, consisting of rice, cooking oil and other basic necessities for the Rohingya families.