What started out as a humble plan to help her pupils at SK Lok Yuk Tamalang in Kudat ended up benefiting almost 700 families affected by the Covid-19 lockdowns in the state’s northernmost district.
The 46-year-old teacher, who hails from Negeri Sembilan, could have stepped back and taken comfort in that success, but she’s now eager to open a soup kitchen to make sure the children have at least one balanced meal a day. She plans to start the project next month.
Although most people are now able to go back to work to earn their living, many families in the district are struggling to make ends meet.
Sunita said many of her pupils’ parents depended on fishing and subsistence farming.
“The end of the year monsoon rains are starting and I feel sorry for the families,” she told FMT.
“We are so blessed that we have our monthly salaries and yet we still feel the pinch. So imagine what the underprivileged families go through.”
About 80 of the 148 pupils in her school are children of parents with no personal identification documents. This makes it difficult for them to receive government aid. The children also do not qualify for the government’s supplementary food programme.
“The soup kitchen will ensure that every child in my school, regardless of qualification for food aid, goes back with at least one proper meal every schooling day,” she said.
She has obtained the blessings of headmaster James Umbigat, who will let her use the school canteen.
Sunita said she intended to rope in single mothers or mothers without work to help cook and pack the food. “Maybe we will give them some money for their help so they can also receive some income.”
She will concentrate only on the children at her school, but is not counting out others if the project is successful. It may turn out to be like the food basket programme, which was meant only for the families of children at SK Lok Yuk Tamalang until other schools in Kudat got wind of it.
“I didn’t realise that so many people needed help,” she said. “More and more started asking for the food baskets. So it became a big project and we reached out to many people.”
Sunita will be dependent on public donations for the soup kitchen, like in the food basket programme. She’s calling on kind-hearted souls to do their bit for charity once again.
“Many people can afford it, but don’t know who or where to help. So, if everybody can chip in a little, it will really make a difference.”
She said she was planning to try out the soup kitchen for six months to see how it would go.
Asked why she would go through all the trouble again, Sunita said she thought about how it would be to fall on hard times with no one out there to help.
“They are children, and I have five of my own. I cannot imagine my children going through this. My heart doesn’t allow me to see pupils go hungry. The children shouldn’t suffer. It’s not their fault. They deserve better in this world.”
Despite the gaping disparity between Kudat and her hometown, Sunita, who was posted to the district in 2014, is in no hurry to return to Negeri Sembilan.
“Sometimes I feel I did not come here by accident,” she said. “It must have been my calling.
“The only way we can change things for the children is by educating them now. They have to learn their rights and education is the key that is going to help them.”
Anyone wishing to contribute to Sunita’s project can contact her directly at 016-2352016.