Last week we went on a two day trip to some community centres around Malaysia, more specifically in the Pahang province (which is basically the biggest province in the country:)).
It was a nice trip for various reasons: we got to see real life centres and meet the people working there as well as the students; we got to see different parts of Malaysia that probably we would not have seen otherwise (we are also considering starting a new type of tourism based on this - centre tourism!); we got to bond while riding in the van on the bumpy streets of Malaysia (we were about 14 people in it:)).
The trip took us to centres in Panchor, Bukit Rok and Paya Menkuang. If you will try to find the locations on google maps, you will see that Panchor is non-existent :) Or at least not the good Panchor that we went to. The other two are identifiable but no details are really available. From this you can sort of realise the kind of places we went to. Basically, Panchor is in the middle of the jungle! They do have roads there (partly non-paved, partly paved) but that is sort of the only sign of civilisation available (that and the TVs and cellphones that were everywhere, no matter the level of poverty of the houses). It's quite an experience to walk along the jungle, see exotic fruit everywhere (I realised I had never before seen a pineapple in its natural habitat :)), and from once in a while stumble upon a house. Most of you have never seen the village my dad comes from but actually, if you take out the jungle, things were not so different from that, in Panchor, nor in Bukit Rok. Seeing that these are the conditions of life, I find it quite impressive that the community centres there actually work. But the truth is that the people are really excited about the centre and about us too. We got very well fed, everyone wanted to talk to us and I definitely wanted to talk to them (some of them had very interesting life stories!) and their motivation to learn stuff was quite impressive.
Paya Menkuang was sort of the "posh centre" :) It is actually the first one that was opened as part of this project. So it's already 5 years old - it has way more materials and resources than the other ones, and the community is very used to its happenings and lessons. That's also were we spend the night - in sleeping bags on the floor of the centre. Many people are not very excited about this type of accommodation but in a weird way I find it fun, also because it is never for more than a night...people have cool conversations, eat together, joke together and it's just a nice atmosphere. Maybe it just reminds me of childhood days spent at my grandma's with all the family sleeping everywhere, but I really don't mind it too much :)
Some reflections on the trip:
- If you take out the jungle and the impressive highways, Malaysia is not so different from Romania. Villages in Romania are just as poor as here, only the manner of surviving is different. At home, people do agriculture and raise animals to survive. In Malaysia, people used the jungle for their food. Nowadays, most of the real natural jungle is gone, so most of them are very poor, have fruit and a few chickens around and are mainly living off rubber (there's rubber trees everywhere! imported from Latin America around the beginning of the 20th century. And being a rubber taper is the main activity of men in the villages).
- I am very happy I was born in Romania! I am toughened out about so many things! It's actually really funny to see reactions of Westerners (sorry for the stereotype guys but it's just so obvious!!). Obviously, when going to such tiny places, the GPS doesn't help much. So our driver (who is also one of the main teachers here - a lovely Cambodian man) had to stop and ask for directions. People in the van started going "wow, we're lost! can't believe we don't know where we're going!". I was surprised by their reactions at first cause I did not get why they found it weird, then I was just amused :) Many times having a GPS in Romania doesn't help that much either!
- No matter the level of poverty, or the country, people will always make sure they have a TV and a cellphone! It's amazing to see the small poor houses, surrounded by dust and a few animals, and the huge gleaming TV inside. Again, just as in Romania!
- I am sometimes wondering if the people there actually need the education we're offering. I think it does make sense for the ones that actually do not want to stay there and want to move on. But for the ones that continue living there because they are happy and free and enjoy their lifestyle...I am not so sure. I met a mister who had actually moved from the city (where he had a well paid factory job) to the small village to become a rubber taper, just because he wanted a different life for himself and his family.
- People who are CDOs (community development officers - the ones that run the centre basically) are really great people. It's impressive how they derive motivation from their community, how attached they become to the community and the conversations to be had with them are very very nice. Respect!
- Spirits are a big thing here. They are everywhere and are in one way or another responsible for everything. A more elaborate post on this will follow.
- Food cooked in villages is delicious :)
- I ate rambutan right from the tree! It is slowly becoming one of my favourite fruit!