KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — “I want to eat, do colouring activities and learn how to read,” said nine-year-old Asri when asked about why he attended a rehabilitation class in Kampung Air Hujung Semporna, Sabah.
Another student at the Semporna Alternatif School, Safirah, 13, said: “I sniffed glue due to its candy-like taste. Now, I’m happy to attend this rehabilitation class.” Perhaps the reason why these children were involved in glue sniffing and attended the rehabilitation class might be trivial for some, but for a group of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) alumni activists who run the school, the willingness of the less-fortunate children to attend the class was an initial success.
The activists’ goal is to gradually rehabilitate these children and help them quit their habit of sniffing glue, equip them with basic knowledge such as reading, counting, writing as well as expose them to the importance of hygiene through the modules provided.
At the same time, children who do not have the opportunity to pursue formal education like others due to various problems including personal documents and regulations of the authorities, will be protected from such an unhealthy habit.
Alternatif School teacher, Mukmin Nantang, 28, said they rented a house in the village and turned it into a rehabilitation class early this year.
Elaborating, he said, among the reasons behind the initiative was to provide the children with a safe space to learn and eventually stop sniffing glue.
“Why do they sniff glue? Because they are hungry and poor, they want to do something to forget their hunger, and secondly because there is no education. So we incorporate these factors into our modules to ensure that these children can eat and learn.
“I can say that 50 per cent of these children have slowly broken the habit. Some are still sniffing glue but our KPI (key performance indicators) is not to get these children to stop doing it immediately,” he told Bernama when contacted.
Another activist, Siti Suhaimah Mustapa, said currently, the rehabilitation class was held every Wednesday, involving students aged six to 13, and would probably be held more frequently in the coming months, depending on the activists’ ability.
“At first, we are the ones who go around finding these children and with their parents or guardians' consent, we bring them to join our class. Now, they come to the school on their own,” she said. — Bernama
