Reflection 2

Assalamualaikum dear readers,

Upon entering the course Usrah in Action 2, I felt excited to take the next step. In the previous semester, my usrah team members split into three groups: health, economics and education. These groups had to come up with ideas to improve the mentioned aspects of the Rohingya community located at Sungai Ular. I was apart of the Health team, alongside, Sarah, Nabilah, Amira, Najihah and Fathul. Unfortunately, I could not make it to the first visit to Sungai Ular and missed the initial interview session. However the information gained in the first visit was that the people of Rohingya stuggle financially. This resulted in poor education and health. Majority of the women compared did not speak Bahasa Melayu or English, so there was a language barrier between us, the students and the Rohingya community. We noticed that although they struggled financially, a typical Rohingya family would consist of 4 children or more. The questionnaire prepared by us included a section regarding family planning. After the interview, it is apparent that they lack knowledge concerning contraceptive devices. Furthermore, it has been reported that the women are less informed regarding menstrual hygiene.

With the information gained from the first visit to Sungai Ular, the health team decided to focus on spreading awareness of the different contraceptive methods available and increasing the knowledge of menstrual hygiene to the Rohingya women. Meanwhile the education team planned to focus on providing transport to an education centre for the children of the community. The economy team wanted to hold workshops that teach the women to create a small business. 

However, due to certain complications, only the health team's plan was going to be executed. The three teams of students became two groups instead: the contraceptive team and the menstrual hygiene team. Our plan involved the students from the Rohingya Education Centre (REC) to overcome the language barrier as the students from REC speaks fluent Bahasa Melayu. We would present the information to the students and rely on them to relay the knowledge to the community during a awareness program. Unfortunately we were only able to carry out the former part of our plan because the Rohingya people of Sungai Ular did not want us to hold the event due to unknown reasons.

The experience at REC was one I will not forget. The children were really enthusiastic to learn and listened attentively. We were only able to present the menstrual hygiene slides due to time constraint. At the end of the presentation, we had a mini quiz with prizes to check their understanding. I believe it is really important for girls to know all about menstruation and menstrual hygiene as it plays a big part in their life. Since they're all Muslim girls, it is important for them to know the different types of blood so they know exactly how they should purify themselves. Poor purification could affect one's prayers and ibadahs.

Figure 1: Menstrual Hygiene talk at REC

Figure 2: Usrahmates at REC

During the big exhibition day, we had to present our mission to the panel. We earned a silver award on that day. This was a very rewarding experience as I got to observe people who are less privilege than me. Even though many aspects of our plan did not work out, I believe that this is a good first step to help the Rohingya community adapt better in Malaysia. I hope that the Rohingya people continue to gain more knowledge and awareness regarding issues they lack knowledge of. 

                                        

Figure 3: Exhibition day.

Signing off,

Syahmie binti Syabani.

(2010994)