The students of SMK Tandek High School are rising, and no one can stop them! They have worked hard to rise from one of the lowest ranked schools in Malaysia to being “a School of Excellence”, winning this award from the Malaysian government just this year. In order to honor their hard work and achievement, my year here as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant has been dedicated to exposing my students to bright possibilities and opportunities outside of their small villages, motivating them to reach higher and farther, as well as teaching them the responsibilities they have as the next generation of sustainable stewards and advocates. I am engaging students in projects on:


·  Conservation: scuba diving and mountain climbing expeditions, tree planting, organic farming, and school clean ups
·  Human Rights: translating the UN Rights of the Child into a Malaysia-centric illustrated children's book created by students for students
·  Basketball: encouraging confidence, leadership, and English proficiency through sports while introducing students to new people and places
·  School Rehabilitation: creating new murals and revitalizing old art to reflect resurging school spirit while cultivating artistic creativity
·  Life Skills Courses & Self Sufficiency: preparing students for transition into adult responsibilities with training in healthy organic cooking, first aid, online literacy, mental and emotional health coaching, etc.


Anything you can give is appreciated! The exchange rate in America is $1 = RM 4.2, which can buy 5 packets of seeds for the garden! $5 = 1 gallon of paint! $10 = ingredients for 1 cooking life skills workshop! $20 = RM 84 = 1 pair of new Basketball shoes! $100 = 1 student’s conservation trek on Mount Kinabalu!

(Pre-university students at their class Traditional Food Exhibition. Guess who was the lucky taste-tester!)

Laughing faces, silly jokesters, shy shy cats, adorable rascals, the best students in the entire universe. These are the things that come to my mind when I think of the students I've had the pleasure of teaching while living here as a Fulbright ETA in Sabah, Malaysia. As some of you know, I've been working at SMK Tandek, a lower band high school in the rural farming town of Kota Marudu in Borneo, for about 8 months now.

(Sophomores acting out their skit on what makes a healthy friendship. These kids are hilarious!)

Out of all the incredible experiences I've had in Malaysia, the time with my students shines the brightest. They are wicked smart, resourceful, motivated, hilariously funny, but most of all, they are the kindest, most compassionate teenagers I've ever met. They are kind of students that want to plant trees because “we have to protect our home", that cry over power points on the effect of pollution on whales and sea turtles, that never fail to tell me "Miss you look beautiful today!" on my worst, most sleep deprived days.

(My girls' team is strong, fierce, and goofy. They just smile when people say girls can't play sports.)

This kindness has developed despite serious challenges. Most of my students come from "kampung" or village communities, often with limited electricity, water, and income. Though they never complain, many students can't afford things like athletic shoes or more than one school uniform.  I've often seen students get massive blisters playing sports barefoot on concrete, or come to school day after day with the same torn or stained uniforms.  Many students also live separately from their families for months in the school dorms, only going home for holidays, because their families can't afford to house them or their village is too inaccessible.

(The front of our school does not match the brilliant excellence of the teachers, students, and staff inside. Hopefully this is one of many areas we can revitalize!)


(SMK Tandek is an old school without many resources. These are the girl's school dorms which have yet to be rebuilt after a huge fire.)

Their horizons are in many ways limited to the flat valley they live in. They have never seen the gorgeous nearby rainforests and beaches that tourists regularly come across the world to see, and can only look up and away at mountains, leaving them for others to climb, even though Mt. Kinabalu is sacred to many of their indigenous cultures. Many have never been out of the small town of Kota Marudu, and some never expect to. One of the most heartbreaking experiences I've had here was asking one of the brightest students in the school, a student that makes me laugh daily with his sarcasm and witty commentary, what university he was going to, only to hear that he had no hopes of leaving his village and couldn't even imagine himself at a university. He could more likely see himself joining the many ranks of small stall vendors that line the streets in his home town.

(Reflecting on our achievement at the top of Mount Kinabalu, the landmark symbol of our state, Sabah. Most locals will never climb the mountain, as it costs too much for anyone but tourists.)

In order to honor their dedication and achievement, I’ve dedicated my time here to creating a multifaceted project plan designed to give the SMK Tandek students opportunities to widen their horizons, become stewards of their local environment and global community, and learn to advocate for themselves as they assume ownership of their communities. This plan has included multiple interrelated projects.  

I have taken students scuba diving and mountain climbing in Borneo’s protected conservation lands, usually much too expensive for anyone but tourists to do, to give hands-on lessons in the importance of conservation. The connected community gardening and healthy affordable cooking workshop series teaches these farmer’s kids that gardening can also be a fun hobby, supplementing a healthy and affordable diet. The conservation workshop connects students with local forestry resources while also giving the students who participated in my conservation programs a platform they can use to share their experience and knowledge with their peers. A tree planting workshop and school clean up, along with renovating faded murals and designing and painting new ones, lets students claim ownership and express pride in their rising school. A workshop on the UN Convention on the Rights of Children will become a Malaysia-centric booklet, with students translating into the main languages of our community and illustrating in ways that will educate and engage children for years to come. Life skills workshops help prepare students for their transition into university and careers, increasing their chances of success. And coaching 4 basketball teams, older and younger boys and girls, promotes leadership skills, reinforces the benefits of dedication and practice, and gives students a chance to travel beyond their villages and meet new people through their tournaments.

(A mango tree planting in celebration of our Earth Day Camp!)

Many of these projects are already underway, but SMK Tandek students need your help to complete the work they’ve already strived so hard to begin. Anything you can give goes a long way, and helps show the students that there are people out there rooting for them as they rise.