Mercy Malaysia hopes that more communities in Sarawak’s interior would learn to appreciate the importance of pre-school education for their children.

Retired headmaster, George Phusu’s quiet country home in far-flung Long Lellang is abuzz with activity as it plays host to visitors from nearby villages and from the city of Miri.

More than 30 people including children are gathered at his humble wooden home in Ulu Baram, Miri Division - half of them seated on wooden folding chairs and plastic chairs placed in two rows in the living room, while the rest peer curiously from the veranda through the main door, to see what’s going on.

There is a sound of contentment in George’s husky voice as he welcomed everyone to his home and as he then explained the reason they were gathered there that morning instead of tilling their farmland or gathering jungle produce.

“On behalf of the rural community of Long Lellang and the surrounding Penan villages, I would like to thank Mercy Malaysia, Samling and other donors for helping us to set up a pre-school here and in Long Main.”

George, a Kelabit, explained that the assistance gave much encouragement to the locals to run the pre-schools and ensure their success.

He believed the pre-school project in Long Lellang and Long Main would succeed and eventually turn into a role model for other villages, as long as everyone involved was committed to it.

George was glad that the project was finally off to a good start with all the necessary things in place - from new school uniforms to books, school bags, stationery, hygiene packs, teaching aids, and milk powder and biscuits for breaks.

He believed that neighbouring Penan villages such as Long Benalih, Long Keramu and Long Kepang could also have their own kindergarten by next year, if the parents – some of whom would be recruited and trained as teachers – were committed to have the project implemented.

Long Lellang is accessible by air from the city of Miri via a 40-minute flight. In the past, it was possible to access it using a logging track, but this was no longer an option, as a timber company stopped maintaining it several years ago. Long Lellang, a Kelabit settlement, has a health clinic, primary school and public telephone.

The Malaysian Medical Relief Society or Mercy Malaysia is a non-profit organisation focusing on providing medical relief and sustainable health-related development for vulnerable community.

That particular day, on July 11 2007, Mercy Malaysia Sarawak Chapter arrived at Long Lellang with school supplies for the children there and for those from a nearby Penan village, Long Main.

Seven Kelabit and Penan children aged between three and five are attending the pre-school in Long Lellang, while five children in Long Main, a Penan village which is about an hour’s walk through dense rainforest from Long Lellang.

Informal lessons mainly comprising colouring and learning the ABC started at Long Lellang in March this year at Pastor Lah Deng’s home. However, more has to be done to ensure that the children acquire the basic skills of reading, writing and counting before entering Primary One in later years.

For this, Mercy Malaysia Sarawak Chapter flew in Mary Soong, a volunteer with a background in education. She is the headmistress of a leading Miri kindergarten, Tadika Sri Indah. Her main task is to assist with the pre-school’s curriculum and teachers’ training.

The two-day (July 12 and 13) crash course received good response from teachers from both villages and potential teachers from other Penan villages, such as Long Benalih, Long Sabai, Long Kepang and Long Keramu. They were equally keen to start a kindergarten in their respective villages.

And to everyone’s surprise, several concerned Penan parents with their toddlers also turned up to listen and learn about the pre-school project. They listened and observed with curiosity from the veranda.

During the course, Soong briefed and showed the future teachers how to conduct classes, plan for each lesson, sing children’s songs and make teaching aid using manila cards and easily obtainable items such as leaves, sticks, pebbles and small fruits.

She also stressed on children’s discipline, punctuality, personal hygiene and cleanliness were also emphasised

Mercy Malaysia Sarawak Chapter head, Benjamin Chai called on teachers and parents to take the pre-school project seriously and ensure that going to school becomes a culture among their young ones.

He noted that Penan children often skipped school and, therefore, teachers and parents must play their roles to discipline, and encourage them to attend class everyday.

Citing an example, he said parents must make sure their children wear their uniforms whenever they went to class, and not pyjamas, T-shirts and shorts and bring along their bags so that they would feel excited to learn.

George would donate a wooden house initially meant for ‘Rumah Sakai’ (Penan guesthouse) to be turned into a pre-school for Long Lellang, he said urging everyone to help out on ‘gotong-royong’ basis to clean and paint the house.

"Mercy Malaysia will source out for sponsorship to ensure this project will be a sustainable one and hopefully, by next year, we can set up pre-schools in other villages," he said.

One of the parents at the course, Elizabeth Paran from Long Keramu, is determined to see that her children receive the best education.

The 37-year old housewife said she wanted to help out in setting up a kindergarten at her village, two-and-a-half hour walk from Long Lellang.

She also expressed her desire to teach, as she realised that education was the key to better livelihood.

"I completed Form Three only, but I want my children to have the best education they can get.

"My village doesn't have a pre-school, so I have to send my youngest child to Long Lellang to attend ‘kindy’. But hopefully, my village will have a kindy next year. I also want to see the future of the Penans improve through education."

Elizabeth felt that time had brought many changes and new challenges, thus the Penan community must learn to cope with this progress and aim to be at par with other communities.

Echoing this sentiment, Molly Melai from Long Main thanked Mercy Malaysia and donors for helping out in the project for both villages.

"It's a delightful surprise because most of us didn't expect that our children will be supplied with so many new schooling things."

Molly also said the teaching course was good because it gave her and the other potential teachers an idea of how to conduct formal lessons.

"I only had primary school education and never had any formal training in teaching. The crash course is very useful and gives me more confident to teach.”

Another potential Penan teacher, Agnes Mew from Long Kepang (two hours walk from Long Lellang) said the only way to improve the rural community's livelihood was to help themselves and obtain education.

"Teaching at pre-school will be a new experience but I'm ready to face the challenges for the sake of my people's future," she said.

Agnes hoped that the pre-school project would reach Long Kepang next year, while expressing her gratitude to the contributors and volunteers behind the project.

As for the children, they were just as excited as their parents. Although they were bashful and spoke very little Bahasa Malaysia, joy and excitement were obvious on the children’s beautiful faces when presented with their school supplies.

A Kelabit girl, Vivian Bulan from Long Lellang, shyly nodded her head and answered “Ya” (yes) when asked if she was happy with her new uniform and whether she liked going to school.