US ambassador to Malaysia visits refugee school

Jan 31, 2018

By Sherril Netto
January 17, 2018 will forever be etched in the memories of the staff and students of NTA School for Refugee Children as they welcomed the US Ambassador to Malaysia, Her Excellency Madam Kamala Shirin Lakhdir.

The ambassador took a personal interest in the young students. She spoke to each one of them saying how proud she was of their determination to obtain a good education and their perseverance in spite of adversity. “No matter the situation, you continue to persevere and do your best to obtain an education,” said Her Excellency.

In return, the students, having overcome their initial shyness, surrounded the ambassador and were more than happy to show off their creative skills using lego building blocks and other crafts.

After spending a considerable time with the students and staff, the ambassador and her entourage, which included her Political Secretary Mr Andrew Leyva, Political Specialist Mr Brian Yap and Economic Section Office Management Specialist, Ms Meghan Connolly, adjourned to the NTA PieceWorks Training Centre, also in Alor Setar.

The ambassador was impressed with the Centre that had been set-up with the funds received when NTA was awarded the prestigious Julia Taft Award in 2016. The Julia Taft Fund supports community-based projects that provide sustainable assistance to refugees, internally displaced persons, vulnerable migrants and stateless persons.

At NTA Pieceworks Training Centre, the ambassador met the current advanced training candidates and, here too, she spent time speaking to the ladies, understanding where they had come from, their struggles and their aspirations. She also distributed the certificates of completion and baking starter kits to the candidates for completing the Baking 101 course and sampled some of the cakes that the ladies had just finished baking and decorating.

Madam Kamala ended her two-hour visit by speaking to the Board of Directors of NTA about the current refugee situation in the northern region and what else can be done to not only address their plight, but to assist these communities to once again gain the confidence to live an independent life.

The New Thessalonian Apostolate (NTA) is a Catholic missionary organisation which was founded 23 years ago as an Association of the Faithful. It was fully recognised by Bishop Sebastian Francis in 2017 and was placed directly under the Titular of the Roman Catholic Church.

NTA runs a number of programmes and initiatives to help and empower disadvantaged communities, including NTA schools for refugee children, free medical clinics, maternity care, vaccinations for infants, advisory centres, emergency aid and various other programmes, besides running different formation programmes for the local parishes. NTA PieceWorks is the nonprofit social enterprise arm of NTA. It was founded to support NTA’s goals of helping the vulnerable through empowerment and capacity building.