RESIDENT PROFILES
ADIK SITI HANISAH
Age: 12 • School: SK Sungai Merab Luar
Her own parents sent Siti Hanisah to Pusat Jagaan Kanak-kanak Yatim / Miskin Rukaiyah about a year ago, because they could not afford to care for her. They were poor and living on the streets. Her father was a recovering drug addict and alcoholic and her mother worked as a masseuse.“ I’ m much closer to my father,” she confided,“ He comes to visit me often.” She has two siblings – one of them is at another orphanage in Kajang while the other lives with her grandmother.
Despite their circumstance, or perhaps because of them, Siti’ s parents realised the importance of education for their daughter’ s future. That was the main reason they sent her to the orphanage – so that she would get an education. Siti attends school regularly now and the donations of generous individuals to the Rukaiyah centre pays for her, and the other students’, uniforms, fees and books.
Siti is determined not to let poverty become a barrier between her and her ambition: to become a good teacher.
PERDANA MAGAZINE 2016 35