Semporna

Today I left the island for the first time in over a month to spend the day in Semporna for errands. Semporna is where I was originally picked up by boat upon arrival and is where the camp shopping is done on Mondays and Thursdays. I rode by boat with Mel, a Canadian volunteer, and Robin, who is on camp staff, along with a few of the local staff members.

We arrived around 10am and headed immediately to MayBank for an ATM. In Semporna, credit cards are essentially useless as no businesses accept them other than hotels. Because of this, we arrived at the bank and waited in a thirty person line for the ATM. On top of this, before entering Robin told me to expect to be cut in line, which happened probably 15-20 times. We were seemingly invisible as countless Malaysian people stepped around us and cut our spot in line. The whole process took over half an hour, but at least the bank had air conditioning?

Once we had that cash money we headed to Restoran Bismallah for a late breakfast. The specialty here is roti, which I would dumb down as the Malaysian form of a quesadilla or burrito? Made of flour and water like a thin pancake or tortilla, roti is stuffed with a variety of choice fillings, including egg, veggies, meats, banana, cheese, plain, etc and served with dipping sauces. I got a veggie one served with a mystery spicy sauce that was delicious. I also ordered an apple juice and got something that was definitely not apple juice.

Afterwards we split up to complete errands for the camp, including trips to the pharmacy, grocery store, department stores and fruit markets. Mel and I were stared at and heckled most places we went, being the lone blonde haired blue eyed girls who had no idea where they were going. In the afternoon we found a spot on the water to sit and have a beer.

Overall it was a pretty uneventful day, but some of the sights there were extremely eye opening. Semporna is insanely poor, and I’ve ever visited an area like it before. There are layers and layers of trash that cover the water and streets there unlike I’ve ever seen.

Some sights that stand out:

– a woman laying in the road with two toddlers around her, holding a baby that looked to be no more than two weeks old

– pregnant and starving dogs and puppies digging through trash filled water for food

– boys no older than ten huffing gasoline and glue out of plastic bags

– unsupervised kids everywhere at all times of day- it was Thursday and none of these kids had parents around or were in school. A four year old carrying a two year old, groups of young boys running around alone, a barefoot three year old, no parents in sight

– homeless women laying across store openings asking for money

– preteen aged waiters and waitresses at every restaurant and cafe

This trip really put a lot into perspective for me. These people live thirty minutes by boat from where I am living, which is seemingly an island paradise, yet they will most likely never see it. These kids have no control over where they were born, yet they will likely never know how bad they have it. We spend our days on Pom Pom making small efforts in the sea, yet there is a whole mainland less than an hour away drowning in their own garbage. It makes you feel fortunate enough to have won the life lottery of being born into a country of opportunity and a family who provides for you, while also making it feel like your efforts are barely putting a dent into a global issue. As disturbing as a lot of today was, I’ll probably never forget it and hope that others get to experience seeing life so different from our normal day to day that we take for granted.