Hope in the darkness – mobile library helps kids

As night arrives, some spare land in an alleyway gradually lights up; zooming in with the camera, young earnest faces can be seen sitting on the ground reading and writing - this is Jalan Chow Kit (Chow Kit Road) in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur. Amidst a rapidly developing city environment, this space has become a gathering point for those on the bottom rung of society, where homeless children are unable to obtain an education through normal channels. To address this, a local NGO has transformed  an empty piece of land on Chow Kit Road into a place where children can study and obtain a basic education. 

However, books, tables and other items used for teaching are stored some way off from the street venue and difficult to transport. To resolve this issue, the local NGO collaborated with the Department of Architecture, TamKang University, which enrolled the help of teachers and students to design trolleys that could conveniently transport the teaching materials. The teachers and students used the summer vacation to visit Kuala Lumpur and build the trolleys, not only resolving the problem of transporting the teaching materials, but also giving these vulnerable children a much-needed glimmer of hope.

以下為中英文對照

夜色來臨，巷子裡的空地上卻逐漸燈火通明，鏡頭拉近，一張張稚嫩的臉蛋和認真的神情，坐在地上的小桌子前讀著書、寫著字，這裡是位在馬來西亞吉隆坡的秋傑路。這裡在都市快速發展的環境下，成了社會底層階級的聚集地，許多沒有戶口的小孩無法通過正常管道去上學。為了讓這些孩童受教育，當地的NGO就在秋節路上找了一塊空地，提供一個讓他們可以讀書的地方。

   但由於收納書本和桌子等等物品的地方，離空地有一段距離，造成他們在搬運上有很大的困難，於是與台灣淡江大學建築系合作，請建築系師生為他們做出能夠方便移動的行動書車。師生們利用暑假期間前往吉隆坡，完成後的行動書車，不只讓他們可以輕鬆搬移用品，也為弱勢孩童帶來一絲希望。