Mahi Ramakrishnan, One of Our Malaysia’s Mothers of Dragons, on What Makes Her Happy

This is what makes Mahi happy.

But these last few weeks, she finds herself feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Refugee rights activist Mahi Ramakrishnan has been tirelessly raising funds and delivering food aid to refugees and migrants all across Malaysia, many of whom are left jobless and without money now. “I think the helplessness and poverty faced by people are getting to me,” she told us.

Just two days before the pandemic was declared, we launched our video on mothers who are activists. Mahi is one of Malaysia’s Mothers of Dragons and this is her quote from the video. Before the pandemic, she worked with refugees to create platforms for their artistic expression, such as The Refugee Fest. But now she and some of her refugee friends are busy coordinating help for others just to survive. In spite of their struggles now, different refugee families have volunteered to cook for the frontliners of a hospital here in Kuala Lumpur.

“They felt proud of being able to do something important,” Mahi said. This is the vision of humanity coming together that keeps her going.

Through her organization Beyond Borders Malaysia, she has raised close to MYR 60,000 (USD13,700) for 1800 families so far. There are many more families on the waiting list.

To make a donation, please contact Mahi at +60123739419, or her profile linked above, or you can make a donation via PayPal: [email protected].

If you haven’t seen it, please catch the 12-minute video of Malaysia’s Mothers of Dragons here: https://www.facebook.com/innov4changeEA/videos/641903419907249