Earlier this week (16th April), a video of a young Indonesian girl being bullied by her classmates surfaced on Twitter, quickly garnering nationwide attention.
According to the Jakarta Post, the video shows 12-year-old Nabila from SD 1 state elementary school in West Java, who appeared tearful and angry when her classmates began to tease her for her school shoes. The young girl, who can be seen wearing her school uniform, confronted three of her classmates who said that her shoes were bought using her parents’ money.
However, Nabila quickly retorted, saying that she bought shoes with her own money that she earned from collecting trash. The girl can be heard speaking in Sudanese, saying,
“Both my parents left me when I was little, not like the rest of you.”
The girl’s emotional response, however, made the three classmates giggle, seemingly ignoring what she said.
According to Nabila’s teacher, the incident happened on Saturday at 1pm, outside school hours. The incident transpired after one of the girl’s schoolmates accidentally stepped on her shoes, making her upset.
"Aku gapake uang Bapak kamu!
aku mah cape2 mulungan rongsokan buat beli sepatu, aku ditinggalin sama ibu, bapak.. kamu mah engga..!
????
*aku nangis terus liat video ini..Kalau ada followers yg tau alamat bocah ini, pls kabari aku ya..
Aku dan teman2 siap biayain dia.. pic.twitter.com/Bujfp6Jv8V— ? Alien Kampung ? (@bambangelf) April 16, 2019
The video soon went viral, with many Indonesian netizens wanting to help Nabila. One Twitter user actually managed to find Nabila and visited her home. She lives with her grandparents and collects trash to earn a living.
Jadi emang bener klo Nabilla ini ditinggal orang tuanya, & suka nyari rongsokan. Sekarang tinggal sama nenek & kakeknya, kakek Nabilla udah sakit-sakitan ? pic.twitter.com/b2deN9tttm
— Ahmad Suhendar (@ahmadignore) April 16, 2019
The user, named Ahmad, then started a crowdfunding campaign for Nabila and her grandparents, which managed to raise over Rp360 million (approx. RM106,000) so far.
We’re so glad that people are coming forward to help Nabila and her grandparents out! Let’s hope that this helps lift the burden of earning a living so she can enjoy being a kid and focus on her studies.
Also read: M’sian Sees Poor Kid Begging at Mamak So He ‘Belanja’ 2 Packets of Rice & 4 Ayam Goreng