KUALA LUMPUR: Most children her age would probably be focused on friends and playtime or hobbies, but 10-year-old Thanuja Kumaran embarked on a mission to provide digital devices to underprivileged students.
Her Digital Hope project, launched last September, has to date distributed 16 devices that have benefited 22 students (recipients and their siblings).
Education, she said, is a basic right and "digital poverty" should not be allowed to disrupt that.
"When our school switched to online learning, one of my classmates struggled to cope with the online classes as she had to rely on her mother's mobile phone.
"Whenever her mother was at work, my classmate could not attend the online classes and she was missing out on lessons.
"When I heard about this, I asked my mother if we could get my classmate a second-hand laptop.
"My mother then sought help from her friends from the Concerned UM Indian Graduates (CUMIG) group and my classmate received a laptop through their I-Digital Programme.
"It felt really good to be able to help her. Later, I found out that many other students were deprived of digital devices.
"In August, I attended the Tuanku Bainun Young Changemakers - Home Series 2021 programme. The confidence I gained here inspired me to start the Digital Hope project in September," she told the New Straits Times.
Thanuja reached out for donations through a poster she created using Canva that was widely circulated on social media by her friends, relatives and SJKT Ladang Highlands' school management.
Her cause attracted the attention of political parties, corporate leaders and non-governmental organisations who pitched in by contributing refurbished laptops and tablets.
Thanuja said, helping the underprivileged children has reminded her to count her blessings for being able to receive a good education.
"I have started to appreciate everything that my parents have provided to me so far. Blessed with whatever I have, I feel responsible to uplift the less-fortunate ones in society.
"More importantly, I realised that age should never be a barrier to undertake a noble cause," she said.
In keeping with her inquisitive nature, Thanuja aspires to become a detective in the future.
The karate enthusiast also has a few more social projects in the pipeline, including an upcoming awareness campaign on obesity and food wastage among children.