IT may seem like a simple story about two sisters walking to their school from the hills of Penampang in the west coast of Sabah.
But the impact the story had was unexpected.
A front-page picture of older sister Wendy Jium, 12, holding up a kerosene bamboo torch with 8-year-old Jalisa in tow moved many.
It was on the first day of school, Jan 3, 2006, and we — former photographer Datu Ruslan Sulai and I — joined the siblings in their long trek to school from their home in Kampung Lutung to SK Putaton.
The article featuring the two girls tells the story of what they went through to attend school and helped open the eyes of many and compelled decision-makers to do what was necessary then, as it was not just Penampang that faced this problem, but other areas in Sabah, Sarawak and even some states in the peninsula as well.
It also helped justify the hardship allowance for teachers who served in remote locations and pushed leaders to take notice that a lot more needed to be done to close the urban-rural education gap.
This is true even today.
Many places still need attention in terms of education development as university student Veveonah Mosibin demonstrated in a video of her searching for an Internet signal on a tree in her home district in Pitas recently. But Wendy and Jalisa were the "pioneers" in highlighting this issue way back then.
THE PLAN
I did not hatch an elaborate plan to get the story. It was spontaneous, guided by instinct and rumours about how some children would walk to SK Putaton from the hills, which are part of the Crocker Range traversing eight districts in the west coast.
After consulting villagers from the foothills, I set off with Datu Ruslan (who was recalled to work despite having several schoolgoing children to attend to) and a guide, Tony Raymond, from Kampung Terian, one of the hill villages. Tony is now with the Immigration Department.
The editors agreed to the plan the same day, but I was prepared to leave home with or without any approval, alone.
We drove and left the car at Kampung Kibambangan, which was about 4km from Kampung Lutung, about 4pm, thinking we could reach the village in less than two hours.
We were wrong. Halfway up the hills, two hours later, it started raining heavily.
The teenage guide, in his rubber-studded shoes, or "Adidas kampung", proved to be our saviour, keeping us safe and on track along the meandering route. He had to pull me out of a web of vines after I slipped into a ravine.
By 9pm, we arrived, soaked to the skin and very hungry.
Our hosts, Jium Rampaya and wife Toi'ing Mogintun, provided us with hot water to drink, plain rice, some fermented fish, a place to clean up and a floor to sleep on. In return, we shared instant noodles and canned food with them.
The wooden house had no electricity and their water came from a spring from up a hill. The house was simple, sturdy and quite comfortable.
We slept well that night, although Datu Ruslan was occasionally woken up by the sound of domesticated animals under the house. The creatures are a necessity in some parts of rural Sabah.
THE MORNING TREK
We woke up about 4am as the family prepared the two girls for school.
Jium followed because it was an important day. On other days, he would be tapping rubber or tending to his hill padi plot.
As we stepped out of the house about 5am, it was pitch dark and that was when Wendy lit the bamboo torch, sending Datu Ruslan into a frenzy. He took photos from all angles as they slowly walked up the slippery trail, barefooted.
They were worried their shoes would get dirty during the journey, hence the shoeless walk.
By chance, the main photo was captured with the help of an emergency lamp I brought along to light up a tent if we had no place to sleep.
The light helped show off the rugged terrain the girls had to endure on their way to school.
The walk was tough and slippery after the rain the night before, but the girls walked with ease compared with the two of us, who struggled to keep pace.
It took us two hours to reach the place where we left our car and as we cleaned up ourselves, the girls continued walking another kilometre to reach school.
And that was day one.
It did not include their walk back home uphill later that afternoon.
Jalisa would join another relative, Kelly Boritus, after finishing school about 12.30pm at Kibambangan, where we left the car. They would wait for Wendy and another relative, Jarina John, to finish class around 3pm.
They would then walk back and reach home around 4.30pm or later depending on the weather.
WAKE-UP CALL
When the story was published the following day, offers of assistance flooded in.
Plans were put in place to provide a better education for the girls and their peers across the country.
The United Nations Children's Fund had also sought permission to use the photograph and article to show the need to reach out to children who are keen to learn against the odds.
In the weeks that followed, the Kampung Lutung girls and those in SK Putaton received more help. Then, the school had slightly more than 100 students.
The school, established in 1967, was the nearest for those from Kampung Lutung.
But Wendy, Jalisa, Kelly and Jarina had to endure the long daily trek.
A businessman eventually paid to provide boarding for the Kampung Lutung children to stay near the school and go home during the weekends.
The area might have seen some improvement after 16 years, but there are still issues that need attention.
Electricity has not reached Kampung Lutung.
Also, SK Longkogungan in the Crocker Range area in Penampang, where there are some 10 villages, including Kampung Lutung, is not accessible by vehicles.
There are also far-flung schools in other districts and islands in Sabah and other parts of Malaysia with daily challenges and obstacles too.
For them, the long trek continues.