Over 20,000 undocumented people in Semporna, Malaysia, live in destitution in villages on stilts above sea water; a physical metaphor for their own suspended existence. Without documentation, children are not permitted to attend public schools. Adults are not legally allowed to work. Subsequently, almost all families living on so-called floating villages are trapped in an eternal cycle of poverty. Dish soap, laundry detergent, and cooking oil are poured into little plastic tubes tied off with a knot and sold for 50 sen or 10 cents USD. There are few who could afford the luxury of buying an entire bottle.

Despite a pervasive sense of purposelessness that drives many young stateless adults and children to drugs, petty crime, or begging on the streets, Suhaimah has found her calling. As an assistant teacher at an informal school, she rounds up other children to brush their teeth, clip their nails, and teach them basic ABCs. Helping to provide much needed schooling and public services has given her life some meaning. But without any sign of government intervention spanning well over 70 years, Suhaimah and many others like her are destined to continue living in purgatory for the foreseeable future. Shot for UNDP.