Provide Education for 470 Burmese Migrant Children

Dear Supporters,

The 2013-2014 academic year at our Khok Kloy Learning Center (one of our smaller learning centers) finished in the month of April and as the student prepare to start a new year in late May, we want to share some of our activities with all our supporters from Globalgiving.

The school currently has an enrollment of 42 students and daily average attendance is between 35-40 children ages 5 to 14.  The Learning Center has 2 paid teachers teaching kindergarten through the 3rd grade. There is a 6 subject curriculum including: Mathematics, English, Burmese, History, Science, and Geography. The children also receive regular training from the FED Health Team about healthy hygiene and nutritional habits to help avoid illness. The teachers also teach students basic traditional and cultural customs of both Myanmar and Thailand.

Please enjoy the following pictures and stories about Khok Kloy Learning Center students.

• Nutrition Day Activity:  FED Education and Health Teams provided a nutrition day activity at the Khok Kloy learning center. The purpose of this activity was to teach the students how to enrich their diets by eating healthy, nutritional foods and avoiding unhealthy foods. Educating students on how to improve dieting habits will help kids avoid illnesses such as coughing, diarrhea, and malnutrition.
• Student Exchange (ASEAN Nations Camp): The FED Education Team organized a Student Exchange ASEAN Nations Camp at the Unified Learning Center (ULC) for 85 students from all FED Education programs including students from the ULC, Muan Mit and Mulberry learning centers in Khuraburi, the Thai school integration program, and the Khok Kloy learning center. The purpose of the camp was to educate the students about ASEAN in preparation for the opening of ASEAN in 2015. Camp activities taught the students general knowledge about each ASEAN country through fun games, skits, music, and lessons. The camp also provided an opportunity for migrant students to meet and build friendships with children living in similar circumstances from communities all across Phang Nga province. 

Our Students:

My name is Thi Thi. I am 10 years old and I attend grade 1 at Khok Kloy LC. I was born in Dawei, Myanmar. My parents are currently working in the Khok Kloy rubber plantation. I like to study at school and I hope to one day be a teacher for children growing up in rural areas like me. I am trying my best to study hard and would like to get a higher education in the future. I try to inspire my friends to study at Khok Kloy learning center because I see our teachers are working so hard to improve our future. I want to thank my parents for encouraging us to go to school and especially our teachers who teach us tirelessly every day. I hope to continue my studies in grade 2 next year.

My name is Sint Nyo. I am 11 years old and am attending grade 3 at Khok Kloy LC. I was born in Koh Thaung, Myanmar. My parents are working in section 12 of the Khok Kloy rubber plantation. I like to sing and dance with my friends and I often do that in my classes as well. I am so happy to participate in student exchange activities and meet with my friends from other learning centers. Experiences like student exchange are big and exciting changes for us; being from tiny Khok Kloy learning center. If I did not go to school, I may not have such great opportunities. I do not know when or if my parents will go back to Burma, but my family is very poor and I do not think my parents could afford to send me to the school in Burma because enrollment costs are expensive. I want to say “thank you” to my parents and my teachers for supporting me.

Our Teachers:

My name is Nwal Ni Win and I am 35 years old. I completed high school in Myeik, Myanmar. I taught in Myeik from 2001 to 2008. After I got married, I followed my husband and family to Thailand. I used to work in the Khok Kloy rubber plantation with my husband until I was contacted by people in the community who informed me the local learning center was looking for a teacher. I think teaching is a challenging job because the students have many different behaviors, attitudes, interests, abilities and skills.

Their feelings are very sensitive and they need lots of encouragement from parents, the community, and
society. It is my pleasure to teach the children here, they are very innocent. They are like a white paper; we can draw or paint anything, any “color” on them. I want to see these children become the ray of hope in our world, especially for Myanmar. The new generation must become educated people to bring peace to our own people and the Thai community.

A Look Ahead at 2014 - 2015 School Year:
With your support, FED will continue to build on the success of the Khok Kloy LC in the upcoming year. FED hopes to add grade 4 courses to school curriculum in 2014 as well as hire a native Thai teacher to increase student Thai language skills, an invaluable asset for migrants living in Thailand. In addition, FED is currently working to improve transportation services for students at the learning center as currently there are many children who cannot come to school due to the lack of transportation.

Dear Supporters,

Since our Learning Center reopened in November 2013 both students and teachers alike have been busy bees, keeping themselves thoroughly occupied and entertained with a number of extra curricular activities. Here are a some....

• Migrant Education Symposium.  FED Education program staff and teachers participated in the Migrant Education Symposium in Mae Sot, Thailand. The event, organized by the Migrant Education Integration Initiative (MEII), was the 3rd such activity in the past year designed to bring together organizations working for the education of Myanmar Migrant Children to collaborate in designing a standardized curriculum for migrant learning centers throughout Thailand. The symposium built on the previous events held in Phang Nga and Mahachai with the ultimate goal of seeing migrant students educated in migrant learning centers receiving official recognition and acceptance for their studies by both the Myanmar and Thai Governments if students choose to pursue further education opportunities in either countries' education systems. 

• Children on the Move.  The Children on the Move program trained 15 student leaders about basic Human Rights and Child Rights knowledge during 2013. After gaining capacity about these topics, the students worked in groups of 5 to facilitate trainings for groups of 15-20 of their peers in FED Learning Centers. In total, 75 students gained knowledge about Human and Child rights through a variety of activities including: games, role play, and sharing of personal experiences.  The program also provides documentary training for its student leaders. The FED Documentary Officer facilitates the workshops in which the students learn and practice basic photography and video skills.

• Recycling Project at ULC. Representatives from Wicked Diving, a local partner organization, visited the ULC to begin a Recycling Project with the children. Wicked Diving donated recycling bins to the school and taught the children basic recycling knowledge

• World HIV/AIDS DAY. The FED Health Team participated in a World HIV/AIDS Day fair in the Thai Muang district of Phang Nga province. FED joined local NGOs and health offices to raise awareness among local Thai students about HIV/AIDs through interactive games and activities.

• International Migrant Day Bike-a-thon. FED staff, students and Burmese Migrants celebrated International Migrant Day by raising awareness about the migrant worker situation in Thailand by participating in a Bike-a-thon in the Khao Lak, Phang Nga area.

• ULC Clean-up for Thai Father's Day. The students celebrated Thai Father's Day by cleaning up the school yard and planted 2000 native mangrove trees in the sea side community in honor of the King's Birthday on December 5th.

Meet 2 of our Students...

Khin Mar  is 13 years old from Long Lone Township, Thanintharyi Region in Burma.  Her parents migrated to Thailand 8 years ago in search of safety and improved living conditions. Khin Mar  has studied at FED Learning Centers for 7 years. She has loved the experience. She says the teachers are excellent role models and her school friends are great encouragements for her in difficult times.

Without the opportunity to study at FED she would have no basic education knowledge and would likely be caring for her family at home or be a victim of child labor. Now she can read, write, and speak both Thai and Burmese fluently which will help her find work in the future. Khin Mar  dreams of being a movie actress in the future.

Toe Tat  is 13 years old from Long Lone Township, Thanintharyi Region in Burma.  Toe Tat  is a participant in the Children on the Move program.  Toe Tat  says that the Human and Child rights training has changed his life because before he gained this knowledge he used to bully and discriminate other students, now he understands this is not good and he uses his new knowledge to set an example and train his peers.

Toe Tat  loves learning photography because it is a way to capture beauty to share with friends.  In the future Toe Tat dreams of becoming an Architect so he can use his passion of drawing to design buildings and other things.

Links:

• FED US Website