By Jacqueline Lee | GlobalGiving InTheField Representative
Jacqueline Lee is an InTheField Traveler with GlobalGiving who is visiting our partners’ projects throughout Southeast Asia. Her “Postcard” from the visit in Thailand:
On June 18 I visited Foundation for Education and Development/Grassroots Human Rights Education and Development in southern Thailand - a place called Khao Lak.
I saw and sat in on activities from preschool to the young adult youth outreach program. The older children receive traditional schooling in addition to democracy and human rights training. In Thailand the problem is that to integrate migrant students into public schools, money and language-fluency in Thai is required, which many children of Burmese migrants don’t have. Additionally, transportation to these schools is not easy therefore students are provided transportation via the FED/GHRE truck from certain areas to the FED/GHRE school.
One FED/GHRE staff member I met had joined this organization at age 12 and continued through the program. She is now 19 and a translator for the organization. She said without FED/GHRE she probably would not have any opportunity and have to marry young or work in a plantation like many of her peers. I was able to also speak with a FED/GHRE recipient who has been integrated to a Thai school. He said he has both Thai and Burmese friends there and enjoys playing football as well as art class because he loves to draw mountains and landscapes.
Before I left, I was able to stop in one last time and observe a school celebration of Aung Suu Kyi’s birthday. The students were quizzed on historical events, the life of Aung Suu Kyi, and then watched a short documentary. Although there have been public changes within (Burma) Myanmar, there is an increase in new students arriving everyday to this school. This group of multilingual Burmese youth in Thailand will grow up not only with math and language skills, but a with a global mindset trained in democracy and human rights.
To read more about my site visit JacquelineInTheField's Blog.
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By Sandra Arboleda | Development Director
By Sandra Arboleda | Development Director
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