Provide Education for 470 Burmese Migrant Children

The Foundation for Education and Development (FED) is pleased to announce the opening of our Unified Learning Center on May 9^th, 2012 in Khao Lak, Phang Nga Province. The school will provide education and basic health care services for the children and youth of the Burmese community located in Phang Nga Province.  According to Htoo Chit, Executive Director of FED, “Our school offers the children of Burmese migrant workers the opportunities to learn to read and write, to learn the Thai and English languages and ultimately assists them in their integration into Thai schools and society. As well, the school will house a health care clinic offering basic health care and child services - all of these services would not be available to them otherwise. With the opening of this school, we are giving the Burmese youth a fighting chance to succeed and thrive in the Thai community.”  Mr. Htoo Chit, who arrived directly after the 2004 Tsunami, has worked tirelessly since that time to provide the basic needs to the Burmese migrant community. He has been recognized for his work and has been awarded the ASHOKA Fellowship. FED was recently recognized by the French Ambassador to Thailand with the French Republic’s Human Rights Prize, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”. At a ceremony recognizing FED’s efforts, the French Ambassador to Thailand called FED, “one of the most outstanding NGO’s in the world.”

States Mr. Chit, “ Burmese migrant workers in Thailand face many challenges. This facility allows these workers to enroll their children in a school that will nurture and educate, thereby allowing them to focus on their work and their ability to provide a livelihood for their families. These are basic rights many of us take for granted.”

“We also want to thank all of our donors who understand the needs of the Burmese migrant population. Without their contributions this school and health clinic would not be possible,” says Sandra Arboleda, Director of Development. “ In particular we want to thank Umenohana, The Annika Linden Foundation, The Khao Lak Community Appeal, Act Now Children’s Fund, Child’s Dream, The Japanese Embassy to Thailand, the Japanese Volunteer Center and our globalgiving supporters.”

FED was founded in 2000 under the name of Grassroots Human Rights Education & Development (GHRE).FED along with providing education and health care services for the Burmese community, also provides woman’s empowerment activities, promotes job opportunities and fostering of safe working conditions for Burmese workers, provides legal assistance to their constituents, attempts to raise awareness of human rights violations and migrant worker issues against the Burmese community and looks to build bridges between the Thai and Burmese communities.