Provide Education for 470 Burmese Migrant Children

Dear Supporters:

Now that the 2010 – 2011 school year came has come to an end, I want to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of the Burmese Community, our Board and staff for your generous support throughout the year.  FED firmly believes that your ongoing cooperation will continue to improve the quality of FED’s educational activities in its energetic and enthusiastic future.

With your support this year we were able to continue running existing Learning Centers and gave educational opportunities to the majority of the children in the area as well as assisting their life security. This changed the life of the children from child labor to students. The parents are able to work well in the field because they are confident their children have a chance for studying at the learning centers.

FED's principal focus is providing access to education for the children of migrants. Our learning centers and nurseries are in need of long term funding and support so that they can continue to grow and improve in their delivery of education to these children.

In 2010 – 2011 Academic year, all learning centers and two nurseries opened for the school year on the 17th of May 2010. We provided teaching materials, stationeries and developed a curriculum for all students in our learning centers with the help of donations from GlobalGiving and other donors.  We also arranged the transportation for all learning centers. At first it was difficult to control the number of students in the learning centers and to help them find self-discipline in the new centers, because their parents had been migrating to other places several times and then they had always taken their children with them. All students in our learning can study safely, because all the learning centers are situated in secure areas. The students adapted to discipline, studying and are happy in their classes.

In addition, your donations allowed us to employ new Thai and Burmese teachers for the 2010-2011 school year.  Teachers in the learning centers have teaching undergone training in professional teaching, human rights, community organizing, child right and child protection.  Additionally, they participated in several educational workshops.  The Curriculum for the 2010 – 2011 school year included Burmese, English, Thai, Mathematics, Social Studies and Art.

In addition to their educational activities, our students also participated in a number of different integration activities throughout the year:

Environment

• On March 5th, 19th and May 17th, all teachers and students from Kuraburi learning center joined an environmental cleanup among the Thai-Burmese community around the learning center with students parents and community people.
• On 12th August, Youth Outreach students joined the Thai local government for an environmental cleanup among the Thai- Burmese community at Htonkhamin village, in Khuk Khak sub-district, Takuapa district.
• On November 29th, Youth Outreach students (21) participated with Thai local authority to preserve the environment and plants for the King’s Birthday at Kho Kho Kao Island, Ban Nam Kham sub district and Takuapa district.  The students joined a movement headed by Thai locals to protect a watershed from logging.

International Children Day

• On the 8th of January 2010, all Burmese migrant students from learning centers joined International Children Day with Thai students at Khuk Khak Thai government school in Khuk Khak sub-district, Takuapa district.

World Teacher Day Celebration

• On October 5th, 2010, we celebrated the World Teacher Day in Khuk Khak Thai government schools and all teachers and students from learning centers, education staff, office staff and migrant parents (about 300 people) joined on that day. So it was the second time education department on this year organized the world teacher day. 

World Ethnic culture and Peace Day

• On August 9th of 2010, students from Parkweep and Parkarang learning center joined a celebration for world ethnic culture and peace with other organizations among the Thai-Burmese community by wearing Burmese ethnic traditional dresses and showing culture dance.
• On August 10^th to the 11^th, FED organized the sport day (FED Cup) for the annual Queen’s Birthday.  This is one of the main competition and gathering times for migrants in our area, each learning center created a team and entered the competitions.
• On September 28th, Youth Outreach students and FED health team joined with Thai local government health clinic staff and local people for protection and prevention of dengue hemorrhagic fever from mosquitoes. On 1^st December, Youth Outreach student’s joined World AIDS day with Thai local government, local people and other NGOs.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Please click the link below to watch a short video of how Burmese Migrant Children live in South Thailand. There is also a short message from our Executive Director. Please do share the video with your friends and families.

I hope this video helps you all to better understand how your money is being used to help Burmese migrant children access education and bring themselves out of the vicious cycle of poverty that has afflicted their families for generations.

http://on.fb.me/FED-GHREvideo

The first child in the video lives and works on a rubber plantation. The second child lives on a construction site. Both are FED-GHRE students.

Many thanks for your support,

Wishing you a happy and prosperous 2011 !!

Links:

• Video of FED student life