Provide Education for 470 Burmese Migrant Children

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