Educate 140 Refugees on The Thai-Burma Border

As per usual, it's been a busy time for us here at The Branch Foundation (TBF), especially in terms of our education project at the Koung Jor Shan refugee camp. During the past 3 months, we have focused on strengthening the quality of education provided in this community made up of just over 500 residents. The children here are able to attend the local Thai school however teaching standards in this remote area of Thailand are poor and, due to their status as unofficial refugees, the youth have little chance to advance their education beyond basic level. That is the reason why supplementary classes are so important and that's exactly what your donation supports. By providing these classes, students are able to gain entrance into bridging education programmes and thus realise their full potential both in terms of knowledge and employment opportunities for their future.

Since our last report, we have:

• Provided 45 new grammar books for use in the evening classes
• Paid the wages of 5 Burmese language teachers, one computer teacher, one English teacher and an Education Coordinator
• Held another teacher training which combined the new classroom activities they were provided with in the first session with the lesson planning techniques they learnt last time

Due to the previous education coordinator's other commitments, we have now replaced him with two new staff to carry out the duty of making sure education activities run smoothly in the refugee camp. Both of these new staff members have previously benefitted from the supplementary classes at Koung Jor and have just finished their bridging education programmes. They are keen to give back to their community and enable the new generation in the camp to gain access to the educational assistance they once received. We look forward to working alongside them to further develop and strengthen the supplementary education programmes. Tai Leng, the new education coordinator, had the following to say to our supporters:

"We have students both from the camp and from outside the camp attending our evening classes. This gives them the chance to improve their English and Burmese language skills. On behalf of the teachers, community members and students, I would like to thank you very much".

We are sincerely thankful for the positive effect that your donation has made and we hope that you follow us and the residents of Koung Jor on our journey towards providing marginalised youth with the best chance possible for a bright future.

With gratitude,

Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team

Links:

• The Branch Foundation's website
• Find us on Facebook

Since our last report to you, we have continued to support the educational needs of the youth of Koung Jor refugee camp. Your generous donation has helped us pay the wages of the dedicated local teachers who work hard to pass on their knowledge and expertise to the younger generations. Ensuring that local teachers are paid does not only reward them for their time but also provides an incentive to those they teach to one day step into their shoes and help bring vital lessons into this marginalised community such as computer classes, and English and Burmese language classes.

We have not only provided wages to the teachers but also another training. Last month, we held our second teacher training session which this time focused on lesson planning. This allows the teachers to design lessons which not only bring new topics into fruition but also enables them to make the classes more interactive and fun using some of the classroom activities they learnt about in the previous teacher training session which took place last October.

Sai Leng, the camp headman who also teaches English and Burmese, explained the following to us:

"As some of the teaching materials we have are old, it can sometimes be hard to keep the attention of the students, however with knowing how to attain our goal of each lesson we teach along with activities that keep the students actively learning in class and giving them an opportunity to interact with what is taught means that we can overcome the restraints of a low-resource environment".

Some local monks even joined the training as they were about to teach and take part in the annual Shan Culture summer school in which children learn about the Shan language, heritage and buddhist practises. This is very important to the community as many children were born and brought up in the refugee camp in Thailand. This therefore secures the future of their culture and gives a sense of belonging to people who have suffered persecution and discrimination throughout their lives. We hope to provide you with some photos of the Shan culture summer school in our next report to you.

This project is eligible for matching donations from GlobalGiving on the 14th April making your donation go that much further, so if you would like to share information about this project amongst your friends and family, now is the perfect time to do so.

With sincere gratitude,

Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team

Links:

• The Branch Foundation's website
• 'Like' us on Facebook