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With Your Help, We're Building Schools and Protecting Children in Myanmar
Elizabeth MoreyOur partners at the Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) near the Thai-Burma border help run some of these schools to give children in the Karen (Kayin) region of Myanmar the protection and education they need to get the best possible start in life.
When we started funding the work of the Mae Tao Clinic, our goal was safe births and healthy babies for mothers who wouldn't otherwise have access to good prenatal care and high-quality medical care for their births. But as MTC has branched out and begun taking care of children's needs in other ways, we've followed their lead and begun donating to their educational programs.
In January of 2024, GreaterGood co-founder and CEO Tim Kunin visited an MTC school in Kayin, Myanmar (also known as a Karen School) to see the progress of the institution and connect with our partners and beneficiaries of the program. Since his last visit four years ago, a new assembly hall has been erected, along with a new dorm for girls and a set of concrete bathrooms.
Right now, a new high school is under construction for the upper grade levels, and a new "junior college" has recently been completed. The latter offers students who have graduated from high school to take college classes on the same campus. There are currently 67 students in the junior college.
GreaterGood has pledged, with your help, to fund another set of bathrooms and a library to help this educational institution continue to grow and improve and make sure their students flourish.
We hope to continue funding schools like this one in developing countries around the world, but we need your help to make it happen.
Please consider donating today to support education for vulnerable children.
Poor economic conditions and the lack of educational facilities are forcing students to leave their hometowns in Burma, and seek education and protection along the Thai-Burma border. Boarding houses ensure children access to education and protection.
Mae Tao Clinic has transitioned part of the programme to Burma with existing organisations already working inside the country for sustainability. As the political situation is improving in Burma, which makes it easier for large donors to work directly with local agencies inside the country, 12 boarding houses in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) areas have been transitioned to the Karen State Boarding House Working Group inside Karen State. The Pa Hite Nursery School has been transitioned to Karen Women Organisation’s Early Childhood Development programme inside Karen state.
In 2017, the Dry Food Programme provides food rations to 1,952 children and staff at 23 boarding houses in migrant communities (Thailand) and 15 boarding houses in IDP areas (Burma) managed by the Karen Women Organisation (KWO). The programme provides boarding house children with basic food provisions every month. Children living in the boarding house are protected from child labour and trafficking.
School Health Program – This program is led by a consortium of KECD, Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW), Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), Burma Medical Association (BMA) and Mae Tao Clinic (MTC). It aims to promote the wholesome physical, social, emotional and educational growth of students and school staff by providing health education and services, including disease prevention. The program is currently at the stage of finalizing its “School Health Policy” manual before activities are implemented.
Boarding House Program – The program is operated by the Karen State Boarding House Working Group (KSBHWG) comprising of: Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD), The Mae Taw Clinic (MTC), Karen Women’s Organization (KWO), Karen Youth Organization (KYO), Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), Partners Relief and Development Thailand (PRAD), Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN), Karen Office of Relief and Development (KORD), Kawthoolei Agriculture Department (KAD), Karen Legal Assistance Center (KLAC), and Karen Student Networking Group (KSNG).
