Education for Displaced Children in Myanmar

The people of war–torn Myanmar (formerly Burma) live as refugees within their own country. Help give them access to education despite the ongoing civil war.

Men, women, and children all fall victim to the ongoing civil war between the Burmese army and armed ethnic groups. What's more, education — already costly in Myanmar — is even more difficult to access where the fighting persists.

Saw Pah Mee knows only too well that education is the key to opportunity. When he was seven years old, he was able to attend primary school in his own village of Ta Nay Poe Klar, in the Karen State. But when he advanced to middle school, he was forced to relocate to Mai Wai village, where he was away from home, and had to cover steep school fees.

For high school, Saw Pah Mee moved yet again. Without the money to travel to his new school from home, he lived first in the Karen refugee camp, then briefly with extended family before he ultimately settled in an orphanage, staying there as he completed high school.

Saw Pah Mee didn't let his hardships keep him from achieving his education. Instead, he attended special English and computer classes, and worked alongside the Nurse at the refugee camp as a volunteer, until he ultimately began to earn a salary for his patient care.

To help the internally displaced children of Myanmar access the education that Saw Pah Mee fought for, we are partnering with the Brackett Refugee Education Fund, which supports 33 schools in the Community Schools Program by enlisting the help of the local people in building proper schools, and providing for teachers' salaries, clothing for students and teachers, and solar panels that produce the electricity necessary to study at night.

Saw Pah Mee's story is inspirational, but all too common. The path to an education shouldn't be so hard, and YOU can help. Just $7 covers a full week of school costs for an internally displaced child in Myanmar.

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The mission of Brackett Refugee Education Fund is to provide an education at the Primary level, Middle School level and High School level to children at the ages of 4 to 18 years old attending internally displaced schools, schools within the cease fire zone, as well as schools within Karen state under the control of the Burmese (Myanmar) government and other non–state arms groups. We are working to improve the local literacy rate, which will prepare and enable children to pursue further educational opportunities, promote personal and social development within the family, and help prepare children to take on community responsibilities in the future.