Easy exercise

Fighting for a chance to learn

School in Mae Sot aims to make a difference

Story and picture by SANITSUDA EKACHAI

Dr Cynthia Maung talks to a girl during class at the Child Development Centre in Mae Sot, Tak.

Joh, 14, had a very simple dream: He wanted to go to school like other children. But like countless other children of immigrant workers without official papers, the boy knew his dream was not likely to come true.

"I was jealous every time I saw Thai kids walking past me going to school," said the Karen teenager, who lives in Mae Sot, Tak province. "I wanted to go to school too and to wear a beautiful, clean uniform. It hurt me that I could not go."

Joh's dream came true two years ago, thanks to his "angelic doctor." The school he is attending was set up in 1997 by Dr Cynthia Maung, whose dedication to providing medical care to poor Burmese along the Thai-Burmese border has won her several international honours, including the Magsagsay Award, Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The school, located across the road from her small but internationally known hospital called the Mae Tao Clinic, serves some 200 students, most of whom are children of poor migrant workers in the border town of Mae Sot.

Like the clinic, the spartan school, where students learn while sitting on the floor, arose from her efforts to meet the immediate needs of poor Burmese people who are not cared for under the Thai system.

"First it started as a nursery for only 20 toddlers," she recalled. Through word of mouth, more parents started to bring their children. As the years passed, the nursery was expanded into a school providing elementary education.

Dr Cynthia Maung watches with grave concern the growing number of children from Burma facing a dead-end future as stateless persons in Thailand.

"We cannot expect these children to go back soon, so we need to do something to give them an education. And we cannot think of only classroom education, but also the practical kind," said the physician. "The education issue is the most important challenge for us now."

While her Mae Tao Clinic tries to provide non-formal education to teenagers and young people in reproductive health to ease the problems of unwed pregnancy, abandoned children, as well as HIV and Aids, the school's mission is educate as well as to instil cultural roots in the children.

Songs in Karen and Burmese echo from the classrooms where the children learn to master the languages of their homelands through music. Although the children, while staying in Thailand, also need to learn how to read and write Thai, they still cannot do so given the limited resources, Dr Cynthia Maung said.

Joh, for one, said he wants to learn more Thai. "I cannot read signs on the road," he said in perfect Thai. "I'm always afraid of getting lost and getting cheated."

He is happy enough, though, that he can now go to school, though he does not know for how long. "Many parents lived scattered in the outlying areas of Mae Sot. Because of transportation problems, they can't go to school as much as they would like to," she said.

For those who can, the parents are asked to chip in, paying an entrance fee of 150 baht and a monthly fee of 30 baht. Yet this hardly sustains the school's operations, which runs primarily on donations that are scarce and irregular.

Parents are also asked to buy the children school uniforms, stationery and books. The children are asked to bring their own lunches. But many simply cannot afford it.

Apart from basic material needs, the school needs to recruit and train more teachers. Meanwhile, it has yet to devise a curriculum that can be later linked to the Thai educational system through equivalency tests.

"There are so many things to do,'' she said. "And we need a lot of help to make them possible."

Joh, though knowing he will most likely end up a labourer, refuses to give up. "I want to be a doctor," the teenager said. "I want to help sick and poor people, like Dr Cynthia does. I admire what she is doing for us and I want to help her in return."

VOCABULARY

immigrant (n): person who has come to live permanently in a country that is not their own
angelic (adj): good, kind or beautiful; like an angel
dedication (n): the hard work and effort that somebody puts into an activity or purpose because they think it is important
spartan (adj): simple or harsh; lacking anything that makes life easier or more pleasant
toddler (n): child who has only recently learnt to walk
instil (v): to gradually make somebody feel, think or behave in a particular way over a period of time
chip in (v.phrase): to give some money so that a group of people can buy something together
sustain (v): to provide enough of what somebody or something needs in order to live or exist
recruit (v): to find new people to join a company, an organisation, the armed forces, etc
devise (v): to invent something new or a new way of doing something
labourer (n): person whose job involves hard physical work that is not skilled, especially work that is done outdoors

DISCUSSION

- Is your school anything like the school in this story? Explain why.

- What problems does your school face and how does it overcome it?

- What can you do to make your school a better place to learn?

QUESTIONS

1. Where is this school located?

2. Which items do parents have to buy for their children?

3. Why can't student go to school as much as they would like to?

                a. They have to work in the fields.

                b. They don't have the official papers needed to attend.

                c. They have transportation problems.

4. How do the Karen and Burmese master the languages of their homelands?

5. Why was Joh jealous of the other school children?