AMURT & AMURTEL’s Early Education Program:  August 2009

Little Su Khaing cannot wait to attend school every morning, says her mother Daw Aye Aye Soe

Daw Aye Aye Soe is very happy with her little daughter’s progress.  Since she started attended classes at AMURT & AMURTEL’s Child Centre in Leik Kyun village ten months ago, four-year-old Aye Su Khaing’s vocabulary has increased by leaps and bounds.  She has learnt to recite nursery rhymes, paint, and express herself very well.  She did not sing much before.  Now she learns songs very fast, just from listening to cassette tapes too. She didn’t play well with other children previously, but is now a very sociable little girl.  Daw Aye Aye Soe used to find it difficult to deal with her before, but now the little girl is attentive and very teachable.  She loves school so much that she is always among the first to arrive at the Child Centre every morning.  She cannot wait for school to start, and when class time is over, she doesn’t want to stop.  Sometimes, she accompanies her older sister, 10-year-old Aye Su Hlaing to after-school classes because she wants to learn her sister’s lessons too!

Said Daw Aye Aye Soe, “My younger daughter is so much more advanced than her older sister was at the same age!”   Indeed, all the parents, teachers and villagers agree that the children attending AMURTEL’s Child Centres are physically bigger and stronger and mentally more alert with more social skills.  They report a world of difference between the little ones and their older siblings who did not have the opportunity to benefit from early childhood education.

Art lessons and education toys provide training in fine motor skills and dexterity, stimulate creativity and are lots of fun!

AMURT & AMURTEL’s four Child Centres in four villages started operations in October 2008.  Around 200 toddlers aged between three and six years old attend the sessions, which are run by 13 teachers and assistant teachers.  Started with the aim of providing a safe haven for the little children traumatized by Cyclone Nargis, the project has now evolved into an Early Childhood program to develop the children through play therapy and informal education that includes story-telling, art, gymnastics, song, dance, play and fun as well as basic learning.   Continuous training is provided to the teachers to develop their skills in child-oriented teaching and a holistic approach towards early education.

The children are also given high-nutrient biscuits and a nutritious cooked lunch daily.  The program is scheduled to run till end March 2010, and AMURT & AMURTEL welcomes sponsors to extend and expand the program to other villages as well.

 

AMURT-built Schools will double as Disaster Shelters and Community Centres

AMURT has built five primary schools and one middle school in five villages in the delta area.  All the schools are built to act as community shelters against future cyclones.  They are equipped with disaster risk reduction features so that they can withstand wind speeds of more than 100mph and earthquakes measuring up to 7.5 on the Richter Scale.  The floor level is above that of the highest tidal surge and a tidal forest will be planted around the school for further protection.  Built to double as community shelters, the schools consist of one or more big halls instead of individual classrooms to hold 2,400 persons in times of disasters.  The big halls also cater to the fact that all the schools are short-staffed with only two or three teachers catering to five or more classes (grades).  They also serve as gathering places for community functions.  A rainwater collection system, sanitary toilets,  a library, health corner and administrative room and covered corridors are other features of the well-designed schools provided by AMURT.

 

At Kan Su, the children have just moved into their new school building.  They love the airy spaciousness and light provided by the high ceilings (12 feet high) and many windows and promise to take good care of their beautiful new school.

(AMURT is looking for funding to fill the sunken land patches around the school and make safe pathways for easy accessibility.  More than 4,000 schools were destroyed or severly damaged by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, and many more have yet to be rebuilt.)

 

 

Building better houses for Cyclone Nargis survivors

As our boat chugs through the tiny waterways of the delta area, we pass house after house after house, all bearing the AMURT and Kindernothilfe logos.  Residents and children wave and call out to our engineers Ko Myo and Ma Khaing, who had supervised the construction of the 431 houses (and the repair of 28 houses) in five villages to date.  AMURT is currently constructing another 82 houses in two villagers with the co-sponsorship of Selavip, and seeking funding to build many more.

The happy villagers are more than grateful for their new houses.  Based on traditional architectural design but improved by an extra sturdy solid timber frame, the new houses consist of a core unit (12’ x 12’) and a verandah (12’ x 6’) provided by AMURT, with extensions provided by the house-owners.  They are built to withstand wind speeds of 80mph and the highest tidal surge.

In an innovative community-based approach, village construction committees take responsibility for the storage of equipment and supplies, security and transportation.  Wherever possible, local carpenters and unskilled laborers are recruited, and the whole community are involved as volunteers.

 

International NGOs estimate that 450,000 houses were destroyed and 340,000 damaged by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, and more than 2.5m affected.  Today, more than one year later, only about 17,000 new houses have been constructed while the damaged houses have mostly been patched up with weak, temporary materials.  Clearly, much more is needed to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

Inspiring visit to AMURT’s operations in Myanmar: June 2009

When AMURT/AMURTEL in Malaysia organized a Charity Jumble Sale for our school reconstruction program in Myanmar in March this year, Cathy Liu chipped in by running a stall selling a few hundred cups of jelly which she had made herself.  Then in May, she accompanied Sister Usha on a trip to Myanmar to see the AMURT operations there for herself.  Here is what she had to say about this unforgettable visit:

Cathy & Usha were delighted to meet the children benefitting from their fundraising efforts. Visiting the Kansu School they raised funds for was a high point for Cathy & Usha

Highlight of the trip: “Visiting the school that I helped to fundraised for!  I felt a great sense of achievement and satisfaction seeing the concrete structure coming up, knowing that what I have done will make a difference in the lives of these children who have so little right now!”

Most unforgettable moments:

- Seeing the little children pushing each other to get a few little pieces of buns I had brought.  I had bought the buns in Yangon, fearing that I may get hungry down in the delta villages.  But they treated us so well and made sure we had plently of food.  So I thought I would give the buns to the children.  They were just “kosong” (no filling) buns and such small pieces, but for these children, they were a special treat.  It broke my heart to see them pushing each other for the buns.  My own daughter at home won’t even touch them if the buns don’t have chocolate or vanilla filling.

- One of our favourite treats in the delta area was fresh coconut water, straight from the source itself.  Once when we asked the villagers how they got the coconuts down from the trees, the village headman at Kansu himself climbed atree to demonstrate!

- Fortunately there was a toilet for us to use down in the delta villages.  But the bathroom area had no door and it was open to the fields.  I couldn’t adjust to bathing there with the buffaloes looking on – so I had to go without my bath that day!

(L) The Kansu Village headman demonstrating how the villagers pluck coconuts.

(R) Cathy found it difficult to adjust to this toilet in the delta village.

Impact on her: Seeing with my own eyes the poor living conditions that the people live in has awakened my conscience.  I want to do more to help them.  I am in the bio-agri business and I hope that I can contribute to an agri-livelihood project that will give the delta villagers a way to earn a good income so that they can become self-reliant and enjoy a better standard of living.

For Sister Usha, the highlight of the delta visit was travelling on the boat and seeing the hundreds of newly-built houses on either side of the river bank, all displaying the AMURT logo.  Here was solid evidence of the difference we were able to make in the lives of these people!

A Burmese boy stands in front of devastated home

Burma (Mayanmar) was hit hard by cyclone Nargis on May 3. It is the worst natural disaster in East Asia since the tsunami of 2004. Most of the 78,000 confirmed deaths occurred in the southern Irrawaddy river delta region. Unofficial estimates put the deaths at 100.000+. The majority of people were killed by a tidal surge 12 ft (3.5m) high. Approximately 2,5 million people have been affected by this disaster with many loosing their homes. Most of the survivors, who still did not receive any or only limited aid, are now threatened with hunger and disease. A people that were already poor before the disaster were pushed to the absolute limit.

Volunteers deliver food parcels deep in the worst affected delta

Disaster Relief

AMURT & AMURTEL responded immediately. 31 truck convoys from May – October 2008 delivered relief goods of a total value of 142,667 USD to 42 communities in the Ayeyarwady delta,. 6645 households were repeatedly benefited with emergency food, hygiene kits and kitchen kits.

Volunteers distribute food parcels deep in the worst affected delta area

Rehabilitation
To help child victims of the cyclone deal with the massive trauma they have suffered, AMURT & AMURTEL built 4 Early Childhood Care and Development Centers. These center provide kindergarten level activities for children 3-6 years. After school hours the centers is used as a community center and provides support and supplementary feeding programs to young children at risk and nursing mothers.  Additionally skill training and economic support id offered to vulnerable women.

Parents at Early Childhood Care and Development Centers inauguration

Integrated Development
AMURT and its international partners are working to rehabilitate whole areas consisting of several villages in an integrated development program covering food and non-food distribution, housing /repair and reconstruction, water and sanitation, infrastructure and livelihood projects.

One of 300 houses build in Myanmar for victims of the Cyclone

Appeal
AMURT is reaching out to those in greatest need. With your support we can make a huge difference despite the various difficulties of operating in Myanmar. We need your help to deliver relief to the hundreds of thousands of Burmese affected by this catastrophe.