I first visited Myanmar as a backpacker in 1997. Despite the oppressive regime that hung like a dark cloud, the country was utterly enchanting. It was Asia in a time warp: sleepy, beautiful and diverse.
On first glance, much has changed in 16 years. Returning for a recent ChildFund assignment, I found both Yangon and Mandalay have gleaming new airports connected to wide, freshly paved highways. Mandalay is a booming city, where vast billboards hang over congested streets.
But the spoils of the economic boom are far from evenly spread, as I saw when I visited my first ChildFund-supported project.
Not long ago, this monastic school in Mandalay was surrounded by rice paddies. Today it’s hemmed in by huge villas, in what is now an affluent outer suburb. The families that previously farmed the land but had no legal title have been pushed out. They now occupy tiny bamboo shacks, many hovering over fetid ditches.
The principal of the monastery, seeing the plight of the squatter children too poor even for state education established a school. It now buzzes with some 1,900 students, including many children from further afield. With the computers provided by ChildFund, it’s doing its best to prepare children for the challenges of the 21st century.
Poverty in Myanmar is starker than in much of Southeast Asia. Child labour is commonplace, whether in restaurants or on road construction.
Many families rely on daily cash wages that provide just enough to subsist. When a parent is unable to work, children are pulled from school or essential medical needs go unmet. The threat of hunger is never far away.
9-year old Miguelito lives in the Quichà indigenous area, in the central highlands of Guatemala. He lives with his parents Francisco, 27, and MarÃa, 26, who earn their living by weaving traditional clothes and selling them at markets. Miguelito has three sisters Jessica, 4, Leslie, 3, and Sucely, 2. Together they share a small adobe house, and, like everyone else in their small community, they live on greens, beans and rice.
Their community has a small health centre and one school.
Now in his third year of primary school, Miguelito`s grades are great. He likes language class best, but writing and drawing are close seconds. His love for learning began with his participation at an early childhood development centre supported by ChildFund Guatemala. Now that he is of school-age, he participates in a ChildFund project which is focused on improving the self-expression and confidence of children through games, theatre and other activities.
“I like to paint, write and to join in different activities. One of my dreams is to study really hard to become a doctor to help people in my community and to support my family,” says Miguelito. “When I finish my homework from school I help my father carry wood from the field to our house; we use it to cook. Sometimes I play soccer, I love to do this!”
MarÃa, Miguelito`s mother (pictured below), is pleased with her son`s progress and spirit. “My child was very shy years ago, but now he likes to talk with other people. At school he is doing well, he likes to participate more. I can see that there is a change, the self-esteem activities have helped him.”
Education is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty for Miguelito and his family. More than 18,000 children in Guatemala are benefitting from ChildFund’s work to help address the challenges they face in their lives everyday.
