When Win May was a child, she dreamt of becoming a writer. The kind who inspires and sparks people’s imaginations and takes them to worlds they would have never gone on their own.
Today, Win May is still passionate about writing, but you won’t find her life’s work scrawled between sheets of paper. Her impact extends beyond the pages of a book and is making a difference to the lives of children and their communities.
As the Country Director of ChildFund Myanmar – a representative office of ChildFund Australia – she leads a team of dedicated staff to implement projects to help disadvantaged children and young people in Myanmar.
Win May says working with children and youth is critical for sustainable development. “One of my favourite quotes is from Abraham Lincoln – ‘teach the children so it will not be necessary to teach the adults’,” she says.
A chance to combine her passions
Win May has always had a keen interest in tackling the injustices of the world and helping people in need. As a child she wrote poems and short stories about war, the environment and disadvantaged children and families.
If she was not swept up in writing, she was curled up with a book, often losing herself in novels about adventure and mystery. “I loved books and was – and still am – a bookworm,” Win May says. “And with writing, there was just always this desire to be creative.”
Among the countries in which ChildFund Australia manages and implements programs, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s education has been the most severe in Myanmar.
Schools have been closed for almost a year, since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country in March 2020. Restrictions were eased briefly at the end of July 2020, allowing students to return to school, but the respite was short-lived. The number of COVID-19 cases began to rise again towards the end of August, prompting the Myanmar government to return to restrictions on public spaces and gatherings.
“The nationwide closure of schools is impacting millions of students,” ChildFund Myanmar National Education Coordinator, PoPo Thaung Win, says.
The prolonged shutdown, says ChildFund Myanmar’s Country Director Win May, will have the greatest impact on Myanmar’s most vulnerable children, such as children living in poverty, children living with disability, girls, and those living in remote and rural areas.
“They face a great risk of dropping out and never returning to school,” Win May says.
Once schools reopen, many children in the disadvantaged communities in which ChildFund works are at risk of entering the workforce, becoming full-time labourers, or staying at home to take care of younger siblings and household chores, to help their families.
Another concern, says Win May, is the health and wellbeing of children stuck at home with nowhere to go. “Many children are becoming isolated because of the lack of social connection,” she says.
Children also face higher protection risks while schools are closed because they can no longer access essential school equipment and services such as water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, health services, protection referrals for gender-based violence and abuse, and specialised services for children with disabilities.
Rethinking education
Myanmar has had to rapidly adapt to the changing situations posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With support from UNESCO, the Ministry of Education has developed a COVID-19 response and recovery plan to help children to continue learning during and after the pandemic. The plan looks at how schools can eventually reopen safely, and how the country’s education system can be strengthened to cope with future emergencies.
