© 2009 Carlos Vasquez
Myanmar 2009.

By Sandar Linn

DAEDAYAE, Myanmar, 30 March 2011 – Mary Myint, a six year old girl with a infectious big smile, warmly greets her friends, teachers, visitors at the Zalet Kone village’s Early Childhood Development (ECD)centre in Daedayae Township, Ayeyarwaddy Division.

Children leave the ECD centre at five years but Mary Myint is an exception. She suffered developmental delay due to lack of proper nutrition and care as a newborn. Then she needed to stay over her age of five years. Mary Myint comes to the centre everyday with her mother, Daw Than Nwet, 40, by boat from their home across the river.

Daw Than Nwet admits that taking her daughter to the centre everyday is not an easy job, however, she has been doing it for a year now and is determined to continue what is needed until she sees major changes in Mary’s growth. “That my daughter can walk and talk now is a miracle in itself.

“She also sings songs and tells stories that truly fill our home with joy and laughter,” said Daw Than Nwet, a mother of four, as her eyes welled up with tears.

Daw Naw Le Htoo Whar, 29, an ECD teacher at the village ECD centre agrees with Daw Than Nwet on the progress made by Mary Myint since joining the centre.

“I still remember how it was when Mary Myint first came to the centre. She could not walk or talk. She acted timid and afraid in front of people, defecated openly and her hygiene behavior was very poor,” she said.

With patience and persistence, Daw Naw Le Htoo Whar and other ECD teachers at the centre, worked on Mary Myint’s case in every way possible. She is now an example to the community of children participating in ECD programmes who register improvements in health, cognitive abilities and social and personal skills.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-1037/Markisz
UNICEF Early Childhood Development (ECD) kit.

Daw Naw Le Htoo Whar, a mother of two, joined the centre as an assistant in 2008 when the former facilitator left. She subsequently attended ECD teachers training conducted by a NGO, Kayin Baptist Convention funded by UNICEF.

“The ECD training that I received was a turning point in my life. I knew nothing about early childhood development before and the skills I learnt from the training contribute so much to my ability to help children like Mary Myint,” she said.

The centre was also provided with ECD Emergency kit, play materials and illustrated children’s as one-time support. A hand book on use of ECD Emergency Kit was also provided together with the kit.

Toy making training for community members was also conducted so that the community has to initiate and create developmentally appropriate play materials for children by using local materials.

“We all have the best intention for our children; we just need to do more to offer them the best support to start their lives. Living in poor communities, many children have no support or access to early learning and development,” said Daw Naw Le Htoo Whar.

At present, about 26 children from Zalet Kone village and nearby villages attend the ECD centre. The centre began functioning as a pre-school established by the Kayin Baptist Church in 2005.

In 2007, the pre-school was transformed into an early childhood development centre supported by UNICEF. Despite the devastation endured by the village by Cyclone Nargis three years ago, life has slowly came back to normal and the ECD Centre located in the village are unrelenting in its effort to in spite of its limited resources, to give children the best start in their lives.

During Cyclone Nargis (May 2008) over 450 ECD Emergency kits were distributed to about 450 communities that benefited over 9000 children mainly under 5 years age and some other children over 5 years. In October 2010 Giri Cyclone, 50 ECD Emergency kits were distributed to Emergency area 5 townships.

If you would like to know more about the ECD Kit please contact Vijaya Singh, Emergency Specialist at vijsingh@unicef.org

Related link

Building Peace in Early Childhood

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0560/Win Naing - Myanmar, 2008

By Sandar Linn and Angela Brigid Thaung

Su Pyi Phyo Lwin, then a 7-year-old second grade student, couldn’t keep her eyes off an architect’s rendering of how life – school life at least – would change when a new year began this June.

As the previous school year was coming to an end, she and friends grew more and more excited at what was materializing outside the monastery where their temporary classroom had been set up.

Pointing, perhaps for the thousandth time, she chirped over the colourful objects that till now had been objects of fantasy, such as “the see-saw in the playground.”

With a month to go, workers, including parents, are scrambling to finish the new classrooms, located on the same spot where the previous fragile Thit Kyar Kone village school had stood until cyclone Nargis trampled it down.

They can’t work fast enough for Su Pyi Phyo Lwin and classmates. These days it’s difficult to tell who is more eager for the new school among the students, teachers and even the parents. They have a new school coming together, bringing with it many changes in school life as well as a wave of security not felt since the deadly Nargis cyclone stormed through Myanmar a year ago May.

Nearing completion, their school will be one of nine ‘models’ that UNICEF is building in the seven townships hit hardest by the deadly Nargis cyclone that stormed through Myanmar a year ago May. The Thit Kyar Kone school was one of some 4,000 schools destroyed or damaged.

The school design reflects a policy that requires them to be better, safer and more child friendly than before the disaster, will serve as models for future school construction in the country.

Build back better

The Thit Kyar Kone school in Yangon Division will seat 100 students when it opens for the new school year. Like the other eight ‘build back better’ schools also opening in June, it will have, a library, a playground, a fence and a teachers’ room. All the schools will be completely furnished and include water storage and proper sanitation facilities as well as access for disabled students.

Incorporating traditional local architecture and materials readily available in Myanmar, the school design includes innovations to reduce heat and noise. Designed to provide emergency shelter for the community in a future disaster, the schools will be sturdy enough to resist another cyclone or even an earthquake. UNICEF will build a total of 37 model schools by the end of 2010.

With the collapse of their previous school and much of their material lives after the cyclone’s rampage, considered one of the world’s worst disasters, the villagers were left with nothing except desire to educate their children. When classes resumed in the monastery, UNICEF Myanmar fuelled their yearnings with teaching and studying materials to make lessons more dynamic, textbooks and furniture.

“The community and I will take great care in maintaining and safeguarding the school,” pledges Baddanda Sandawbatha, the head monk of the village monastery who shared his land for the construction of the school.

A local villager, Hla Myo, pitches in to help rebuild his children’s school in Thit Kyar Kone village. The school is one of the first nine model schools that will be ready for the new school year in June.

With many families’ livelihoods wiped out by the cyclone, the school construction has brought other cheers for the jobs it has created. “We earn about 2,500–3,000 kyat per day,” explains U Kyaw Moe, a local villager. “I used to work in a vegetable farm that was destroyed. I hope to save my income and restore my livelihood by working on the school,” he added. “I am proud and glad to help build this school, which will produce many bright students like my daughter who is now in the eighth grade.”

The village community is actively participating in the school construction sites. The Teacher and Parents’ Association and the community in each area have supported the construction team with food and lodging.

“It is beyond my power to express in words how we are happy and thankful to those who gave us the school because it is important that children have a better learning environment,” gushes Hla Myo, 41, whose son will enjoy the new school when classes resume. Hla Myo has pitched in with the construction, working long hours in the rain and searing sun in his bare feet.

As part of its emergency response to the Nargis cyclone that primarily struck Myanmar’s delta region, UNICEF provided funding, furniture and teaching, learning and play materials for nearly 60 per cent of the affected schools (2,740) and benefiting 410,000 primary school students. The support enabled some 315,000 children to return to their primary schooling with minimal disruption.

As part of the ‘build back better’ initiative, UNICEF also sponsored the training of 4,500 teachers on child-centred teaching methodologies.

“I am really touched to see the construction of the new school, which stands as the strongest and finest building in the area, even better than before. I’m also proud that our village school was chosen as one of the model schools to be built,” says a tearful Daw San Yi, the school principal.

In the first few months after the disaster, UNICEF also set up 42 early childhood development centres and provided materials and other needed support to a total of 343 centres that have attracted around 10,000 children younger than 5 years.

Cyclone-affected children in Myanmar return to the classroom
©UNICEF Video

LAPUTTA TOWNSHIP, Myanmar, 22 July 2008 – The school year here in the southern Irrawaddy Delta region was supposed to resume last month. The destruction and damage affecting nearly 60 per cent of the area’s public schools in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, however, prevented classes from starting on time.

It has been over two months since the cyclone hit Myanmar. In the Irrawaddy Delta, where the most severe destruction occurred, recovery and relief efforts have progressed well, enabling the area to rebuild schools. Just a few weeks ago, schools reopened, giving more than 6,000 children more hope for a better future.

UNICEF and its partners have set up large tents that serve as safe learning spaces for children whose schools were destroyed. So far, 123 school tents have been set up in six townships in the southern Irrawaddy Delta, and 56 of the temporary schools have also received classroom furniture.

Ma Nandar Hlaing, a student at a Laputta Township school that reopened with support from UNICEF, hopes to become a teacher one day. In addition to the school tents and furniture, latrine pans and water tanks are being distributed to schools in Laputta and Bogale.

Thinking about the future

“Our primary school was totally collapsed and everything was destroyed,” said Daw San San Maw, a teacher in Laputta. “But UNICEF provided the school tent, essential learning packages and furniture so that children can now continue schooling.”

The reopened schools in the cyclone zone have begun to restore children’s sense of well-being, providing them with safe and nurturing places to learn. Returning to school has given these children a chance to resume the rhythm of a normal life and to think about their future.

“I want to become a doctor. Science is my favourite subject,” said six-year-old student Mg Nyein Htet Aung.

According to the latest UN estimates, Cyclone Nargis killed 84,530 people, and 53,836 others are still missing.

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This storage room turned playground at Yangon Kayin Baptist Women’s Association is one of the many child-friendly spaces now operating in Myanmar with UNICEF support.
© UNICEF Video

By Nattha Keenapan

YANGON, Myanmar, 5 June 2008 – At the offices of the Yangon Kayin Baptist Women’s Association, a room once used for storing office equipment and documents is now filled with laughing and playing children, all of whom were displaced by the devastation of Cyclone Nargis.

Since Nargis swept across the Irrawaddy Delta on 2 May, the former storage space has served as a playground for some 250 children. Approximately half of the people who have taken refuge at the women’s association centre in Yangon are children.

At one end of the room, boys play a spirited game of football, while at the other end small children try to knock over miniature bowling pins with plastic balls. In other parts of the room, tired mothers read stories to sleepy toddlers, a group of girls draw and paint pictures, and children gather to sing together.

A sense of stability

With UNICEF support, this storage room turned playground is one of the many ‘child-friendly spaces’ now operating in Myanmar. These locations are designed to serve as safe and protective places for children in times of emergency.

The spaces provide children and young people with a sense of stability and support, while at the same time assisting them in overcoming their distress.

Saw Leh Ler Shee, 12, in Laputta township, has not been able to locate his parents and siblings since Cyclone Nargis struck on 2 May.

“I like playing football the most,” said Saw Leh Ler Shee, a 12-year-old boy from Laputta township who fears that he lost a brother, a sister and both of his parents in the cyclone. “I like it here. I don’t want to go back to the village anymore because many people died and there will be a lot of ghosts there.”

Just before the cyclone hit, Ler Shee set out for the grocery store to buy some things for his mother – but he never managed to get there. The relentless wind and rain forced him to take refuge at a neighbour’s house, which was soon destroyed by a surge of water. Ler Shee managed to survive by clinging to a tree until the next morning.

Children cope with stress

“I saw many dead bodies, dead cattle and debris everywhere,” the boy said, bravely recounting those terrifying hours. His sad eyes showed a true glimpse into the events he had witnessed. “I went back home and saw that my house had collapsed. I tried to find my mother but I couldn’t,” he added.

Unable to find anyone from his family, he walked for an hour to a nearby village, where a boat came to pick him up along with other survivors in the area. He was taken to a temporary, church-managed shelter where he met his aunt and grandmother. They, in turn, brought him to the women’s association centre.

“It is terrible to imagine what these children have gone through,” said UNICEF Myanmar Chief of Child Protection Anne-Claire Dufay. “We are very concerned about the emotional stress faced by children who have been caught up in the aftermath of the cyclone.”

Recreation and education

The United Nations estimates that 2.4 million people have been severely affected by Cyclone Nargis. UNICEF estimates that of those affected, about 40 per cent – or nearly 1 million – are children.

“In any situation where you have children living under extremely stressful conditions, both physically and mentally, it is important to provide them with a place where they can feel safe and are well cared for,” said Ms. Dufay. “Such a place can help them begin to return to a bit more of a normal life and start the process of recovering from what has happened to them.”

In addition to engaging in recreational activities, children at the child-friendly spaces learn life skills. Non-formal education activities such as reading and writing instruction are provided as well.

“It was touching to see these children playing, enjoying themselves and smiling – these same children who only a few days ago had only blank stares and looked withdrawn and bored,” said UNICEF Child Protection Officer Uzma Hoque, who has been helping to set up child-friendly spaces.

Hopeful for a reunion

As of 27 May, UNICEF and its partners had established 30 child-friendly spaces in temporary shelters and communities in the Yangon and Irrawaddy Divisions, and another 60 spaces were in the process of being set up.

To date, more than 230 separated children and 50 unaccompanied children have been documented. Relatives registered another 60 as missing missing children at the Myanmar Red Cross office in Laputta township. Along with Myanmar’s Department of Social Welfare and several non-governmental organizations, UNICEF is working on tracing family members and following up on family reunification.

Although no one can yet confirm whether Ler Shee’s parents or siblings are alive, he hopes that one day soon he will be reunited again.

“I have a lot of new friends here, but I still miss my family, especially my sister,” he said. “Sometimes I cry before I go to bed because I miss them.”

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0562/Naing
Boys at State Primary School No.11 in Hlaing Thar Township, Yapon, read an illustrated book on life skills

By Angela B. Thaung

YANGON, Myanmar, 3 June 2008 – A new school year has begun as children head back to classes, just one month after Cyclone Nargis damaged or destroyed more than 4,000 schools in Myanmar.

UNICEF, the Ministry of Education and local communities have been working together to distribute building materials to schools that were damaged or destroyed by the cyclone. Essential school supplies, learning materials and recreation kits for primary schools also have been distributed.

Dressed in school uniforms, the children – some accompanied by their parents – strolled into the lane leading towards Post Primary School No. 32 in Hlaingtharyar township, one of the worst affected areas in Yangon division. The children, excited by this return to normalcy, began to arrive at six in the morning, an hour before classes were scheduled to start.

‘Thankful to UNICEF’ for materials

Some students and parents helped the school to reopen by carrying benches into the classrooms. As some were still registering, other children looked for their friends or sat on the benches awaiting their lessons.

“I am very thankful to UNICEF,” said school principal Daw Khin Thandar Aung. “UNICEF provided us with 200 roofing sheets, two sets of School-in-a-Box, and a recreation kit. We also received 5 roofing sheets for building an extra latrine.

“These supplies have allowed us to repair the roof in time, and today I am glad to know that 95 per cent of the registered students are attending school,” the principal added.

First-grade students on the first day of the reopening of State Primary School No.11, Yangon, where there are over 120 students in the classroom with just one teacher.

Sense of security

In any disaster, the opening of local schools is an important recovery measure. Children in particular rely on their daily routines for a sense of security, including the routine of attending school.
“Getting children back to school is an essential step in helping children recover from distress and improve their quality of life,” said UNICEF Representative in Myanmar Ramesh Shrestha.
“I am very happy to be back to school as I can meet my friends and teachers, and I can study again now,” said Kyaw Myo Khine, a fourth-grader at State Primary School No. 11, also in Hlaing Tharyar township.

Not all children in Myanmar can head back to school just yet. Due to the extent of damage in the hardest-hit areas, the Ministry of Education has delayed the opening of schools in seven townships in the Irrawaddy division and in one township in Yangon division.

Parents face new challenges

Parents in Myanmar traditionally place a high value on education. The estimated national net primary school enrolment rate is 80 per cent for boys and 92 per cent for girls. Education is considered a priority across different socio-economic, ethnic and political groupings, and amongst all levels of society.

Unfortunately, the disaster that lashed some parts of Myanmar on 2 May posed new challenges for many parents. In the midst of dire hardship, some children from poor backgrounds will likely drop out of school in order to help their families cope.

As a single mother who came to enrol her two daughters in school put it: “My elder daughter, who wants to go to the ninth grade and dreams of becoming a lawyer, will have to quit schooling this year. She needs to find a job and help our family overcome the hardship.”

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© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-0560/Naing
A teacher registers students for school on the first day of class since the cyclone, at State Primary School No. 32 in Hlaing Thar Yar Township

By Angela Thaung

YANGON, Myanmar, 27 May 2008 – As many cyclone-affected children are preparing to head back to school next week, UNICEF and its partners have been distributing essential school supplies by everything from truck to boat.

The Government of Myanmar aims to reopen schools in some cyclone-affected areas by 2 June. UNICEF has already distributed roofing sheets as well as School-in-a-Box and recreational kits to 23 primary schools in Kawhmu township, Yangon Division.

“I want to go back to school, because I want to be an educated person,” said Kyaw Thu Shein, 12.

Determined to resume classes

Before the cyclone hit, the primary school in Ye Phyu Twin village had three buildings. Now, one building has completely collapsed and the other two have lost their roofs.

The principal of Ye Phyu Twin’s school, Than Than Htay, is determined to resume classes. She understands that bringing normalcy back to the lives of the children in her village is very important.

UNICEF-supplied School-in-a-Box kits, recreational kits and roofing sheets arrive in Ye Phyu Twin village, Yangon Division, where two school buildings lost their roofs and one building completely collapsed.
“With the support of UNICEF to repair the school in time for reopening and reducing the cost of schooling for families, I am confident that I can encourage parents to send their children back to school,” said Ms. Htay.

More aid needed

Within the past two weeks, primary schools have received supplies and recreational kits as part of UNICEF’s rapid response to the cyclone. Other supplies such as furniture are still needed, however. Repairing school sanitation facilities is also a priority.

The Parent Teachers Association in Ye Phyu Twin village is not in a position to help the reconstruction of the middle school this year, but the principal there intends to reuse the scrap wood and roofing materials to build a small library.

However, there is still the fear that not all children will be able to get an education.

“As most families are in dire hardship, some children will most likely drop out of school in order to help their families,” said Ms. Htay.

Watch the UNICEF YouTube Channel Video

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Cyclone-Affected Children Return to School