Best Boot Forward

45 students from the Kachin schools were thrilled to try on their new football boots courtesy of Total Sports Asia. Prior to this many of them were wearing slippers and even playing barefoot (ouch!).

The kids will be playing at the annual Faisal Cup on Oct 3rd which is a football tournament for the refugee community living in Malaysia. Let's hope the new boots give them the winning edge!

Thanks TSA for the Boot Power!

A Dream Come True!

On Saturday 100 Kachin students from New Generation & Victory Schools and 30 teachers and volunteers were treated to a fun day at the beach. The Methodist Center in Port Dickson gave us a good discount to use their beautiful sprawling premises for the day.

The beach trip was promised to them over a year ago for their great work on My Beautiful Myanmar. Most of the kids have never seen the ocean before so they were thrilled and excited about the trip.

After a yummy breakfast of homemade nasi lemak the kids wasted no time jumping into the water under the watchful eyes of the adult volunteers and teachers. Once in the water it was hard to get them out and the only way was to entice them with a delicious hot lunch sponsored by Jenny Chang who owns a Kenny Rogers franchise.

After lunch was Games time and everyone had a blast watching their friends do Michael Jackson impersonations, breakdancing and singing. All that talent has convinced us to stage a Myanmar Idol contest among the students! One of the girls, Ellie, even did a perfect Tamil song and dance while another sang a Korean song.

There were lots of prizes to be won, not to mention sweets galore thanks to Jenny who brought 2 large pinatas filled to the brim with assorted candies. The kids went MAD!

After more than 7 hours in PD it was time to go home, the kids were exhausted and sunburned but exhilirated from a truly fun day at the beach. I'm sure for many of them it will be a day they'll remember for the rest of their lives!

Thanks to everyone who helped and supported this trip, you can't imagine how big the kids' smiles were that day thanks to your time and contributions.

A BIG Thank You to:

Methodist Center PD (Mr. Poh & Mr. Ng, Lucas & Jenny)

Melani (Munchy's)

Jenny & Isabelle (Kenny Rogers)

Max (Malaysian CARE)

Karen & Joost

Jeanette

Masaki

Marcus & Max

Lee Chin

Janice

Fei

Helen

Ivo

Ai Ling

& to everyone who prayed for a safe & fun trip and sent us their well wishes!

It's Beach Time!!

Finally after waiting for over a year the students from New Generation & Victory Schools are getting their much awaited and much deserved beach trip which was promised to them for their great effort in My Beautiful Myanmar.

Although there are 160 students we can only accommodate 96 students this time around, we'll plan some other fun activity for the younger ones. As you can imagine the kids are excited beyond words. Most of them have never seen the ocean! The kids will be going to Port Dickson for the day. Stay tuned for updates on the trip and lots of photos!!! Woo-hoo!!!

Football Clinic for Kachin Kids

Last Saturday a group of expat friends working in Malaysia volunteered their time and expertise to run a 2hr long football clinic for the Kachin kids. The kids were coached by Stephan & Adam from Total Sports Asia (TSA), who incidentally happen to be ex-pro football players, and their German friend Profi who is a football coach in Germany. This is the first time the kids have had such "professional" coaching and they were thrilled. As for the 'coaches", they thoroughly enjoyed themselves despite getting sunburnt in the scorching heat. Stephan said it was great to see the smiles on their faces so much so they're running another training session this Sunday. Way to go guys!

It was heartwarming to see photos of the kids. Some didn't even have shoes to play in while others wore slippers! The good news is TSA has come to their rescue by sponsoring 45 pairs of football boots for their tournament as well as providing training equipment like balls, bibs & cones. Thank you TSA for your great support and help!

The Faisal Cup which is an annual football tournament for the refugee community in Malaysia takes place on Sept. 26th. The Kachin schools are sending 4 teams from different age groups. Good luck boys and we can't wait to see you in your spanking new boots :)