Better Late Than Never!

Apologies for not posting any recent updates as I have been extremely busy. I will be posting some of the activities and events involving the two schools over the past few months. Thanks for your patience!

Students Get New Uniforms

Pre-school students at the New Generation and Victory Schools were elated to finally have their very own school uniforms. For many of these refugee students education is a privilege and not a birthright and they treasure the few hours they get each day in their makeshift schools. New Generation and Victory are just a few of the refugee schools which are being run by the Myanmar refugee community. UNHCR helps to fund some of these schools while others are funded by generous donors and church groups.

Students at New Generation and Victory were able to raise funds for their schools through sales of My Beautiful Myanmar which was launched 2 years ago. Through the book they raised enough money to donate RM25,000 to World Vision Myanmar in aid of Cyclone Nargis victims back in their homeland. The rest of the money collected has been used for school supplies, AV equipment, meals, school trips, events, etc. In fact it was through these funds that they managed to make the school uniforms.

Every student who gets relocated to a new country is also given a gift of RM100 each. Quite a few of the children whose stories are in the book are now enjoying new lives in countries like the US, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia. 

We hope the public will continue to support the schools by purchasing the books which are being sold at RM15 each. You can send an email to my.beautiful.myanmar@gmail.com to buy the books. Thanks for your support!

Food Donors Welcome

Aside from clothes, household items & toys the Kachin refugee community are always in need of basic food supplies and toiletries. There are also many mothers who cannot afford the high cost of baby formula.  If you are in a position to donate such items do drop an email to me at my.beautiful.myanmar@gmail.com

Recently we received a generous food donation from Debora who has been a regular contributor to the community. The food will be used for the refugee students' meals and also distributed among the neediest families. Thanks so much Debora!

Jumble Sale Raises Almost RM2500

Over the weekend close to RM2500 (USD800) was raised through a charity jumble sale. All the items were donated and proceeds will go to the two Kachin refugee schools (New Generation & Victory). The unsold items were donated to the refugee community.

Thanks so much to all those who donated their 2nd hand items (and some were brand new and unused!). Thanks also to all those who bought our items at the sale. The money raised will be used for school supplies, meals for the students and will also help supplement salaries for the refugee teachers, many of whom work for minimum wages.

If you have any items to donate please send an email to my.beautiful.myanmar@gmail.com We will have a few jumble sales throughout the year and this is a great way to raise funds for the schools. Thanks!

Charity Jumble Sale at IBU Bazaar Sat May 8th

We will be having 2 booths at the upcoming annual IBU Jumble Sale and all proceeds from sales will go towards the Kachin refugee schools. We've got boxes of donated items to sell as well as HeArt products which feature original designs from the children (greeting cards & gift wrap).

Do come support us and do a bit of shopping for a good cause. Details:

Date: Saturday May 8th
Time: 10am-3pm
Venue: Bangsar Village II (opposite Kidzsports)
Tickets at RM10 at the door (proceeds go to charity)

See you there!

Alice Smith's Interact Club Raises Funds for Refugee Schools

A few weeks ago a group of Interact Club students from the Alice Smith School paid a visit to the New Generation School. The students were from all over the world including the Netherlands, UK, USA and Fiji. The NG students were delighted to watch a slideshow presentation of what life was like in these different countries. The boys were especially attentive when it came to listening to the pretty Alice Smith girls! :)

The group had dropped by to present over RM4000 to the schools. This money was raised by the Interact Club through selling of candy canes over Christmas and roses over Valentine's Day. The students also raised close to RM900 in December selling some of the HeArt products of which all proceeds go towards the Kachin schools.

Thanks so much to Myrthe and her friends from the Interact Club. These gals have such big hearts, their school should be very proud of these future leaders! Myrthe and her mom have also donated many items to be sold at a charity Jumble Sale, all proceeds going to the schools as well.

I'm sure the Kachin students look forward to their next visit!

Myanmar Showcase at International Bazaar

Recently the students from New Generation Learning Center had the opportunity to showcase Myanmar at Garden International School's annual International Bazaar. It was the first time Myanmar was featured at this event. Many students, and some adults, didn't even know where Myanmar was! This year's theme was on the 5 senses of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. On display were colorful photos of Myanmar's famous landmarks, facts and figures about the country and population, handcrafts, clothing, school books, games, etc. There was also traditional Myanmar music courtesy of budding musicians Raymond & Dominic. There was free food sampling of Myanmar delicacies and the popular spicy dish "balawchong" was also available for sale.

The highlight was when the students performed their traditional Kachin dance on stage. It was a great way to share more about Myanmar's beautiful and diverse culture. Best of all the students and teachers had a chance to visit over 40 countries in one day! They enjoyed themselves visiting all the other countries' booths, sampling the food and finding out more about the culture. Maybe some of them might get resettled in those countries one day...

Thanks to all the students and teachers who helped out and to GIS for giving us the opportunity to share Myanmar's culture with the students.