Aid from TOPS
The refugee situation on the Thai–Myanmar border received little exposure in Taiwan until 1996, when TOPS was invited by the Thai government to station a presence in the refugee camp. It was only then that news of the refugees reached the public in Taiwan.
After TOPS became Taiwan’s first official NGO in the area, education programs for children and training for women were provided as part of the aid project. Recently, the focus has been more on early childhood education, teacher training and improvements in the children’s diet with the provision of more nutritious lunches. TOPS has provided aid to three of the major refugee camps including Mae La (the northernmost and largest camp) and Nu Po and Umpiem Mai in the south.
TOPS worker Yeh Ching-lun says that Mae La is the only one of the nine refugee camps that has kindergartens, primary schools, high schools and a university. While the camp is able to boast 23 kindergartens, they suffer from issues such as a lack of quality equipment and a serious shortage of teachers and teaching resources.
The average kindergarten is less than 70 square meters in size, but somehow manages to accommodate five classes, with simple plastic curtains separating classes. One can imagine the difficulties of teaching and learning with five classes, five teachers and nearly 50 students all in session at the same time.
In most camps, the majority of kindergarten teachers are female refugees themselves, most of whom have very limited or no teaching experience. In fact only a few have a high-school education. So TOPS works with the camp’s Karen women’s committee to promote teacher training, educating teachers as well as teacher trainers and supervisors.
Thirty-six-year-old Naw Lah Say Klah became a training supervisor in 2008. In 2006, she and her family had fled their home to cross the border and make it to the refugee camp. Family and community members who were forced apart because of the war were reunited in the camp, but while they are able to find some temporary sense of security there, she is concerned about the education of the younger generation. Her son is now six years old, and is being educated in the camp. But there is no guarantee that either the Thai or Myanmar governments will recognize their qualifications, so even if the children complete their studies, their future remains uncertain.
Naw Lah Say Klah doesn’t know where to go from here. Facing enormous challenges and some resentment from the Thai community, she feels that she should follow her heart and live for the moment. But she enjoys helping to train the teachers and working as a supervisor in the kindergartens. Witnessing the development of both teachers and children brings a sense of warmth to her heart.
There are currently about 20 supervisors like Naw Lah Say Klah and 200-plus kindergarten teachers trained by the TOPS program. After nearly two decades working in the refugee camps, TOPS is gradually taking a back seat to allow the refugees’ own organizations to take over.
Teachers in the refugee camp conduct classes in three languages: Karen, Burmese and English, hoping that one day they will be able to return to their homes in Myanmar.