Visit to British Council Bangkok

With my cousin outside BC Bangkok

At the end of our stay in Thailand we had the opportunity to have a meeting with representatives of the British Council Bangkok, organised by the Director John Whitehead. He had set up a generous morning meeting with Pred Evans, Director of Education, Matumon Katerenchuk, Education Partnerships Manager and Kewalin Lomwong Education Partnerships Officer. They were an impressive team who showed interest and enthusiasm for the schools partnership and were keen to hear all the details about the time we had spent in Say Ta Nar in Mae Sot. Team Gillespie talked enthusiastically about the children, Headteacher and teachers and the great learning experiences we all shared. As well as talking about the positive curricular developments we were also able to share concerns about the future of the Burmese children who were stateless and had no rights. We were able to talk about issues like future funding for the Burmese migrant schools and highlighted Hlee Bee school whose funding ends in October.

During the morning discussions the team asked lots of questions about all aspects of the visit, took notes and were keen to be involved and explore different ways they could assist our global partnerships.

The British Council team were so positive and interested that we all left feeling very good about the meeting and believing that there would be ongoing communication. Lewis has been asked to write about his Mae Sot experiences for the Asian Dialogues programme.
Since arriving home we have exchanged emails with the team and they are keen to keep in touch.



Remembering 8.8.88
To mark the 20th anniversary of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Burma in 1988 we joined many other supporters, including politicians, in an amnesty internatinal campaign on August 8th at the City Chambers. We all joined together to form a large saffron ribbon and had a minute silence to remember the political prisoners and the continuing struggle of the Burmese people under a brutal and oppressive dictatorship . This was happening in different locations across the country. We then went into the City Chambers and watched a special performance of a powerful and memorable play called The Burma Play: A comedy of terror , performed by the northern international theatre company. It is on as part of the Edinburgh Festival at St John`s church on Princes Street and it is a must to see. Here is an Amnesty International link showing photographs of the saffron ribbon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amnestyscotland

Auld Lang Syne from Say Ta Nar

Just listen to Say Ta Nar singing Auld Lang Syne! We couldn`t believe it but just loved the sentiment. Our final day at school had arrived and we were all feeling quite emotional. This had been such an intense week full of great learning experiences but had been mainly about building friendships and linking two great schools.

Two artists will be working with the children , one here in Mae Sot and the other in Edinburgh on a joint project involving etchings and printing. These will be made up into a book that will be available for all to share . The Burmese artist came along this morning to work with the children at Say Ta Nar telling them an imaginative story about a chair in Edinburgh made of Burmese wood and then each child chose from a selection of Burmese photographs to etch and write about . Some of their stories are poignant as well as inspiring and the childen concentrated hard on the etching which is not an easy task. Watch out Pirniehall it will be our turn in September! Hle Bee children had been working with the talented artist the day before and Sheila, Fiona and Murray came along with the printing materials and to share in the experience. Their school was closed for the Bhudda holiday but Say Ta Nar is mainly Muslim so the school was open. We got to see some of the celebrations as they passed the school

Hard at work on the etchings

Pho Cho and I sat down at his computer and drew up our mutual agreement on our next steps for joint curricular work which we both signed and each have a copy of. Pho Cho agreed to speaking to Pirniehall staff on video and I look forward to sharing his message with everyone in the new session.

Headteachers sign their agreements

A glimpse of Bhudda Day celebrations

The children handed the cameras back in and I will develop them in Scotland and send them their copy of the finished posters to match ours. Both schools can then display them. We had a lovely afternoon singing, playing games and had a chance to watch Pho Cho`s message to Pirniehall on television. Everyone sat watching mesmerised and bemused.

The children were engrossed playing the dominoes we brought.

Alan had scoured the shops for 110 types of different treats for the children. He had to wait for over an hour in one shop as the staff ran round other stores finding the right amount. But the children really enjoyed the end result.

Goodbye teacher, see you tomorrow

Kindergarten waiting patiently for the bus home...our final view as children head home.

Farewell notes particularly for Lewis and Calum

Final cycle ride...where did they all disappear to?

Come on mum...where are you? We handed our bikes back ages ago

A fond farewell to Say Ta Nar for this year. The children and staff made our visit memorable. I`m glad this has been a shared family experience as we will all be able to look back with great memories and talk together about these special children. Huge thanks to Alan for videoing and being the organiser/events manager/guide around Mae Sot and Lewis and Calum for taking all the photographs/videoing/being in school every day/sharing with and learning from the children. They both have a school full of friends (some wanted to come home with them!)

We now head off to Krabi island and Bangkok to complete our time in Thailand. We will leave Mae Sot at 7.00am and arrive at Krabi for 10.00pm...I`m sure Alan gets special rates with `Marathon Holidays`. We will have travelled by Tuk Tuk, long haul bus, taxi , plane, minibus and longtail boat (only access to Railey from mainland) in one day before we arrive at our hotel.

Nothing will compare to the special time we have just shared with our Burmese friends and we look forward to our ongoing friendship.

Here is a sobering link to You Tube which gives valuable background information about Aung San Suu Kyi , leader of theNational League For Demcracy, who is under permanent house arrest in Burma and helps us keep focused on the terrible loss of human rights that exist for the Burmese people.

Her simple message to us all is `Please use your liberty to promote ours`

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=n4xdlxYs5r0

Teaching most of Tuesday

Teaching mind mapping






This was to be one of the busiest days as the English teacher was absent and I took over. It is quite a challenge to be faced with so many eager children who are learning to speak English when the only Burmese you recognise is `hello and thank you ` as well as the problem of limited resources. I decided to introduce mind maps as a way of planning and organising their work and had my boys working hard modelling their own maps and drawing examples on the whiteboard. We all three worked hard explaining and supporting the childen and I was pleased with the end result although quite drained with the sign language and slow deliberate pronunciation. We went on and learned the Fischy song `I`m the only I` which they learned amazingly well and they laughed so much at the actions for dancing and romancing , often breaking into loud clapping. But they were soon singing the song with gusto and I have it recorded to show all at a Pirniehall Gettogether. We tried circle time discussions to encourage them to acknowledge their many talents and strengths , as well as short word bingo which they loved.....we gave out postcards of Edinburgh as prizes ! Just before lunch we were trying out new fun games like hangman and all in all we had a very busy but productive time.











Kindergarten learn the alphabet



The children moved effortlessly from English to Thai and then Burmese language.The kindergarten were practising their alphabet and the boys lead them in the ABC song. You might have noticed the markings on the children`s faces (see smiley face above)) and this is Burmese make-up which also cools down the face. It is popular with children and adults and I was treated to a facial too!





Learning Thai Language and Music

In the afternoon we played back the video to the children of them singing and doing the Fischy actions which they absolutely loved. They had never seen themselves on television.












Watching themselves on television

Children who had been absent for their identification cards had their photographhs taken below by a volunteer from the Help Without Frontiers organisation.


Identification photographs


Pho Cho`s wife surprised us with gifts wrapped up beautifully and inside were Burmese wrap arounds for Alan and the boys and a lovely handbag for yours truly. We were so touched because we did not expect this.

The boys try on their presents


Maybe we could bring this little treasure home?

We left before the end of the day and headed towards Hle Bee school (Forthview`s partner school) and as we cycled in we were met with the familiar sounds of Fischy music being sung enthusiastically by hundreds of children. They were raising the roof, led by Sheila and the Hle Bee Headteacher with Fiona and Murray singing their hearts out. We joined in immediately and Stephen Fischbacher would have had an emotional moment at the wonderful sound that resonated around the school. The children loved meeting Scottish boys as Calum and Lewis introduced themselves. They all shook our hands as they left school and close by parents were preparing traditional Burmese soup for the special celebration next day, Bhudda Day. Another lovely Burmese migrant community working together and sharing a special friendship with a Scottish school. I have a good picture of us all singing together but there are Burmese teachers in it and I dont want to compromise them so will not post it.


On journey home washing hanging out over bushes indicate someone`s home



When not cycling we took a Tuk Tuk

Rainy Monday at Say Ta Nar

Rainy Monday

You guessed it! The rain poured down again on Monday but we were well accustomed to heavy downfalls by now and we had our breakfast at `Canadian Daves` . It was lovely to see Murray, who joined us from Chiang Mai and Fiona who teaches at Forthview with Louise joining her parents Sheila and Geoff .They had arrived after a very long journey involving missed connections and delays but managed to look remarkably fresh ! Calum had a tummy bug which is a common occurence over here and Alan stayed at the hotel to look after him . Lewis and I enjoyed another day at school. We helped grades 6 and 7 who were beginning to write letters responding to their friends at Pirniehall and they put such a lot of work into them. I have the completed letters to hand out. Pho Cho taught an impressive lesson on the rights of the child making good use of the United Nation book `For Every Child A better World` Children were engaged in animated discussion , art work and writing and came up with most of the key areas that are each child`s human entitlement - food, water, home, education, peace. This felt such an important area for these children to be learning about.

Pho Cho teaching about Children`s Rights

As usual we were treated to a lovely home cooked lunch along with the children. Just enjoy the lunch time video clip. The hospitality is so generous. Lewis and Calum bought all of the children an ice-cream from the local vendor which Calum captured on video and includes the industrious washing up process which you can see for yourself , just click on at bottom of page.The children took the cameras we brought for them home today , to replicate our community art project and take photographs of their life in Mae Sot. We had just finished doing this at the end of June with children and parents at Pirniehall. Lewis reminded everyone how to work the cameras and I was able to show them our completed work in poster form and on a CD and leave copies with them. They know we will produce the same posters using their photographs and send them back for them to display in Say Ta Nar. They were very excited about the cameras and were snapping away to their hearts content before they left school. I`ll be interested to see the developed work.

Camera happy!

Pho Cho is so interested in learning about ways to improve the curriculum for his children and hearing all the details about how we do things in Scotland. We talked at length about so many important areas which included involving parents, assessment and a differentiated curiculum. He has good but limited English and so I was constantly reviewing how to answer. I know we were communicating but I`m not sure how much of the detail he understood. I saw a glazed eye look at one point which was my cue to stop talking. I have learnt so much from him about the life of Burmese families, the crucial role of the school and dedication to children and education way beyond anything I have ever experienced.

Lunch at school- different to Pirniehall- so quiet!

Some of the parents had kindly handed in sweet cakes and delicacies for us to enjoy with coffee at the end of the day. A parent who lived in the refugee camp arrived with her son who had heart problems and who needed to be operated on. He had previously spent time at school but they obviously felt welcome and stayed to chat and drink tea. As usual we waved children off in their minibus to the loud cries of `see you tomorrow teacher` which is what they always shout to us at the end of the day. It will ring in my ears for a lifetime!

We went home through the day market in Mae Sot where many of our children and their families work as sellers and it is an amazing sight. It is hectic and vibrant and everything imaginable is on sale.The smells and noises, the variety of people, the animals, the cyclists (including us!), the garbage carts are all part of an amazing tapestry. Not to be missed!

Lovely fresh fruit and vegetables

A fellow Celtic supporer in Mae Sot and Lewis found him

Babies travel in the basket on bike!

The refuse collectors recycle everything out of necessity

Exotic fruits - the boys are still enjoying some of them


Colourful stalls everywhere you look

Bhuddist monks and temples are to be seen everywhere

Back at hotel-survived cycle through market and the rain is off

Click here to see how quietly the children eat lunch

A Busy Weekend

Families fishing

Although it was the weekend for us , Pho Cho and his wife take no holidays and would be happily caring for some children at school , as their parents have to work . They really have an extended family of 109 children. We decided that the boys had worked hard since they arrived and we would take them swimming for an afternoon. We tracked down a local Tuk Tuk and headed for the Mae Sot Hill Resort where we used the swimming pool but it seemed such a decadent thing to be doing , considering the struggles of our families at Say Ta Nar . On the return journey we decided to meander through the local Mae Sot countryside.We passed the local fire station, then a group of men chopping down trees by the roadside and further along came across what looked like a large cattle barn ,but as we passed we heard the sound of machines and what seemed like hundreds of voices all talking at the same time. The door was slightly ajar and when we moved forward to investigate , a small child standing by the door was instructed to shut it. As we turned we could see two men on motorbikes quietly ensuring we moved on , following us to the river a few hundred yards away. We assumed we had come across an illegal factory and we couldn`t help worrying about the age group of the workers inside.

The factory

We had our best meal so far in a traditional Burmese restaurant , where we were all adventurous and had a selection of quite spicy curries, noodles and stir fry meals. We met a lady called Diane who has lived here for five years and has opened a small orphanage , is also supporting a Burmese migrant school (there are now fifty schools in total) as well as finding ways to rescue children from child prostitution. It is remarkable and humbling to come across so many selfless people like this who are committed to improving the lives of others. She has just opened an internet cafe to try and fund her work.

On Sunday heavy rain came down from early morning throughout the day and we were forced to buy big raincoats with a difference. We decided to make our way to the Friendship Bridge where you can cross over to Myawaddy in Burma but the only transport that we could find was a small , slow Tuk Tuk which laboured with our great weight on board.People were almost passing us on foot!

No need for suntan lotion, just big raincoats

We went to the market there and bought the school a CD player to play some of the Fischy music we had brought over to teach the children.

Friendship Bridge to Burma

The sights that met us at the Border were harrowing to say the least and words could not describe the abject poverty and misery we saw in what some refer to as `no mans land`. Families with small babies living in squalor surrounded by filthy rubbish , people trying to sell us anything they could get their hands on, shouting up to us and in the distance many more people who looked like they were struggling to survive. This is just a snapshot of the plight of Burmese families and helps us understand why they want to flee to Thailand by any means possible to make a better life for their children. Even although in Thailand they have no status and are always going to be illegal unless there is much more world wide political pressure which brings much needed change .They have to take some of the worst and poorest paid jobs here to help them exist. This is part of the Burmese story that has to be told and shouted from the rooftops because millions of Burmese families who have escaped a ruthless regime are now stateless and their amazing children have a future full of uncertainty.This visit has been about building a strong friendship with Say Ta Nar, one of the migrant schools that provide them with dignity, education, and a reason to stay strong and hopeful.

Here are some pictures that hopefully tell their own story: