Trip to the Golden Land

Friday, August 11, 2017

Trip to the Golden Land

A team of Jetstar Airline staff, one of the generous donors to World Vision, came to the beautiful country, Myanmar and visited villages from the Thanlyin and Hmawbi Area Development Program between 25th and 27th July 2017.

The trip was a wonderful three day trip. The donor team was formed with 9 Jetstar staff accompanied by 2 World Vision Australia Staff. This trip was part of a fund raising campaign called Starkids, which supports humanitarian relief and community-based development projects in Australia and across Asia. Starkids was launched eight years ago and has helped to raise more than $4.8 million for Starkids programs in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Australia and more.

The Jetstar and Starkids team visited Thanlyin Area Development programme for two days. During the first day of the trip, they visited three communities where they observed Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) activities, met with members of Community Based Organizations and a Children’s Group and learned about the activities such as a community income generation programme, a sustainable plan for ECCD center and liquid soap and shampoo making to generate income for a child group fund.

The second day of the trip was to one of the suburb areas and a small village. In a suburb, the team had a chance to meet health volunteers and health committee members to observe the community activities on health. Another interesting evening with the team was when they met with a child protection action group where they heard about the group’s effort in helping a girl child who was sexually assaulted and abused by someone she trusted. They were glad to hear that the case was reported to the court and the perpetrator has been arrested.  

The last day of field observation ended at Hmawbi Township, 45.5 km northwest of Yangon, another area development program of World Vision Myanmar. The community based organization - a village volunteer group – is well established and is already working together for the benefits of their members and development of their community. The team visited and observed group based seasonal cultivation programming carried out in the village and enjoyed observing the learning of primary school children.   

The third day visit ended with observing how the families generate their income by growing Jasmine and raising pigs through micro-finance loans.  The trip was indeed a success for both Jetsar (Starkids) and World Vison.

“A huge thank you to World Vision for giving me the opportunity to experience this one in a lifetime trip. I feel very fortunate and can now see that a small amount can make a big difference. I can already see a difference in my conversations and engagement with others since I have returned. I cannot speak highly enough of World Vision and the work they do” said one of staffs from Jetstar.

World Vision Myanmar was proud to host the visit and shares much gratitude for Jetstar and those who make a big contribution through the Starkids program. Without all that help and support, marginalized lives would not be transformed. WVM hopes that the relationship between Jetstar and World Vision will last for eternity.