Three sparkling stars from the east

It was a remarkable time in World Vision’s Tarchileik programme area in eastern Myanmar when the high school exam results came out in July 2016. Twenty-seven children who participated in World Vision programming in the area passed their high school exam, one of the most difficult exams in a student’s life.  

Meet Kham, Pan, and Moh. These enthusiastic girls all had a strong desire to learn amidst their family’s struggles. Kham and Pan passed their exam in 2016 and Moh in 2015.

Kham’s story

Kham passed the exam with stellar marks, something that has never happened before in her family or village.

“I am very excited to learn that I’ve earned three distinctions,” Kham says. “I want to become the headmistress of a school. So I will go to the education college to get a degree in Education,” she shares.

Kham is the only person in the family who is pursing her education. Her parents are illiterate and speak only their own ethnic language. Her two elder brothers can barely read as they just briefly attended a Shan (an ethnic group) monastic school.

Kham wants to escape from poverty and from traditional farming.

“My daughter when she was at grade 5 challenged us that if we are not going to send her until she passed matriculation, she would stop going to school now. So, we decided, even if we do not have money, we will sell our property if we have to and send her to school,” shared Nan, Kham’s mother, who is so proud of her achievements.  

Pan’s story

Pan is currently volunteering with the World Vision sponsorship program in Tarchileik, monitoring the younger sponsored children in her community.

Pan passed high school in one year, whereas it is common for many students to take 2 or 3 years to pass. Pan’s father works as a farmer and her mother sells items like eggs and fish to local shops.

Pan said, “I want to graduate and earn my living as an educated person.”

“When I was about to start my grade 6, my mom asked me to drop out from school to look after my younger brother. She also didn’t give me my school fees. So, I took my savings from my piggy bank and enrolled myself and paid for the school fees for the first month,” Pan shared.

Although Pan’s school is a government school, which supposed to be free, the village hired more teachers as the government appointed teachers were not enough for the students. These teacher fees are collected from the students.

When Pan’s parents learned about their daughter’s determination, they no longer wanted her to quit school, and even tried their best to support her school fees of 30 baht per month (just under $1 USD).

Pan’s desire is to become a nurse. “I wanted to become a nurse because I want to help sick people. When I was young, my mom got very sick in the middle of the night. A nurse immediately came and helped my mom. She then felt better. From then on, I decided to study and become a skillful nurse to serve those who are sick,” she shares.

Moh’s story

Moh was born into a difficult family situation, as both parents are addicted to alcohol. During the planting or harvesting season, her parents would cross the border and work on a farm in Thailand. For those days, Moh took care of her younger brothers and sometimes was absent from school.

She decided she wanted to make her future better.

She never thought of dropping out from school, instead she was determined to work harder amidst the struggles. World Vision provided a bicycle to Moh so that it would be easy for her to access school, a 15-minute ride by bicycle from her village.

Moh was rewarded for her efforts when the exam results came out.

She went to the university and studied for one semester but she had to stop after that because she could not afford the school and hostel fees.

However, Moh didn’t give up.

She now works at a petrol station as a cashier and is saving money. “I stay at the hostel provided for the workers by petrol station owner with the other girls. As I do not have to pay for meals, I save money for my school fees. I will continue at the university with distance education majoring in English,” said Moh says. “I will study until I graduate and become an English teacher.”

All three girls were World Vision sponsored children and supported throughout their school years. When they were young, along with all sponsored children, they were provided with school stationery, school uniforms, and backpacks each year.

So that students to have a place to study and digest their lessons, World Vision established a night study program, paying for the electricity fees and teachers’ honorarium.

World Vision is proud to see the success of the girls. Their strong desire to become educated and to escape from the poverty will enable them to reach their goals.