As an implementing agency of Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education School and in partnership with Burnet Institute, APEF is helping to bring improved health and educational outcomes for children in the area affected by Cyclone Nargis that struck the Ayerawaddy Region of Myanmar in May 2008.  Approximately 150,000 people lost their lives and millions were displaced.  Education and children’s health were severely affected (for further information see http://www.themimu.info/).   This AusAID  funded project (contracted through Burnet Institute – www.burnet.edu.au) is working in over 50 Monastic Schools in the delta and aims to:

• Build capacity for Child Centred Learning and Teaching through a teacher and school administrator training program
• Train teachers to provide psychological and social support for children and families affected by the trauma of the cyclone;
• Assist schools to integrate hygiene education into the school curriculum and encourage good hygiene practices in the community;
• Provide assistance for upgrading schools.

Again with APEF as its implementing agency, Phaung Daw Oo successfully applied for funding from the LIFT initiative (go to www.unops.org and the follow the links) for an innovative program to support increased livelihoods for poor families and support to teacher’s salaries, thereby increasing educational opportunities for poor children in the Ayerawaddy Delta.
Monasteries and monks play a crucial role in social cohesion and were instrumental in providing many forms of support to communities devastated by Cyclone Nargis. One of the key functions played by many monasteries is the education of children through the Monastic Education system which reaches around the country and targets, in particular, poor families who struggle to find the resources to send their children to government schools.  In Mawlamyinegyun children from 26 villages attend school in six monastic schools in the area north of the township. The parents of these children are farmers, who cultivate two crops per year, monsoon paddy, and in the dry season, dry paddy, groundnuts, and pulses. In Mawlamyinegyun Township 39.4% of households cultivated monsoon paddy rice before Cyclone Nargis but one year later this has dropped by 15.6%.  Lead by U Cintitalankara, the Secretary for Monastic Education in Ayerawaddy Division, the six schools and the 27 surrounding villages developed a concept to increase the livelihood of the respective farming communities as well as develop education opportunities to children of low income families.  Principals from the six monastic schools, in order to assist their communities increase production of crops, realised that, with the help of machinery, more paddy is able to be farmed resulting in an increased yield.  This, in turn helps to increase household income and result in families being able to afford to send their children to school, which is a great concern to parents.  
The rationale behind the proposal is straightforward.  Monastic School Committees are provided with farming equipment that can be rented to farmers.  This, in turn increases the capacity of farmers to produce more, which, in turn will provide training and employment opportunities for the landless that benefit from an increase in farming activity.  Monastic schools, traditionally dependent upon donations from the local community to fund teachers’ salaries and all school development then receive a regular income that will enable them to pay teacher salaries and enable schools to develop other resources such as libraries.  This will provide a double benefit to local community members who will no longer be relied upon for donations to monastic schools for the payment of teacher salaries.  

The project is coming to an end in June 2011 and an expansion is planned in other parts of the country.