KECD Appeal

Urgent Education Appeal for 180,000 Karen Children December 16, 2020 The Phan Foundation is pleased to join the Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD) in a joint Christmas appeal to support our Karen children back in our homeland in Kawthoolei. All the money raised will go directly to KECD. Funding from international donors has dramatically reduced in the past few years and sadly it may soon come to an end. This means around 180,000 children are at risk of losing their education. If they lose their education, they lose their future. They lose their chance to open their minds, to gain knowledge, and to be able to do higher paid jobs. Without an education, they will likely spend their life in poverty.

As the governing body for the education system of our Karen people and with the support from donors, partners and communities, KECD educates thousands of our children and young people each year, giving them basic education as well as teaching them how to read and write our Karen language, our history and our culture, which have been forbidden, denied and systematically destroyed by the Burmese authorities.

KECD losing funding means the future of our children is harmed, and the future of our culture is harmed. It means around 12,500 teachers could lose their jobs and about 1,600 schools could close. And it’s not just the 180,000 Karen children in school now who will lose their education, future generations could as well.

A Karen teacher with KECD receives only $300 a year to live on. They live in poverty to help our Karen children to have a future. Now we must help them. “We are turning to Karen communities worldwide, and to all the people, Karen or not, around the world who have supported the Karen people in the past, to support our children now,” said Padoh Saw Law Eh Moo from KECD. “There are many Karen people around the world who benefited from education from KECD, now we humbly ask you make a donation in support of the next generation of children who need our help.”

You can donate using credit or other bankcards, or PayPal, on the Phan Foundation website. Whatever you donate will automatically be converted from any currency. All the money raised will go to KECD. Any donation, large or small, will make a difference.

• US$10 can help pay for school supplies for one child for a year,
• US$50 can provide educational games and storybooks for a classroom,
• US$100 can provide basic teaching materials for a primary school,
• US$300 can provide a subsidy for a teacher for a whole year,
• US$500 can provide a set of grades1-12 textbooks to a school,
• US$1,000 can renovate a classroom for a primary school.

Please click here to donate. Link https://phanfoundation.org/urgent-education-appeal/