The School
Help for Forgotten Allies
Emmanuel School is a small Anglican primary school in Mae La refugee camp. The camp, which has a population of over 34,000 people, is the largest of nine camps strung along the Thai-Burma border. Mae La camp is 40 km from the town of Mae Sot, a small Thai town with an airport. The school is open to children of all religions and includes Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and Animists. There are currently 243 students; 111 boys, 132 girls, 15 teachers, 2 cooks and a caretaker. The lower grades have higher numbers of children some of whom have arrived recently from war torn Karen State where the schools are not functioning normally due to the raging civil war and widespread bombing of civilian targets by the Burma Army.
Refugees once in the camps in Thailand, find themselves between the devil and the deep blue sea. President Trump’s administration has suddenly cut USAID and this has resulted in an almost total cut in rations and medical services of any kind there. This policy affects 90,759 refugees along the border with 31% of the refugee population being under 18.
In this climate Emmanuel School is a haven for the children. Thanks to the generosity of the Van Mesdag Trust and Tadworth and Walton Overseas Aid Trust among other donors H4FA is able to send four quarterly payments to provide teachers salaries, buy school equipment and stationary, and make repairs. Provision of lunches each day and two breakfasts a week is with money kindly given by the TWOAT. With rations cut, this is a lifeline for the children and can be their main meal of the day. Extra funding from the Van Mesdag Fund will mean some food going home for the holidays too.
The school has been recently renovated and the furniture upgraded and mended. With the intensity of the “rainy season” keeping the roofs in good repair is essential. Added to the usual subjects the children have art, craft and gardening classes. For children who have suffered trauma these can be therapeutic. Emmanuel Middle School was added to the primary school through the generosity of the Van Mesdag Fund. The school has a library which commemorates and honours the memory of Mr Rob Van Mesdag. It is overseen by Emmanuel Church, a school committee, and teachers and parents; they send us full reports each quarter. The school has a safeguarding policy and the teachers have received training in this from Save the Children. At Christmas we send extra money for celebrations and prizes. Many thanks to PSRB/H4FA donors.
Our Karen representative in Thailand visits Emmanuel School each year.
