3.2.Dl.1 - WH Newsletter English Vol 2 2014

8/11/2019 3.2.Dl.1 - WH Newsletter English Vol 2 2014

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WI E

IDEHORIZONS

ORIZONS

2013-2014 Academic Years

Newsletter Volume 2 , 1 March 2014

Wide Horizons Studnets Newsletter 1


2/17

Break down negative thoughts,

Build up positive views,

Make up understanding hearts,

Apply it all.

Negotiate for peaceful home,

Design for elegant room,

Pen me as wisdom.

Eh Tha Hser

Dear readers,

This newsletter is the second volume of the schools academic (2013-2014) year. We would like to show

what students have done so far and how our program has been successful during the 2nd and 3rd trimester.

Moreover we have some good news about former students .We have interviewed 4 former students so we want

to share about their excellent jobs, today. We, the WH students would like to share our thoughts, opinions andfacts in this newsletter.We have included invitations for our fundraising party and our graduation ceremony.

We hope to see you there.We thank all of the readers for taking their time to read our newsletter.

Wide Horizons was established in 2006 by World Education. Its located in Mae Sot, Tak province,

Thailand. Wide Horizons is a ten month community development training program. Every year the school

takes 24 young adult refugees and migrants from the Thai-Burma border. Students represent many differ-

ent ethnic groups from Burma and are studying advanced English, community development and advanced

computer. After a 10 months academic program the students have to return for one year internship with theirmother organizations ( refugee camps, CBOs, migrants areas).

If you want to know more about WH , please visit our Facebook page :

www.facebook.com/ Wide Horizons, Community Development Program

The 2nd Wide Horizons newsletter has arrived

PEN ME

POEM

Wide Horizons Studnets Newsletter2

About Wide Horizons Program


3/17Wide Horizons Studnets Newsletter 3


4/17

WH Project empowers hero women in the Pesident community

Developing saving goals

This is the second training WH students have

given to the women. More than 50 participants attended

the training. The first training was household gardening.

For gardening we shared with them how to make natural

compost, growing plants in containers and how to grow

organic vegetables. When we evaluated the project, it wasclear that the project had been very successful because the

plants in their gardens were very big and fresh. Giving the

training to the women in the PSD community helped to

increase their familys income.

Our purpose for giving the training was that the

women will not need to buy vegetables and they can use

vegetables from their own gardens. Currently, the garden

in the community is very successful and they dont need to

buy vegetables in the market. We can see that the success-

ful gardening project is supporting women and is giving

the women more motivation to move on to another project.

A small project creates a better lifeA small project creates a better life

On January 27th 2014 Wide Horizons (WH) students gave a training about financial literacy for women in the

Pesident (PSD) community in cooperation with Khom Loy. Khom Loy provided training facilities, skills in

gardening andfi

nancial literacy training. All the WH students held their hands together and gave the trainingto build the womens capacity. PSD community is a small poor migrant community in Mae Sot. The majority

of the women in the PSD community have no work to do so there is no income to help their families. All the

men in PSD are working in the factory near their houses.

set up a saving goal in their future. During the training,

we discussed about their living conditions in the commu-

nity. The training was going very well because we could

learn from each other about things like culture, personal

life skills and we tried to understand the challenges fac-

ing the community people. We can share our experiencewith them. Most of the women would like to set up a sav-

ing plan for the future of their children. They want their

children to get a higher level of education and some want

to save for their retirement. By giving the training, we

have learnt several different goals from the women that

we didnt know before. One of our participants said, The

financial literacy training has given me the knowledge that

I did not have before. It makes me clear about how to save

money and manage my time. The training has given me the

strength to save more money for my family.

Recently, we gave the training about financial lit-

eracy. In this training we shared with the women about

how to make saving plans and time management. The ma-

jority of the women were enthusiastic for the training and

happy with our activities. Our relationship between the

PSD community people has become stronger and we are

getting closer to each other. All the people are very kind

and welcome us any time we visit.

The advantage of thefi

nancial literacy training isthat the women can know how to make household budget-

ing, income; expense and they can manage how they will

Training is beneficial for WH students

The financial literacy training has helped us to im-

prove our training skills and build our self-esteem. It has

been a good opportunity to be involved with the commu-

nity people, because the training prepares us to be trainers

in our future. All the WH students were energetic in their

participation. Furthermore, we had a chance to play with

the children and share our happiness with them as baby

minders. Due to the poverty, many children cannot go to

school. They have to take care of their little brothers and

sisters. However, we had some challenges with our train-

ing because some of our participants could not read and

write so we had to explain by repetition.



5/17

BPHWT workers distributed medical supplies

to the community.

We believe that our training is a tool for the PSD women to improve their society and reduce the poverty. As

a result they performed and showed their abilities in the first gardening training. We really appreciated for that they

produced their own vegetables and promoted womens abilities in the small community. One of our students said: our

small hands could not provide a powerful result alone, but when we joined our hands as a team, we were successful

together. We hope the women will come up with good ideas for individual saving plans or team saving plans for im-

proving their living conditions. Finally, the women can be excellent managers for their families.

By Khun Than Maung and Nan Khin San Moe

Nang Snow is a Shan ethnic from Burma who completely graduated from Wide Horizons (WH) in year

2009 and got diploma in 2010. Before that, she worked with Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT) as a staff

for some part of works, such as translation, interpretation and data entry. In June 2008, she attended WH program

because, one of her friends told her that WH program focuses on advanced English, Computer and Community

Development skills. Nang Snow said, I was really interested in working with an organization, but if I have to be

honest, before I attended WH, I did not understand project designs and management skills. And I really didnt knowthe difference between Proposal and Report writing. I felt like both were the same for me.

After WH, she undertook her internship with BPHWT. This or-

ganization works for every ethnic group inside Burma to improve and

uphold health care services from their main office in Mae Sot. The Back

Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT) was established on 19 August

1998 with health workers from the Mon, Karen and Karenni ethnic na-

tionalities. The aim of the BPHWT was, and continues to be, to promote

public health to affected communities inside Burma by providing access

to primary health care. The BPHWT began its implementation of pri-

mary health care inside Burma with 32 Back Pack teams involving 120

health workers. Currently, the BPHWT has 98 Back Pack teams with more than 1,500 health workers living and

working in the BPHWT target areas inside Burma. Nang Snow was expressing her experiences that all the skills

that I learnt from the school, as I mentioned above were great for me. It has been very valuable and helpful in my

job. She added, At BPWHT I was elected to work as the Project

deputy manager from 2010 till now. I appreciate my work, it teaches

me to go ahead for the community.

She explained, The organization has been making a survey on

the situation inside Burma and have been discussing to repatriate to

works closely and effectively in the future, but we havent decided to

return and become registered yet. On the other hand, she hopes that

Wide Horizons program will be able to stay here in Mae Sot, because

several of migrants and refugees still live along the borderline, and

they are not ready to return right now. If WH moves to Burma, it willbe a problem for the youth who stay here and want to apply for their

further education. In addition, it is only WH program that is focus-

ing on providing youth adults from Burma the skills to develop their

Community Based Organizations (CBOs) through community development skills. So it is better to take a moment

in time until the situation is more reasonable.

For all the readers she added, I would like to encourage everyone, especially youth to try hard in their

studies. The organizations need lots of qualified people to develop the community. We can learn not only in class,

there are plenty of ways to improve our self even though we have a job. The only thing is depending on how much

we are motivated and enthusiastic to promote ourselves.

At last, we, WH thank Nang Snow so much for giving us the time for interviewing and sharing her ex-

periences. She has been doing many things professionally to represent the meaning of WH. We hope for her andBPHWT that they will be able to go forward towards successful prospects. At the same time, we hope that current

or coming WH students will be doing really well like her. Also, we really thank all our readers. We all admire your

appreciation and warmly welcome you to support our future Wide Horizons as well.

By - Paw Eh

A moments retrospect with Nang SnowA moments retrospect with Nang Snow

all the skills that I learnt

from the school, as I men-

tioned above were great for

me. It has been very valuable

and helpful in my job.

As we have seen many of the previous students have done really well during their internships and most of them

have got suitable jobs after. We met with one Alumni called Nang Snow who agreed to share her experience with us.



6/17

We got the contact with Ma Myat Noble from

Room to Grow Foundation last year in September.

She gave us the chance to write the proposals as

practice and to do the school projects. At that time

we were learning about writing proposals and were

looking for a project. We considered and decided to

write a proposal. Subsequently, we did research and

survey in Mae Sot communities to write the proposal.We decided to write the proposal for Elpis Schools

boarding kids. They are living in two rented board-

ing houses separately, 37 boys and 22 girls. They got

a warning from the land owner to move to another

place in March 2014.

Furthermore, they have not had a permanent

donor to pay for renting the houses where they live. It

is a big challenge for them where to move and live af-

ter March 2014. We met and discussed with the Elpis

head mistress and the Science and Technology Train-

ing Center (STTC) teacher, Kyaw Win Aung and his

students, to build two dormitories for the kids. We

were motivated by the children and we did try the best

First you dream then you make yourFirst you dream, then you make yourdreams come truedreams come trueWe have almost successfully completed building safe and comfortable buildingsfor Elpis Schools boarding kids.

to get the funding proposal that was being offered by

Room to Grow. Luckily, our proposal for te boys and

girls dormitories was accepted and it helped to pro-

tect Elpis Schools boarding kids from challenges that

they will face in the future.

It has been being pleasurable for all of us

to have a good chance to work for the children. We

would like to thank to Room to Grow for their finan-cial contribution. This financial support has helped

us to provide two great buildings where Elpis board-

ing kids can learn and live in a safe environment and

prosper in the future. Furthermore, the generous sup-

port has helped us as a good practice field study for

project management. Our special thanks to STTC

Teacher Kyaw Win Aung and the student crew for

the wonderful job they have done on the project. The

Elpis headmaster, teachers and boarding kids were

delighted with the buildings that fulfill their wishes.

Especially, they appreciate all the time and effort the

STTC teachers and students put into the project. It is

a joy for all of us to work with such dedicated and

talented voluntarily working students. We would like

to say thank you to the Elpis kids who participated to

work at the ground area during the free time of their

holiday.

In addition, we are very thankful to the head

mistress and her husband for actively participating

and contributing some money for the project. The rest

of the construction work will be finished soon. Final-ly, we are going to monitor and evaluate the project

and report to the donor.

By: Aung Aung



7/17

Busy with billions of books

She graduated with Mathematic from Yangon

University, Burma in 1994. In 1995, after she gradu-

ated from Burma University, she attended the Interna-

tional Diploma Computer Science program in Yangon

(IDCS). In 2007, she learned Korean. Afterwards, she

came to Thailand and her plan was to go and work in

Malaysia with her brother. At the time the Thai police

often arrested illegal people. So, she needed a safe

place and many people told her that if she lived in

Mae La Camp she would be safe and the police wouldnot arrest her. So, that is a reason why she arrived to

Mae La Camp.

After she arrived in camp, she faced many

problems. Such as social problems and that camp

people put her down and criticized her. During her

time in camp, she worked for Media services and at

an HIV and aids health care center as a volunteer.

The spokesman of Committee for Coordination of

Services to Displaced person in Thailand (CCSDPT)

wanted to appoint her as a volunteer staff organized

by the International Rescue committee (IRC). But

other people did not accept. So, she was hopeless and

depressed. At the same time she saw an advertisement

for the English Immersion Program (EIP) hanging on

a Jack fruit tree. She decided to apply to EIP. After

they saw her application form, they recommended her

to attend Wide Horizons (WH) and sent her file to

WH. Before that her plan was to go to a third country

and she was waiting for her UN card. If she did not

have a chance to attend WH at that time she would

have been really upset.Fortunately, she was accepted to WH. After

the academic year she finished her internship at Min

Ma Haw Higher Education Program (MHEP) and she

worked for another year using her WH skills. She al-

ways worked as a volunteer at the volunteer service

center. She also worked for EPOP representative pro-

gram in Mae Sot. And she got a scholarship for fur-

ther study; she went straight on to study Master of

Education (MED) at Assumption University in Bang-

kok. Now she is doing research for her thesis. After

she has finished the university she will become a pro-

gram officer with EPOP.

She said to me: you also might feel the sameas me because your school is nearly finished. All of

you ideas have been changed. The students concepts

and ideas have to change the day they arrive at WH.

When they go back their organizations, all the skills

that they learnt from WH are very effective, and their

critical thinking skills are very useful. So, I would

like to say thank you very much to the Wide Horizons

program. Even though the program is short, it is great

and students will be ready for all jobs. She is very

grateful to WH for giving her a place to stand. Ac-

cording to her, WH is an amazing school and there-

fore there should also be one inside Burma, where it

is really needed.

In conclusion, I learned a lot and got much

knowledge from her. And also how the WH skills are

useful and effectively for all of us to get good op-

portunities. The skills and knowledge that WH gives

changes the students life. I am very grateful that WH

can show the way. I wish the noble WH can continue

to be open and it can nurture many new leaders of

future organizations.

By Nan San Dar Aye

Wide Horizons (WH) has nurtured many smart stu-

dents during the years. Now, they are working around

the world in different organizations and different po-

sitions. I am so excited to meet former WH students

and to ask them some questions about their experi-

ences at WH. Moreover, what they have done after

they graduated from WH? How the skills have been

useful in their career? Fortunately, I had the chance to

interview one of the alumni called Ma Sandar Lwin,

a University student who is doing her thesis and

working as an Exam Preparation Outreach Program

(EPOP) program officer in Mae Sot.

A success story about a former WH student who is currently writing her thesis at university



8/17

The First Colourful Project at WHThe First Colourful Project at WHLast trimester we learned how to write proposals in our community Development class. The

first week of October we were starting to write proposals. The students were divided into six

groups and we tried to find out which school we would write for and what kind of project we

wanted to do. Six groups came up with six different ideas. Among them three projects were ac-

cepted by Room to Grow. They were beading fancy jewelry project for Boarding High Schoolfor Orphanage and Helpless (BHSOH), repairing the roof for the New Blood Learning Center

and building boy and girl dorms for Elips learning Center. My group was writing proposal for

BHSOH, it was beading fancy jewelry.

When we wrote the proposal, we faced many chal-

lenges in every step we did. It was the first time to write

a proposal and we had no experience from before. But we

applied our proposal writing technique that we had learned

in our community development class. So why did our

group choose the beading fancy jewelry project for BH-

SOH. We could not choose agriculture and construction

projects because BHSOH face a water crisis every year

and the land is not their own. For this reason our group

decided to choose a life skill project for BHSOH. Writing

a proposal for vocational training was not easy because we

couldnt show the result at once like with a construction

project.

Firstly, we went BHSOH to get information sev-

eral times to be clear about our project. We let them know,

we were practicing how to write a proposal and if ourproject was accepted by the donor we would do it. On the

other hand, we worried about how to write the proposal.

Honestly, our group would like to do our project with BH-

SOH. They were willing to help and were expecting to get

this project because if they got it, they could support some

parts of the school`s needs. After we submitted our pro-

posal we got a lot of follow up questions from the donor.

It meant that the donor was really interested in our proj-

ect. We had to answer the questions more specifically than

other groups because our project looked like a business.

By answering the follow up questions we developed ourthinking and proposal writing skills. Finally our project

was accepted by Room to Grown.

According to our implementation plan, we started

our project in November 2013; we ordered all the mate-

rial that we needed for our training. But first the Wide

Horizons students had to learn how to make bead jewelry

from SaNaYarThiPann Women Center (SWC). After that

the WH students went to give the training at BHSOH in

the beginning of December 2013.Our project was not only

beneficial for BHSOH, but also for WH. The WH studentsalso got life skills through this project. They have sold

jewelry for over 3000 Bath for BHSOH after they learnt

how to bead jewelry. 75 students and 8 teachers from BH-

SOH attended this training. During the training, the WH

students got a lot of experience such as teaching skills,

time management and how to deal with the problems.

Therefore, we would like to say that writing pro-

posals is difficult, but doing a project is even more difficult.

By doing the project we have become good organizers and

have more confidence. We are not afraid to write proposals

and not afraid to do projects. We are sure; we can develop

our community by using the skills that we have got from

Wide Horizons.

By MyoMyo and Nay Chi Win



9/17

o

n

Cartoon

ByKongandDah



10/17

During the second trimester, WH students planted vegetables on the Wide Horizons (WH)

compound supported by the Khom Loy Foundation.

In the second trimesters, we got a gardening train-

ing from Khom Loy Foundation. We got the skills from

experienced trainers and a clear understanding with this

gardening project. Also, we had a chance to learn and prac-

tice at the same time with the trainers. We learned about

the nutrients of vegetables as well and how to make natural

fertilizer from vegetables, plants and kitchen waste. Thus,

today we remind each other to use the kitchen waste forthe garden instead of throwing it in the rubbish bin.

After the training, we started our own garden at

the Wide Horizons (WH) compound with gardening sup-

plies from Khom loy. The students are divided into groups

and are competing against each other. We need to find the

raw materials near our school for the garden and make

place for the plants. We water the plants twice a day with

natural fertilizer and natural insect repellent. In addition,

we dont have enough space in our school. But, luckily we

learned how to grow plants in containers by using plasticbags and water bottles. It is promoting our management

skills as well because we have to manage how to decorate

our garden ourselves.

Although we divided the groups for the garden,

we helped each other in watering and decorating the gar-

den. In addition, after the second trimester, most of the stu-

dents went back to their home during the trimester break.

The students who stayed at school help their friends by

watering their garden. This shows that we all have unity

and obligation by watering the plants regularly, by giving

them nutrients and by killing the unnecessary weeds fromour garden. Seeing the green plants in our garden gives

us motivation. We have fun and laugh and we will never

forget our memories from the garden while we were plant-

ing together. Moreover, when we were drowning in the

Green fingers in WH

homework sea, only a glance at the garden made us feel

fresh and relaxed.

By having this garden, there are vegetables that

we dont need to buy for our cooking and we can use themoney for meat instead. Furthermore, we decorate our

garden in different designs for viewing pleasure. It is also

valuable not only for us, but also for our community be-

cause we can share our knowledge to the communities. It

makes our mind relax and is good for our environment. In

addition, our vegetables are fresher and healthier than in

the market because we dont use chemical fertilizer and

only use the natural fertilizer. It can also save the soil in

a sustainable way. Now, our garden is very nice and can

give us vegetables for our kitchen. We are really thankful

to Khom Loy Foundation for giving us the knowledge and

experience to plant vegetables.

By Aye Thandar Aung and Jame



11/17

This month, we have done a great project at New Blood School. The roof was successfully repaired by Wide

Horizons (WH) students, the WH teacher, and the WH coordinator working together with the New Blood headmaster,

teachers and students. WH students got experience about project management in implementation because we are learn-

ing and doing it at the same time. In addition, we have been able to manage everything to finish on time and to be done

successfully. The innocent children at New Blood School were faced with problems while they were learning. Due to the

leaking water in the rainy season, the kids were uncomfortable in the classroom. The new roof is made of zinc, which

means the water can no longer leak inside while theyre studying. Instead the students can focus on lessons and can get

sound sleep. Moreover, the roof can last for a long time without breaking. Rested and smart children feel happy and theybecome active in the classroom.

By Devi

Playing on the roof

Swiftly, letters were flied to usNo one knew each other and laughing and smiling

Sometimes visit to Monaco

And posting in the meeting the issues

Thats nature that we knew later

On occasion busy, sleepy

Whatever,

Its the best time that made us improve

We long to try the best everything in the futureCause of WH, we are ready to help our community

We love it all from WH

John

Swiftly Minutes

POEM



12/17

Kyinno, the Child Protection (CP) Manager atMae Tao Clinic, is an example of a former WH student

who is very successful in her job. In this interview, she

explains how she was able to use the skills learned at WH

in her new career.

She is Mon Karen mixed ethnicity and a Wide Horizons

(WH) former student from the 2008-2009 academic year.

Before she came to the ThaiBurma borderline, she grad-

uated from Mawlamyaing University, where she got a

Bachelor of Psychology.

When she arrived in Mae Sot, she taught Burmese, Math

and School Health subjects to grade 7 and 8 at the Chil-

drens Development Centre (CDC) for three years. Then,

she decided to get more skills at WH for her new position.

She says, I got 100 percent useful skills at WH because

before I came to WH, I had already had my destination.

Some of the useful skills she mentioned were Proposal

writing, Report writing, Leadership and Management

skills and Critical Thinking skills. These skills have been

very useful during her internship and until now.

After she finished WH, she became project coordinator onChild Protection. Her role is coordinating between part-

ners, collaboration through networks and programs. In

her Child Protection Program, there are four main core

activities: providing Dry Food, Birth Certificate, Child

Recreation Centre, and Day Care. She has been promoted

to her position as MTCs Child Protection manager. Her

role is managing the overall program, including staff, bud-

get, program and funding advocacy, Sometimes, she went

abroad to do advocacy. Even though she is very busy with

her job, she tries to adjust her life between work and per-

sonal life by hanging out with her friends, play badmintonand watching Zee Channel from TV. She is also a Payap

University student, where she studies Business Adminis-

tration. She has to attend the class on the weekend. The

Project for Local Empowerment (PLE) delivers the course

The skills taught at Wide Horizons

are 100 percent useful

Giving Child Protection Training

for the people who work for Non- profit organizations.

I asked her about the future of WH. She said, Wide Ho-

rizons is a very good school for the Community Based

Organizations (CBOs) because the school trains the staff

to get more capacity building for working in their mother

organizations. Even though we do not have enough funds

to run the program in the coming years we should par-

ticipate with the organizations based on the Thai-Burma

border to keep this program going by supporting with dry

food, school supplies and stationeries for the students. I

also asked her if WH should move back to Burma or stayon the ThaiBurma Border? She replied this is dif ficult

to answer because both sides need this kind of program.

Also, she said there are so many community based orga-

nizations formed by their ways in Burma, but those many

people lack of acknowledgement and skills. So we need to

promote lots of youth capacity building.

I would like to thank you for reading this interviewing.

This is our second WH newsletter in the academic year of

2013-2014. I would recommend Wide Horizons to every-

one and I hope that the program will be able to continue in

the future. It is the best learning program for the staff that

do not have too much experience and capacity building in

their organization.

By Eh Tha Hser

Wide Horizons is a very good school

for the Community Based

Organizations (CBOs) because theschool trains the staff to get more

capacity building for working in their

mother organizations.

The future of Wide Horizons



13/17

On the 16th to 20th of December, 2013 WHand EIP students had exchange at WH school in Mae

Sot. EIP is a sister school of WH. EIP is located in

Umphiem refugee camp. This school is focusing on

developing the students English skills. There were

24 WH students and 20 EIP students at this student

exchange week. All of us came from different places

and ethnic groups. During the whole week we learned

video editing and how to shoot the video. We also had

students fellowship activities such as debate compe-

tition, created 5 minute movies and oriented each oth-

ers. The video editing training was given by U Nyan

Soe from Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). In vid-

eo editing and shooting we were divided into 5 groups

by mixing EIP and WH students. Each group had to

create a 5 minute movie about repatriation on the

Thai-Burma border. We studied together, went shop-

ping together, cooked together and in the evening we

played football together. The EIP students were very

good at being social and participating. The last day

of training, we went to the waterfall and played some

games and showed our talents. All of us had fun andwere full of happiness.

Celebrity Movie Editing TrainingThe great opportunity of students exchange between Wide Horizons and English Immersion

Program (WH & EIP).

During the exchange week we got more

knowledge and skills about social exchange and how

to work together in teams. We could share our ideas

and knowledge with each other. Everything that we

learned during this week was very useful for us and

for our community in the future. One of our friends

said I was very happy in this students exchange week

because we got a chance to shoot videos by ourselves

as actors and actresses and we ate barbecue together.

Therefore, we would like to say thank you to World

Education, EIP and WH teachers who prepared this

wonderful program to build stronger relationships be-

tween EIP and WH students. We also appreciate U

Nyan Soe for giving us video editing training. All in

all, for the coming years we think they should con-

tinue this wonderful exchange program.

By Wahnaymoo Kay, Pwint Moe Thu and Ong Ring

I was very happy in thisstudents exchange week

because we got a chance to

shoot videos by ourselves

as actors and actresses and

we ate barbecue together.



14/17

When did you finish your school? Where? And did you at-

tend any other school after that?

I finished high school in 1999, at High School

No. (2), South Okkalapa, in Yangon. After I finished high

school, I stayed at home for three years to take care ofmy younger sisters. Then I continued my education and at-

tended the University Of Foreign Language (UFL) in Yan-

gon for three years, where I studied Korean major. After

that I worked for a Korean Company for six months. In au-

gust 2005 I came to Mae Sot, where I worked at Mae Tao

Clinic as a volunteer for one year. I attended the training of

Community Health Worker in Noh Poe refugee camp for

six months and after I finished that training, I did an intern-

ship at the In Patient Department (IPD) at Mae Tao Clinic

for six months. From June 2007 to May 2008, I attended a

Health Assistant Training again and after I finished that Iapplied for Wide Horizons.

When did you attend Wide Horizons (WH)? And why did

you choose that school?

I attended WH from July 2008 to April 2009. I

think our year started a little later than other years because

normally WH starts in June. I really liked WH because

when I saw the students who finished from WH they were

effective in their organization, could speak English fluent-

ly and were good at management. Firstly, I really desired

to speak in English because in any organization they com-

municate with foreigners so I was so eager to attend WH.

This is why I chose WH.

WH should stay in Mae Sot but alsoWH should stay in Mae Sot, but also

expand to Burmaexpand to Burma

In this interview we spoke to Nan Wah Wah Aung who is a former

WH student and an excellent manager of the Project for LocalEmpowerment (PLE). She has been working with her organiza-

tion (PLE) since she finished WH.

What kinds of skills did you get from WH and how did you

feel different before and after you attended WH?

I got a lot of skills from WH such as computer

skills, community development, English speaking and

time management. Not only the skills that we learnt fromclass, but also from our friends. I met with different kinds

of ethnic groups and religions. Especially, I got lots of ex-

perience from my friends. Some of my friends have a lot

of experience because they had worked with their organi-

zations and they shared their experience with us. And also

when we visited the community, we improved our com-

munication with the community people. Since I finished

WH, I have had the confidence to do something and I dare

to speak in English. When I work with organizations, the

situation has been very different since I finished WH. To-

day when I face problems I can solve them without anydifficulty. I noticed myself and I was so amazed how dif-

ferent I had become - I couldnt believe it myself.

Could you let me know what your current job is? What is

your responsibility and how do you use your skills from

WH?

My organization is Burma Medical Association

and Im the program a manager of Project for Local Em-

powerment (PLE). I have been working with them since

2010. My organization trains people from inside Burma.

After giving the training, they go back inside and work

with clinics. We support them with medicine and materi-

als that they need for clinics. Then we do Monitoring and

Evaluation for the project. Of my WH skills, I especially

use management, leadership skills and English speaking

when I communicate with foreigners.

What do you think about the future of WH? Should we

stay here or move to Burma?

WH is very valuable for people who serve the

community. So I desire WH to keep the program in Mae

Sot in the future. I also think they should expand and set up

another WH inside Burma because there are some organi-zations that need the same kind of training there. WH is a

useful school for the people who work for the communities

and the organizations.

By Ching San



15/17

On the 7th of December 2013, the Wide Horizons

Students and the Global neighbor team students had social

exchange for one night. Both schools had a dinner party

at the 2 in 1 barbecue shop. After we finished dinner,

we shared and presented about the culture and situation at

Wide horizons.

In 2013 on the 16th of December to the 20th of

December, Wide Horizons and English Immersion Pro-

gram had exchange week and learnt about video editingand shooting. This training was given by U Nyan Soe

(DVB Youth voice). Forty-four students attended this

training and created their own videos. On the last day, we

presented five minute videos all concerned about repatria-

tion.

From the 6th to the 10th of January 2014, Wide

horizons students were given a training of financial Lit-

Busy Bees flew in the ClassDuring the second trimester we did many activities at Wide Horizons. There was dinner with

Global Neighbor team, video shooting activities and financial Literacy training.

eracy and Training of Trainers (TOT). This training was

given by Ko Lin and Heidi from Khom Loy. For the first

three days, Ko lin gave us a financial literacy training

(for example Budget plan, saving goal, money believe,

household budget and time management). Heidi gave us

TOT training. She taught us about the difference between

teaching and trainings. Then we learned ten techniques to

know how to be a qualified teacher. All in all, this train-

ing focused for Wide Horizons students to give training to

women in Pasidam community and will also be useful inour future.

According to these activities, all of the students at

Wide Horizons believe that they got more experiences. It

has many benefits for us to improve our brains and skills.

It helps us to gain experiences for our internship.

By Nan Ah Du, Naw Ko Klaw Hto and Saw Sparrow



16/17

I am one of the students in Wide Horizons and my name is David Stone. I would like to share my current situa-

tion and experiences that I got from WH. Before I arrived here, I knew a little about WH. WH is a program focused on

developing the community based organizations workers. Those community workers need this program to get the skills

that are helpful for the communities, such as community development skills, proposal writing, report writing, advanced

computer skills and advanced English skills. Before I came here, I did not know these kinds of tools and how they were

valuable for the community. I hope that I can develop my community after I graduate from this school because it hasgiven me a lot of knowledge, experiences and skills that I can use in the future.

Unfortunately, one thing that breaks my heart is the situation of our WH program, because the budget will run

out this year. We worry about the next new generations to apply the skills from WH. Also, we will not have any support

or budget from donors to carry out a good program like WH in migrant areas. It is something we all worry about and

one of my friends told me that I felt comfortable last year because we got supplies from World Education (WE). We do

not need to worry about our studies. On the other hand, I worry for new generations who will attend WH program be-

cause they will not have an opportunity like their brothers and sisters. When I think about them Im so sympathetic and

I would like for them to get the same opportunity because this program can effectively develop our community. Due to

this situation we can know what is going on in our WH program in the future. Anyway, we hope that a doctor will come

and cure the feeling that we are suffering from. We are waiting for him to come and heal our suffering for WH.

By David Stone Saw Kler Si Say

Heal Wide Horizons



17/17

PublishedbbyWWideHHorizonsSStudents

Volume 2, 2013 - 2014 Academic Year

Wide Horizons School,

P.O. Box 27, Mae Sot,Tak

,63110,Thailand

Coordinator - Too Mai

Phone : 085 605 8382

2013- 2014

www facebook com/ Wide Horizons Community Development Program

Email : [email protected]

Documents

3.2.Dl.1 - WH Newsletter English Vol 2 2014