Yadanar's new chapter to a brighter future
17 December 2019
•By Rita
Yadanar has always loved reading so the first thing she noticed at her new school was the library. There were so many books, each of them neatly placed, side by side.
“We didn’t have a library in my old school,” 11-year-old Yadanar (pictured above) says. “Being able to access a library was a new experience for me.”
When Yadanar moved to the east of Yangon city, Myanmar, earlier this year she was afraid of having to attend a new school. Her parents had started new jobs – her father in construction and her mother as a kitchenhand – to earn a higher income to support her and her older sisters, but the thought of being the “new girl” at school was daunting.
Yadanar, however, had nothing to worry about. Her peers were friendly and she made friends quickly. Plus, there was the library.
Yadanar spent her early childhood in a poor town west of Yangon city, where most of the residents were squatters. The schools she attended were basic. There were no libraries, few resources and the quality of teaching was poor.
Her new school, which ChildFund Myanmar supports through the Monastic Education Development Group in Myanmar, is free and for children from disadvantaged families. Yadanar was surprised by how different it was to her previous schools; not only were there books to read but her teacher was engaging and the lessons were active and interesting.
“I feel happy at my new school because there are group activities,” Yadanar, who is in Grade 4, says. “For example, when we learn science we share our knowledge with each other. That’s so exciting.
“There were no group activities in my old school.”
