Making a Difference
A Single Starfish, by Loren Eisley
"As a man was walking along a beach reflecting on his life, one of his thoughts was that no matter how he tried to make a difference he always seemed to be spitting in to the wind."
Some of our Projects
Pyone Pyone
In a remote area 45 minutes walk away from the nearest road, 5 nuns, 2 teachers and 25 children lived in a small building with a leaking roof and mud floor. During the day they crammed in another 80 children from the local village for free education. They were living at the lowest subsistence level with virtually no income.
SKR built them a new brick building in Dec 08. The charity also pays the teachers’ wages and provides them with school books.
Street Kids Support
Our street kids support project is growing.
The school we started 3 months ago for street kids is gradually getting more ‘recruits’! At present classes are held outside in the grounds of a monastery, but a building is needed before the start of the monsoon season in May.
Five of the older street kids are now in work placements at a furniture restorer’s and we pay them a wage while they learn the trade. We are negotiating with other businesses to take kids for work placements or apprenticeships.
We arrange accommodation, medical care and regular food for many of the street kids.
Clinics
Our clinic in E.D is newly completed. It comprises a reception and waiting area, 2 treatment rooms (each with 2 beds) and 2 toilets. We will build a basic house for a full time nurse to live on site and offer a 24/7 emergency service. A doctor will hold regular surgeries. The clinic is in one of the poorest communities we work in. We have already built a school and an orphanage there. As the village has no clean water supply, we are digging a well for the clinic and the community.
At our Thattant clinic, we run local childcare information sessions where parents are given advice on healthcare, hygiene, nutrition and birth control.
Rehabilitation & Educational Support
SKR provides care and support for 10 teenage girls who we rescued from sexual abuse. The charity rents a house for them and a teacher cares for the girls as if they were her own.
We have promised to fund their education - they all wish to go to university to become doctors, teachers or engineers.
Myo Min and Heart Operations
Myo Min is a 7 year old boy suffering from a heart defect, pulmonary hypertension, hepatitis and thalassaemia. When Duncan first met him, he was so ill and malnourished he could hardly stand. He would collapse and regularly bleed from his nose and mouth. After 18 months of care, he is much improved - he can now run and play and is attending school. He was seen by various heart specialists but the diagnosis was that, due to the delay in treatment, he is now inoperable and may not survive beyond his teens.
Although this was deeply upsetting, it led to SKR funding successful heart surgery for 18 others. One of the heart specialists informed Duncan that many other children were dying because they could not afford their operations and SKR was able to reach them in time.
Planned Projects
New Centre for Disabled Children
Since helping to fund the ECDC (one of the few disability support clinics in Burma) we discovered that many other disabled children are desperate for specialist care. Currently these children are left at home uncared for and become a burden to their families.
SKR will build a similar centre for children in another area. They will receive expert treatment from fully trained staff and the centre will also have specialist equipment. The centre will be run by a doctor who specialises in the care of disabled children.
Nyein Chan Chin Orphanage
SKR supports a couple with 2 children of their own who have taken in 11 destitute children despite not having enough to feed themselves. They live in a dilapidated bamboo house from which they have been threatened with eviction. If this happens, SKR will buy the land and then repair and extend the building. Apart from us, their only source of income comes from selling blankets. These are woven on a loom consisting of four bamboo sticks, using thread which the children meticulously unravel from old clothes.
The oldest boy (17), who has been with them for 6 years, studies day and night with the dream of becoming a doctor. SKR will fund his education and make the dream come true.
The charity also provides the orphanage with regular funds so the children can be fed, clothed and educated.
This is just a selection of our projects. For an extensive list, click here.
The Children
To see some of the children you could help by sponsorship click here or hit the "Sponsor" button below.
Tin Moe Thu, 6 Year Old Girl
Her father died leaving her mother with five young children. She was unable to care for them and the family split-up as a result. Tin has no idea of the fate of the rest of her family. She was passed around local people before being found by the monks.
Min Min Swe, 6 Year Old Girl
She has been here for 2 months. Her parents neglected her and she was left to wander the streets in search of food. She was found and taken in by the nuns.
Kyaw Swar, 6 Year Old Boy
He has been here 1 year. The parents are very poor, of subnormal intelligence and unable to care for him properly so he was taken in by the nuns.
Pho Thar, 7 Year Old Boy
Pho is an orphan who was found living on the streets.
