First ever sponsor visit to an ADP in Myanmar

Peter, a long-time supporter of World Vision and child sponsor in Myanmar, has been lucky enough to visit his sponsored child, Myo Min, in the Area Development Programme (ADP) where he lives – a first for any World Vision supporter due to the fragile and difficult nature of the country. We’re so excited to be able to share Peter’s story of his visit to World Vision Myanmar with you in his own words.

Because of the nature of the country – and our own child protection guidelines – we’ve changed Myo Min’s name. Everything else is straight from the horse’s mouth!

Here’s Peter:

Mandalay is an assault on the senses. It is a vast grid of urban sprawl, chock-a-block with motorcycles, dust, and rubber and diesel fumes. Even the most attractive areas of the city were bathed in soot. As we entered the poorer neighborhoods, a thick layer of dust weighed on the few trees and shrubs along the dirt roads.

It is easy to dismiss Mandalay as a poor and polluted city, but we had a special reason for visiting Mandalay: a full-day meeting with World Vision’s field office staff, including Emerald, the ADP manager, and a meeting and luncheon with Myo Min, my sponsored child.

Meeting Myo Min

We were filled with anticipation as we traveled to the field office in Mandalay where Myo Min, his Auntie, and one of his sisters were waiting to meet us.

I have sponsored Myo Min for more than 10 years. He is now 16 and he has been working full-time as a construction apprentice for four years with his older brother and his best friend. Most children in this township leave school at the age of 12-14 to help support the family.

It was a bit awkward at first as Myo Min was quite shy and his Auntie quite nervous. However, after a few minutes, the conversation became much more animated. He likes football (the Chelsea hat and football were a hit!), the Mayanmar singer Arzani and ‘eating’ his salary – that is, going out to eat with his friends. He works 5 or 6 days a week, earning roughly 3000 Kyat a day (around £2.20). He also volunteers doing repair work at the local monastery. By the time our meeting ended and we all left for lunch at a nearby restaurant, Myo Min and I were laughing with the family.

ECCD: Oasis in the Dust

After lunch with Myo Min, we visited the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) project in the township, which consists of a day care center for 4-6 year olds which is linked to a micro finance savings and loan scheme.

We entered the woven bamboo building, where around 65 children were napping in three multi-coloured mosquito-netted tents. Sitting around a low table set with welcoming fruits, we met with the six or seven ECCD committee members as well as with the parents’ committee and the school mistress. Posters of school work, including the English alphabet, decorated the walls.

The ECCD committee members are elected by the parents’ committee and administer the Savings & Loans scheme. They offer subsidised loans at 5% to qualifying parents (as opposed to market rates of 30% to 40%). There are several categories of loans, including those for business, disabled business, HIV children, and poorer families. Qualifying loans include small business such as sandal-making and beauty salons.

Sandal saleswoman: Microfinance at work

Following the daycare facility, we drove to another part of the township, where we met with a Savings & Loan scheme recipient who makes decorated black velvet sandals for women and black leather sandals for men. The tiny hut had a shaded outdoor area where the sandal materials were fashioned and assembled by a team of seven, mostly family members. One older lady sewed the straps in the front yard. In the front room, two ladies decorated the velvet sandals with multi-coloured sequins.

The young entrepreneur smiled shyly as she described her business. Sandals are sold in the central Mandalay market, with a profit of 500 kyat on each pair of velvet sandals. Our sandal souvenirs will always remind us of her effort!

New Light Disabled Group

Finally we visited the disabled committee, a group of roughly 12 people who organise self-help efforts and facilitate networking with other disabled groups. They gave a presentation of their New Light programme, which outlined their goals and self-assessment framework. I have never seen such a focused group of people. They are seeking to have a government-registered S&L scheme to officially recognise their efforts.

Child sponsorship works

I was impressed by how World Vision child sponsors have helped Myo Min, his family and the wider community. Emerald explained that sponsored children like Myo Min are chosen when circumstances place the family in need – in this case, the death of Myo Min’s father some 10 years ago – and only with the agreement of the family. World Vision used sponsorship donations to help support the family as well as the community; Myo Min’s mother was provided training to help her earn a living. The community received help in such areas as education and health.

We came away impressed with the community. The ECCD and the New Light Disabled Group members had taken the training/funding from World Vision and now are progressing well on the road to self-sufficiency in many respects. The community’s enthusiasm and focus are leading to a virtuous circle in which this community then can train other communities in skills such as the S&L programme. Although we have only seen a few examples, the World Vision programme appears to be achieving very good results. World Vision is helping people to help themselves. We made a strong connection to the community and came away wanting to help further with specific projects.

We are so happy we were able – along with our dedicated and hard working colleagues in Myanmar – to make this visit happen. We know it’s not going to become a common thing, but we do hope that allowing people like Peter to see the very real difference our sponsors make to the lives and the communities of the children they support will inspire more people to help spread the word of the work our programmes are capable of doing with your help.

A huge thanks also has to go to Peter for sharing his experiences with us.

We’d love to hear your comments and thoughts on Peter’s experiences, so click here head over to our Facebook page and join in the discussion.