Pying Mong village in Myanmar is home to a primarily rural, farming and relatively isolated community of the Lahu ethnic minority group who speak their own Lahu language. There was no school for the 1.000+ people living in this, and four other villages nearby. As a result, most of the community do not have any formal education and cannot speak Burmese.

With no education, no school, and very few Burmese speakers to be able to communicate with people outside the community, these villagers were concerned that their children would not have a chance for better opportunities in life.

Once the main structure of the school was completed, several things were left unfinished. Some of the main concerns were the exposed brick foundation wall and the lack of any blackboards and educational materials for the school rooms.

Our implementing partner wanted to ensure that these things would not be left unattended and discussed with PCF’s Project Team how best to implement these things practically and affordably.

The rough exposed-brick foundation was covered up and painted. Since this project was smaller in scale than the original building project, a water pump was not on-site, and water was in short supply for making the cement. So the villagers helped by carrying water by hand to the site. Next to the toilets, a water cistern was constructed from cement rings.

And also, inside the school, five blackboards were mounted in the classrooms. Educational posters, books, stationery, chalk and even a ball for sports were brought to the school for the students to use.