Parents in Hti Kan Laung village lack the education and resources to nurture their children as much as they would like to. Their primary focus is providing meals and emergency care when the children are unwell. Rural parents often struggle to earn enough and must take their children to work, affecting their health, delaying learning, and hindering their development.
Shanta’s program officers organized a meeting to educate villagers about child development. They learned about children’s nature, needs, growth areas, and supporting guidelines. Although the villagers already knew how to care for their children’s basic needs, they realized they lacked the knowledge, facilities, and time to enhance their children’s potential. To overcome these barriers, the community decided to prioritize constructing a preschool, training teachers and starting the preschool project.
Villagers formed a preschool committee with three members who sent two teachers for Early Childhood Care Development training. The VDT and the committee managed the preschool, organized parents, set up fees, adjusted salaries, and created play materials. Teachers’ confidence skyrocketed, and their strength in creating worthwhile curriculums and nurturing children after the training is inspiring.
Khun Aung Thein Oo, a parent of one of the preschoolers, shared his cheerful feelings about the positive impact of preschool on his son. He mentioned that his son became more confident, asked more questions, and developed good manners like taking off his shoes neatly, maintaining proper hygiene, and eating a healthy diet. Moreover, as parents no longer have to worry about taking care of their children during working hours, they can focus on their jobs, leading to an increase in their annual income by up to $75 annually. (a significant increase when your yearly salary hovers around $800)
Nan Kham Bwar expressed, “My daughter has become more polite and easier to teach. She also shares her belongings and snacks with others and has become more sociable with people in the community. The positive changes we have observed in our child have brought us immense happiness and satisfaction”.
Khun Ohn Mg, a committee member and a preschooler’s father, shared, “Last year, my daughter attended preschool. This year, she is attending kindergarten. She isn’t afraid of her teachers or the new environment at all. She has become emotionally independent and willing to explore new things. In the past, most children needed the company of their parents or siblings for up to a month to adapt to a new environment. I attribute this breakthrough to her preschool experience.”
Currently, there are 27 preschoolers under the care of the preschool committee and teachers. The committee is dedicated to maintaining the preschool’s sustainability because the benefits are clear to all. This includes conducting regular meetings and education-sharing sessions with teachers and parents, organizing fundraisers for the preschool, creating educational tools for the children, and aiming to hold an annual preschool graduation ceremony to inspire and motivate the children. This is another example of success using the Shanta model of community-led development to make generational change in the lives of Hti Kan Laung village.
