OUR PROJECTS
Emmanuel Orphanage
Emmanuel orphanage, run by the BCMS Anglican Church in Mohnyin, has 25 children from age 5 until they leave to attend higher education or are ready and independent. Children come from remote villages in the mountains and IDP camps to gain access to education.
Each year JEP helps to:
- Pay towards the children’s school fees.
- Buy rice, oil, salt and nutritious vegetables.
- Provide suitable clothing for winter and rainy seasons and storage boxes to keep personal belongings.
- Send educational games and stationery.
- Fund financial support for two students to attend essential tuitions.
Education Resource Centre
Due to a generous donation, JEP has been able to set up an educational resource centre in Myitkyina, in partnership with KBC (Kachin Baptist Convention), an already established and respected organisation.
The centre provides books, educational toys, materials, and teacher training and expertise to help improve education by ‘learning through understanding’.
Following the success of this first centre, another is being developed in Lashio.
Shwe Zet Pre-school
JEP has supported Shwe Zet pre-school nursery attended by children from the local community and children from IDP camps in the poorer section of Myitkyina. This small nursery of less than 25 children grew suddenly to over 90 children in 2011 due to an influx of IDPs from the surrounding countryside. JEP was asked to help. This nursery has moved into a new building. JEP will continue to help on request.
Some of the ways JEP has helped in recent years:
- Replaced old flimsy, bamboo floor with a new painted wooden floor.
- Provided bamboo and soft floor mats for sitting or sleeping.
- Funded outdoor and indoor play equipment.
- Provided vermin-proof cabinets and storage boxes.
- Paid for blankets and pillows.
Little Cranes pre-school
JEP worked with founding members to set up Little Cranes pre-school nursery. It is a private nursery for 50 children of different ethnic groups and therefore Burmese is the main language used. Although some of the families can afford the school fees, many are from poor Kachin families whose talented children will benefit from JEP’s help.
Since 2017 JEP has provided funds for:
- A new metal roof with solid metal supports to replace roof made from plastic sheeting on bamboo poles.
- A new concrete floor to replace flimsy plywood floor. Painted the floors with different colours.
- Soft floor mats and blankets.
- Tables and chairs, cupboards, white boards and teaching equipment.
- Educational toys and picture books.
JEP continues to donate a yearly fund to help reduce the cost or provide free admission for poorer families.
Prat Manu
After the success of the ERC project, a local non-denominational group, Prat Manu Early Child Education Network, was formed to further develop Early Childhood Care and Development.
With initial funding from JEP they set about producing some picture books for children based on local traditions and folk stories in dual language and holding workshops for parents and teachers to improve understanding of the importance of early years education.
With help from JEP, Prat Manu continues to meet its objectives, publish books and hold training sessions. Prat Manu has provided JEP with regular up-dates of its work and how the funds have been spent.
BAMBOO LEARNING CENTRE
BRIDGE was established in 2010. It works on livelihoods, forestry and environmental conservation, and women’s empowerment in the Kachin State.
BRIDGE’s Bamboo Project aims to sustainably grow and harvest bamboo to be used in training local villagers to make items ranging from school equipment, toys, to furniture and buildings, and for them to set up small enterprises so that they can support themselves and their family financially.
JEP supported BRIDGE by contributing towards the purchase of land and some of the training for the project.
TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS
Each year, at least two members of the committee visit (at their own expense) the Kachin State to give teacher training, run workshops and visit JEP projects. Training and workshops are mainly based on early years education, project management, teaching English, Maths and Sciences.
Committee members and volunteers have also shared their expertise by giving workshops on handicrafts with a women’s group in an IDP camp, Behaviour Management Resource training and Information Technology.
Women's livelihood groups
JEP also gave funds and promoted workshops to groups of women in Myitkyina to enable them to set up livelihood activities such as handicraft, making sweets, crisps and jams. By selling their products they could earn a small income so they could better support their children and send them to school.
Most of the women are from IDP Camps.
KACHINLAND COLLEGE
JEP helped set up a library at the college by providing books, on science and arts, plus box-sets of DK reading schemes and Junior Readers. We also donated 17 new desktop computers for their new computer lab.
JEP Committee members have given training in Science, English and Information Technology.
We plan to increase our connection with the college by providing further workshops, books and resources.
KBC YOUTH GROUP
Funds for KBC Youth Group to photocopy extant copies of the monthly newspaper, Jinghpaw Shi Laika, from 1914 – 1928, as these are some of the first publications in written Jinghpaw (main Kachin language), hence are of great historical importance. One of the editors being Ola Hanson who devised written Jinghpaw and its phonetic spelling. The group made 15 large bound copies and are depositing them in appropriate institutions and libraries including one for JEP.
HIGHER EDUCATION FOR WOMEN IN WAR ZONE AREAS
The charity, Metta Development Foundation, with whom JEP has connection, has been supporting education needs of IDP children in war zone areas since 2011. Metta, recognising bright and talented students in these areas, has been looking for opportunities to get access to university for those children. Communication with Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh, resulted in a successful agreement to fully support up to 15 girls coming from war zone areas.
The talented girls selected by Metta had to travel to Yangon to apply for and take the entrance examination. However, as they had no funds to pay for their travel, food and accommodation, fees and other miscellaneous costs, JEP offered to help.
Eight Kachin young women, who JEP helped, arrived safely at Asian University for Women on 22 August 2019 to start their degrees.
