A girl practices writing numbers in English at White school. Learning English gives these children the broadest opportunities for themselves after they graduate school as they can then choose to study or work abroad in the future.
Students participate in a class in Noh Bo Academy on the outskirts of Mae Sot. The students are wearing traditional Karen clothing. Karen State is located within Myanmar close to the border with Thailand. Karen people have unique traditions and a strong collective identity including their own dress and language. Because of the civil war and the proximity of Mae Sot, many of the migrants and refugee students that fled to Mae Sot are from the Karen state.
Hangay Paw sits in her home. She is one of the first in her family to get a formal education and has been able to go to Maw Kwee school since she was 4 years old.
Young students play at break time in the New Blood school playground, Mae Sot.
Young children in the village surrounding Maw Kwee school, too young yet to go to school, look out smiling from their window.
Young students climb a tree and watch students playing football at the end of the school day, on public land beside KKB school, Mae Sot.
A young girl stands outside of her classroom at the end of the school day to go home at White School.
A young boy studies in a classroom in White School. White School was started after the principal had visited some migrant families in the community. She saw that there was a need for formal education so children could start or continue their learning. They teach children from Kindergarten to Grade 9.
Win Naing Hu photographed on Thoo Mweh Khee school grounds. There is a small allotment beside the school grounds where they grow fruits and vegetables and keep chickens. This student came to Thailand alone and now stays on school grounds in a room in the principles home.
Teachers from Maw Kwee School, students and residents from the surrounding village sit and watch a sports tournament together organised by the school. The school and its activities are a focal point for the community surrounding it. Maw Kwee school is located in a rural area near Tha Song Yang close to the Thai-Myanmar border. It is around 3 hours away from Mae Sot city-centre.
A teacher helps a young student at White School. Teachers at these schools feel a calling to give back and educate the next generation of Myanmar. The civil unrest has lasted for more than 20 years affecting generations of children and their education. Teachers often become parental figures for many students, raising the children and supporting them in the formative years of their lives when other family members are unable to because of the ongoing conflict.
A portrait of So-Charlie, the principal of Maw Kwee school. He has lived in the local village since he was 15 years old. After seeing a need in the village for a school, he decided to establish one there. At first he was simply facilitating the school, receiving teachers from the local area and even from the Mae- La refugee camp, but later became the principal. Many of the older residents of the village had never had the opportunity to go to school before Maw Kwee was founded.
