Mae Sot is a Thai border town and about 500 kilometers from Bangkok. The town is swamped with two-hundred- thousand refugees who fled Myanmar over the years. The largest refugee camp in SE Asia, Mae-La Refugee Camp, is located here. Since the 2021 Myanmar military coup, even more refugees have fled to Mae Sot for shelter.

There are two types of refugees at Mae Sot: those who live in the Thai government camps and those who live outside of the camp. The camped refugees are confined to their camps and are guarded by Thai military. They cannot move outside of their camp or receive assistance from non-authorized NGOs. Peach works with refugees who live outside the camps. They are free to move around. However, with no legal status, their freedom is limited. They cannot work legally or send their children to Thai schools.

To educate their children, Myanmar refugees set up their own schools at Mae Sot. These schools are located on leased lands with ramshackle structures and tin roofs. A typical classroom contains a white board and a few rows of plank wood tables and chairs. Teachers receive minimum pay or no pay at all. As a result, the teacher turnover rate is as high as above 30%. When a school is evicted due to financial shortfall, it then must roam through student’s houses to continue the teaching. There is no constancy in the learning environment that the students can feel secure.

Peach started the Mae Sot project in October, 2022. We have been working on improving the school fundamentals. We assist teachers to stay in their jobs, improve school learning facilities, and encourage students to aim for college. These refugee students could achieve economic independence through education. We would like to inspire more students and their parents to have faith in education. We want to set the path of educational success so that many more will follow.

The Peach Foundation’s program with the Mae Sot schools include the following

1) Providing school teachers with basic salary and training

2) Granting scholarships to refugee students

3) Supporting schools in facility upgrades

The funding raised on Givology will be primarily used for #2, with 100% of the proceeds raised to provide financial aid to 78 students.

Founded in 2001, the Peach Foundation has helped children from the poorest parts of China and SE Asia with the opportunity to complete education and break the cycle of poverty. The Mae Sot area is in dire turmoil, with the number of refugee students increasing dramatically. Schools that were meant to only sustain 700-800 students have grown to 1,000+, creating a heavy burden on scarce existing resources. Peach has already deployed funds throughout 2023 for school rent, teacher stipends (to improve teacher retention), as well as the donation of bunk beds, desks and chairs, solar lights, books, and water purifiers to improve school conditions to create better learning environments for the children.