Participatory Learning Apprisal Practice in Kayin State
Taung Che Yin village, has 80 households and is situated near Kamawt Kachu village in Hlainebwe Township. The name of the village literally means “bottom of mountain”. As there is currently no school in their village, school children have to study in the nearby villages. (There is a primary school at Kawt Win village – 2.4km away, a middle school at Kamawt Kachu village – 4.8km away, and there are high schools in Hlinebwe town – 8km away) A majority of these students make the journey to their schools on foot.
Regarding the livelihoods of the villagers, a few of them tend to their rubber plantations and vegetable gardens. There are 3 home grocery shops where villagers sell vegetables and bamboo shoots picked from the mountains. Some own and cultivate rice paddies while others are involved in raising livestock and poultry.
Family members of almost all households work in Thailand as migrant workers, and they send money back to their families in the village. Accordingly, most households rely on these remittances sent from their family members working abroad, just to be able to get by.
The Village Development Committee was formed in September 2014 through the facilitation of the LWF Hpa-An office. The village elected U Htoo Say as their VDC chairman. He works as a carpenter, a mason and a casual laborer. The VDC chairman talks about the VDC and his village’s development, saying, “By now we have held 3 meetings to discuss supporting the village, the VDC’s sustainability, its consolidation, improvement of village infrastructure, and livestock management.” In addition to a VDC, there is an existing ‘Community-Based Organization’ or CBO – a Youth Group, and its members of young men and women actively take part in social activities.
Apart from another INGO that built a well in Taung Che Yin village in 2014, LWF Myanmar is the only other external organization to provide assistance and facilitation for the development of the village. VDC members expressed their motivation and hope, saying, “We are already glad due to the entry of LWF to the village.” The VDC chairman is planning to renovate the damaged public house (social hall), with the assistance of LWF. (Villages in Hlainbwe Township traditionally have a public house, used for various purposes such as holding village meetings, giving donations and arranging funerals.) He says, “Although the public house is not good, we still use it. We cook here and feed (people), but because it is in poor condition we face difficulties during the rainy season.” A VDC member named Ma Tin Aye Hlaing expressed the need for home repairs for some partner households who belong to the lowest-income families in her village.
Regarding the construction of village infrastructure such as roads and a school, the VDC is to coordinate with U Nyunt Hlaing, the Village Development Support Committee (VDSC) (a government organized association) chairman, responsible for submitting requests for permission to implement projects, to the General Administrative Office of Hlinebwe Township. He has also asked for a library building from the General Administrative Office to be constructed on the reserved land in the village. The VDC chairman agrees by saying “It would be good to have a library in the village, so that the youth will progress.” He continues, “Although the aged cannot read or write, there will be more and more young villagers, who read (the books) if there is a library in the village.” Moreover, he mentioned that, “it is good to have a clinic”. Another need of the villages is to construct a well. Villagers have to go to the nearby villages to fetch water for drinking and other uses. Despite the presence of a well - constructed and donated by an external organization, it is still not enough for the whole village. “The construction of a new well would be a big help to our village,” says the chairman.
Photo Credit: :LWF Myanmar Content Contributor: LWF Myanmar
