Ombres Chinoises is a non-profit association based in Switzerland. |
P R O J E C T S
Since its foundation in 2006, Ombres Chinoises has supported several small scaled projects in China, Thailand and Myanmar. Boarding school and orphanage - Thailand/Myanmar border
Period: since 2019 Thousands of Shan and other ethnic minorities have fled from their homes in Shan State, Myanmar (Burma), because of civil war, forced labor and poverty, hoping to start new lives in Thailand. Not recognized as refugees and forced to work in unsafe, underpaid jobs to survive, parents are often unable to look after their children. Many have also died, victims of armed conflicts or exploitative conditions, leaving orphans behind. These children, who often lack ID papers and basic necessities such as food and clothing, don’t have access to basic education and health care. In Thailand they are at risk of being exploited by human trafficking, sex industry or drug trade. Some of them could find a safe shelter in a boarding school and orphanage center located at Wat Arunothai, a Buddhist temple in Ban Arunothai, a village on the Thai-Burma border in Chiang Mai province. The school provides abandoned and disadvantaged children with free basic education, learning material, meals, clothing, housing, healthcare and proper assistance. Here, around 30 children can grow in a safe and family environment. Ombres Chinoises supports the boarding school in its long term effort to improve living conditions of disadvantaged children on the Thai-Burma border. Through the donations and funds collected by Ombres Chinoises, more children can get basic education and assistance. Learning centers in rural areas - Shan State (Myanmar) Period: April-May 2016 In Shan State, Myanmar, widespread poverty and abusive policies of the Burmese military has resulted in severe social insecurity for civilians, especially in the country’s conflict zones, such as rural Shan State. In these areas, essential social services like healthcare and education are essentially absent. Most of these regions are easily accessed through neighboring countries, like Thailand, and today many social services are being provided through community-based organizations (CBOs). As is the case elsewhere in Myanmar, Buddhist monks have tried to fill the social service vacuum, starting up learning centers (summer courses), using temples as classrooms. The learning centers can offer free basic education for a couple of months a year to several hundreds of children and villagers, both in Myanmar and in Northern Thailand, who doesn’t have access to public schools. In April and May 2016, Ombres Chinoises offered a financial support to local CBO leaded by Ven Phra Maha Virote, the Shan abbot of Wat Arunotai (Chiang Mai province, Thailand). The funds cover books, pencils, textbooks, teaching materials and logistic (transportation, food,…) expenses. Also through the donations collected by Ombres Chinoises, around 1’500 people in 15 villages can learn to read and write Shan language, learn about cultural roots and traditions, get information on personal hygiene, diseases prevention and environmental issues. Boarding school and orphanage - Northern Thailand Period: since 2015 Thousands of Shan and other ethnic minorities have fled from their homes in Shan State, Myanmar (Burma), because of civil war, forced labor and poverty, hoping to start new lives in Thailand. Not recognized as refugees and forced to work in unsafe, underpaid jobs to survive, parents are often unable to look after their children. Many have also died, victims of armed conflicts or exploitative conditions, leaving orphans behind. These children, who often lack ID papers and basic necessities such as food and clothing, don’t have access to basic education and health care. In Thailand they are at risk of being exploited by human trafficking, sex industry or drug trade. Some of them could find a safe shelter at the “Schools of Hope” center in Ban Arunothai, Chiang Mai province. The boarding school provides abandoned and disadvantaged children with free basic education, learning material, meals, clothing, healthcare and proper assistance. Around 60 boys and girls can grow in a safe and family environment. The school would like to do even more but because of insufficient funds it is not possible to help more children. Ombres Chinoises want to support the school in its long term effort to improve living conditions of disadvantaged children on the Thai-Burma border. Through the donations and funds collected by Ombres Chinoises, more girls and boys can get basic education and assistance at “Schools of Hope”. Young girls can find a comfortable and safe place in the new dormitory co-financed by Ombres Chinoises. Learning centers in rural areas - Shan State (Myanmar) and Northern Thailand Period: April-May 2015 In Shan State, Myanmar, widespread poverty and abusive policies of the Burmese military has resulted in severe social insecurity for civilians, especially in the country’s conflict zones, such as rural Shan State. In these areas, essential social services like healthcare and education are essentially absent. Most of these regions are easily accessed through neighboring countries, like Thailand, and today many social services are being provided through community-based organizations (CBOs). As is the case elsewhere in Myanmar, Buddhist monks have tried to fill the social service vacuum, starting up learning centers (summer courses), using temples as classrooms. The learning centers can offer free basic education for a couple of months a year to several hundreds of children and villagers, both in Myanmar and in Northern Thailand, who doesn’t have access to public schools. In April and May 2015, Ombres Chinoises offered a financial support to local CBO leaded by Ven Phra Maha Virote, the abbot of Wat Arunotai (Chiang Mai province, Thailand). The funds cover books, pencils, textbooks, teaching materials and logistic (transportation, food,…) expenses. Also through the donations collected by Ombres Chinoises, around 2'400 people in 23 villages can learn to read and write Shan language, learn about cultural roots and traditions, get information on personal hygiene, diseases prevention and environmental issues. Vocational training for young students - Northern Thailand Period: April-May 2015 The “Schools of Hope” center in Northern Thailand provides free basic education and health care to orphans and poor children. Located in Ban Arunothai, Chiang Mai province, the safe house and dormitory offers a safe environment to around 60 children of displaced families and adults refugees/migrants coming from Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). Its aim is to give a better future to disadvantages children by helping them to access school, develop social skills and follow vocational training programs such weaving courses. Weaving is a widespread activity in Myanmar, especially in rural areas of Shan State. Adults and younger people (girls and boys) use a hand loom to weave cotton and silk. Weaving is a cultural tradition but also an important income generating activity for many households, especially in poor and remote areas. In April and May 2015, during the summer school break, Ombres Chinoises support eight children of the “Schools of Hope” center to participate in a traditional weaving course in Piang Luang, on the Thai-Burma border. With a local teacher, they learn several weaving and sewing techniques to be able to manufacture clothes, scarfs, bags and carpets. A safe shelter for Shan girls at risk - Thailand Period: spring-summer 2014 Wat Arunothai, a temple in Nong Ook, Chiang Mai province, Thailand, gives shelter to orphans and disadvantaged children. Here, the children have the chance to get free education, three meals per day and basic health assistance. The children are from Shan State, Burma. Their families or relatives brought them to Thailand to send them to school and offer them a better future. For dozens of children, often without ID-papers, Wat Arunothai is a new, promising, beginning. The temple, with limited resources, has a big room for boys and novices. The girls, instead, didn’t have any fixed shelter and they had to sleep in temporary rooms in the village. This was a precarious situation that exposed the girls to the risks of abuses and exploitation, quite high in this border area. These children therefore needed urgently a permanent shelter. Ombres Chinoises decided to participate in the construction of a dormitory for girls on the temple ground, together with Canadian ngo Medical Mercy. The concrete building, completed in summer 2014, is 9 meters wide, 19 meters long and 3 meters high. There is enough space to accommodate about 25 girls. There are also two toilets, one shower room, one dressing room and one room for the caregivers. Learning centers for disadvantaged children – Thailand and Shan State (Myanmar) Period: summer 2013 In Shan State, Myanmar, widespread poverty and abusive policies of the Burmese military has resulted in severe social insecurity for civilians, especially in the country’s conflict zones, such as rural Shan State. In these areas, essential social services like healthcare and education are essentially absent. Most of these regions are easily accessed through neighboring countries, like Thailand, and today many social services are being provided through community-based organizations (CBOs). As is the case elsewhere in Myanmar, Buddhist monks have tried to fill the social service vacuum, starting up learning centers (summer courses) for villagers, using temples as classrooms. The learning centers can offer free basic education for a couple of months a year to several hundreds of children in 15-20 villages, both in Myanmar and in Northern Thailand. During the summer 2013, Ombres Chinoises offered a financial support to local CBO leaded by Ven Phra Maha Virote, the abbot of Wat Arunotai (Chiang Mai province, Thailand). The funds covered books, pencils, textbooks and teaching materials expenses. Through the donations collected by Ombres Chinoises, 380 people could learn to read and write Shan language, as well as learn about their cultural roots and traditions. School renovation – Thailand Period: May-July 2012 Schools of Hope is a no profit foundation registered in Thailand. Its aim is to set up schools along the Thai/Burmese border to provide disadvantaged children of displaced families and adults refugees/migrants with free basic education and vocational skills. The first school opened in Nong Ook (Chiang Mai province, Thailand) in 2009. To be able to organize classrooms and activities for all the students, school promoters erected an extra bamboo structure near the main school building. Because of the heavy rain during the monsoon season and the strong solar radiation, the leaf roof and the bamboo structure needed to be renewed. Ombres Chinoises participated financially to build a bigger and stronger school building. The new structure allows to better organize the school activities and offer more space for the students. Under the roof there is now enough space for two extra classrooms and one closed infirmary. Non formal education for migrant children and refugees - Thai/Myanmar border Period: 2010-2013 Lots of Shan families left Myanmar (Burma) to look for better work chances and refuge in Thailand. The hard living conditions and the lack of documents don’t allow them to send their children to Thai public schools. Therefore children have to stay home to take care of domestic tasks (cleaning, cooking, …) or have to help the parents in their underpaid job on the fields or on construction sites. Many kids lost one or both parents while in Myanmar; when they arrive in Thailand they are alone and are at risk of abuse and exploitation. The only way to access national school system, and hope for a better future, is to register in non-formal schools. These schools provide basic education and can issue official certificates that are recognized by public schools. Registering fees are quite low, but still too expensive for poor families. They can not benefit of this alternative. Ombres Chinoises support Shan and other ethnic minorities children to access non formal schools by paying school and logistic fees (transportations, meals, ..). Ombres Chinoises works together with Schools of Hope, a Thai ngo that provide disadvantaged children of displaced families and adults refugees/migrants with free basic education and vocational skills. Aid to children of migrant families – China Period: 2007-2010 In China, families that move from the poor countryside to the towns are an important reality. These families try to escape the poverty of rural areas by moving to the prosperous towns with the hope of increasing their salaries. However, this never really happens. Migrants are generally young, with a low educational level that limits their job choices. They are often exploited, illegally employed or employed in dangerous jobs, submitted to long work days and suffer discrimination from the town residents. The majority of these families live in makeshift lodgings without any service or comfort, in absolute poverty. The situation is still more catastrophic concerning the schooling of their children. In order to enter the city schools, the children must obtain the residence certificate (hukou) from the city administration and the family have to prove that it hasn’t violated family planning policies, which limit the total children number per family. Because of these bureaucratic restrictions only a minority of these children are admitted to the national educational system. For those excluded from the national system, the only possibility of education resides in the private emigrating community schools, which doesn’t ask for any certificate, but have a tuition fee that is prohibitive for most families. Ombres Chinoises supported the payment of children schooling fees, so that their families could send them to school. Ombres Chinoises worked together with Jiaxin, a ngo based in Kunming (Yunnan province) that helps street children and migrant families. Its center assists disadvantages children and support them accessing basic education. |