Myanmar(Burma) Refugee Camp

At refugee camps that have existed in Thailand for more than 30 years, we operate community libraries.

Background of Activities

About 90,000 people still live in the refugee camps which were built at the border between Thailand and Myanmar in 1984. There are many children who have never been able to leave the refugee camps where they were born and raised and have no knowledge about the outside world or their homeland.

What We Do

We carry out educational support projects through community library activities with the aim that the refugee camp residents acquire knowledge, skills, and information to solve problems. With the goal of having 15 community libraries run by residents, we are enhancing training activities for resident organizations and promoting collaboration between libraries and educational institutions.

Activities at Libraries

We run 15 community libraries in 7 refugee camps. The community library is officially positioned as a part of non-formal education under the umbrella of the Karen Refugee Committee Education Entity (KRCEE). It holds events such as storytelling sessions including puppet plays, Children’s Day, Mother’s Day, and so on. Through storytelling sessions by Toshokan Youth Volunteers, we build relationships with many residents, especially with the refugee camp students and young people, to understand their needs.

Community Library Management

As a part of our human resources development activities, we hold joint workshops for the library coordinators of each refugee camp, representatives of Office of Camp Education Entity (OCEE), and members of Karen Youth Organization (KYO) so that they can learn about the role of library coordinators. In addition, we develop corner libraries and carry out mobile library services as Children’s Reading Promotion Project, contributing to the improvement of children’s academic abilities.

Picture Books Publication

We publish picture books in two languages—Karen language and Burmese language. We also organize picture book contests in refugee camps to publish the works selected from the residents’ entries.

Activities So Far

Our library activities are also meant to provide opportunities for people who do not know their homeland and are not able to leave refugee camps to come into contact with the outside world and learn about their country. When we started the library activities in 2000, we focused mainly on the construction of libraries.

Building and Rebuilding Libraries
After visiting each camp with the library committee members and taking into account the local conditions and the number of residents, we built the libraries in places to which children have good access.
Traditional Culture Activity
The Refugee Children Cultural Festival was held in collaboration with the camp committee and ethnic minority groups. The participants were children from 6 to 12 ethnic groups from various ethnic backgrounds who live in the refugee camps.

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Building and Rebuilding Libraries

After visiting each camp with the library committee members and taking into account the local conditions and the number of residents, we built the libraries in places to which children have good access. A bathroom was also built beside each library. The library activities were ended after we built or rebuilt 21 libraries using earthquake-resistant materials by 2012.

Traditional Culture Activity

The Refugee Children Cultural Festival was held in collaboration with the camp committee and ethnic minority groups. The participants were children from 6 to 12 ethnic groups from various ethnic backgrounds who live in the refugee camps. The purpose of this event was to promote communication among the children, who live in the same refugee camp but rarely see one another, through recreational games and performances of songs and dances of their respective ethnic groups.