Write To Fight Book Project

with Baan Unrak School Grade 6 and Women and Child Rights Project
2006

While in residence at Baan Unrak Primary School in Sangklaburi, Thailand, I initiated the Write To Fight Book Project. This was a collaboration between the 6th Grade at Baan Unrak and the Women and Child Rights Project of Burma.

Most of the students at Baan Unrak are from the Mon or Karen ethnic minorities that have been fleeing Burma for decades due to the gross human rights violations committed by the military junta that rules the country. The journey out of Burma is difficult and refugees often travel hundreds of miles through the jungle on foot. Malaria is a major health hazard and, without access to medical care, even minor a injury or illness can lead to death. These health issues and other complex social factors leave many children orphaned on the border.

About half of the students at Baan Unrak School also live at the Baan Unrak Children's Home. Another quarter come from the nearby Children of the Forest home. These children are state-less. That means no nation is responsible for upholding their human rights. We figured the students should be armed with knowledge that will allow them to fight for their own rights as they get older.

The Write to Fight Book Project educated students about human rights and children's rights. The students then made books about what they had learned. They also included information about themselves and their lives. The books will be shared with students in the US so they can learn about human rights from other students their age, and gain a better understanding of what life is like in another country.

The sixth grade students then took on the role of teachers and shared their new knowledge of human rights with younger students in their school.