Woman raising funds to help students in Myanmar

Carey Scheer, left, is seen in this photograph taken in the middle Kayan region in Myanmar helping the Kayan Community Development Services run a workshop. Scheer, whose mother lives in Lancaster, spent four months doing volunteer work in Thailand and Myanmar, and is currently trying to raise funds for the KCDS to build a boarding house for a high school that serves 55 villages in a mountainous region of the Southeast Asian country.(Photo: photos provided by Carey Scheer)

LANCASTER – Carey Scheer has made it a priority to improve educational opportunities for children overseas living in Myanmar after seeing the challenges they face and has launched a fundraising campaign in an effort to construct a school building.

Scheer, whose mother lives in Lancaster, spent the last four months overseas doing volunteer work and lived along the Myanmar and Thailand border before crossing over into Myanmar. However, the 31-year-old's travels first began in Australia, where she worked for the Red Cross and a program that supports asylum seekers.

Scheer eventually connected with a woman who was working in Thailand directly with refugees in Myanmar, leading her to follow suit and help others. Scheer said she worked with Kayan people, many of whom live in refugee camps in Thailand.

She added that many other individuals live in Myanmar — specifically the middle Kayan region in the mountains — in an area where there is no electricity, no adequate roads, hospitals or schools and no running water inside homes. The experience allowed Scheer to see and experience the conditions for children as well.

"I became really great friends with a man who is trying his best to help open the world up to his region and bring his Kayan people into the educational age," Scheer said. "Currently, there is only one high school for over 55 villages and this means children walk up to five hours a day to get to school. I know, because I did this walk with these children and filmed their journey."

Scheer has partnered with a nonprofit organization known as Kayan Community Development Services in an effort to raise money for a boarding house. The GoFundMe campaign has been successful so far as the nonprofit entity has been able to secure land for the boarding house, meaning that 15 boys and 15 girls will have the opportunity to attend school, according to the website.

Michael used to walk 4 1/2 hours round trip to school every day. He now lives in the Kayan Community Development Services office. Carey Scheer, whose mother lives in Lancaster, spent four months doing volunteer work in Thailand and Myanmar, and is currently trying to raise funds for the KCDS to build a boarding house for a high school that serves 55 villages in a mountainous region of the Southeast Asian country. (Photo: photos provided by Carey Scheer)

"The land is only a few minutes walk from the school and the land is large enough to grow enough food to support the students who will live there," she wrote.

Scheer noted much more work is ahead and said KCDS believes an additional $5,000 in U.S. dollars will mean they will be able to construct a permanent boarding house. So far, $4,141 has been raised by 62 people in the last month and Scheer hopes more people will donate toward the cause.

"KCDS hopes that this can become a reality in the next couple of months. In the meantime, there are parents, teachers, students and other community members busy clearing the land in the hopes that this boarding house will come," Scheer said.

Scheer said 17 children sleep in the organization's office in Myanmar so they are able to go to school.

"That's how devastated they are," she said.

Khun Anatasio Nay Zar, left, the founder of Kayan Community Development Services, interviews children and families to try to find out how they can get them back to school. Carey Scheer, whose mother lives in Lancaster, spent four months doing volunteer work in Thailand and Myanmar, and is currently trying to raise funds for the KCDS to build a boarding house for a high school that serves 55 villages in a mountainous region of the Southeast Asian country. (Photo: photos provided by Carey Scheer)

Scheer, who ended up in Australia at age 21 and obtained a tourist visa, said she had no intention of staying, but plans changed and now she has dual citizenship in the United States and Australia. Scheer is temporarily living in the Boston area for two months, but eventually plans to return overseas at a later date to complete a documentary on the boarding house project in Myanmar.

Scheer also said the experience working directly with young children also had an effect on her, describing it as being "eye-opening."

"I talked with them, I interviewed them and filmed some of them ... and I just want to make a difference, I just want to help my friends make a difference because it's just so important," she said. "I feel very connected and I can't leave it. I will stay connected."

Still, Scheer said the money will be used regardless to help students in the area whether or not enough funding is obtained to construct a boarding house, but noted any amount the public can donate will be helpful.

"Honestly, if people donated $5, $10, it's huge," she said. "People there (overseas) are living on less than a U.S. dollar a day, so a little bit of money is going a long way."

For more information or to donate funds toward the GoFundMe campaign, visit www.gofundme.com/boardinghouse.

Students stand in front of the Kayan Community Development Services Office near the high school they attend in Myanmar. The children that live in the office live too far away from the school to make the journey everyday so the organizations allows them to live in the office. Carey Scheer, whose mother lives in Lancaster, spent four months doing volunteer work in Thailand and Myanmar, and is currently trying to raise funds for the KCDS to build a boarding house for a high school that serves 55 villages in a mountainous region of the Southeast Asian country. (Photo: photos provided by Carey Scheer)

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/woman-raising-funds-to-help-students-in-myanmar/