Every year YIEC students head out, away from the comforts of home, to visit a place where they can learn in a much Bigger classroom that has no walls, thus the name. The 6th grade trip included a three night four day trip to the ancient city of Pyay, about 6 hours north of Yangon by bus. There were many opportunities for community service work that we found along the way. One way the 6th grade students helped was through simply giving a little money to the monasteries that we visited. We found that giving a little from 60 people makes a lot! In the Buddhist tradition, most if not all of these monasteries survive solely on the donations of the people who support them. It was clear to see that YIEC students are aware of that, as they were ready and willing to give at each place we stopped.
Near the end of our trip we also visited an orphanage to give away the many items that we brought with us on the trip. The week before, students made a collection of notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, books, clothes, shoes, stuffed animals, toys, games and more. Some of the items were also donated by the Community Service Club. The orphanage we visited was established just about two years ago, and because they were so new and had very little, they were very appreciative to receive these items. Along with the gifts, students made a collection and raised 90,000 kyat ($75 US) to give them.
We hope that next year we will have a wish list ahead of time so we can continue supporting them on our planned trip back to Pyay next year.
There was also the good news that the 7th grade trip visited an orphanage with about 700 orphans and they did much of the same as far as giving on their WWW trip.
Great to see everyone joining in the spirit of giving!
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