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Myanmar: WFP Support Feeds Ambitions For The Future

by World Food Programme | World Food Programme
Monday, 12 September 2011 05:14 GMT

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Since she started receiving WFP rations through WFP’s Food For Education programme, Yex attends school full time and dreams of becoming a nurse. Yex Klang is an 11 year old girl from a family of five in Yon Kai village in Lashio. She is a Grade 3 student in Yong Pang School, three kilometres from her village. Not all the parents are aware of the importance of education for their children and are discouraged from sending them to school because of distance and resource issues concerns."Before I got the rice rations from WFP, I attended school only two or three days a week because my parents could not provide enough food for me when I stayed in the school's boarding house," explained Yex. "I also had to help my parents with domestic housework and take care of my siblings when my parents were working in the field." Yex still remembers the first time she received food rations: "When I got rice from WFP for the first time, I was very happy because the food I brought from home had almost run out and I was worried about how I was going to eat and that I would have to stop my schooling again. Now I do not fear having too little food to eat at school. Most of my classmates have also returned back to school since WFP started distributing food. I never used to have a dream for my life, but now I have a dream of becoming a nurse if I continue my studies. Nurses can cure ill people and earn money. I will try my best to learn as much as possible."The teachers at Yex's school also confirmed that WFP's assistance has had a very positive impact on the primary education in term of enrolment. One teacher explained that "the number of students has gradually increased during the period of food assistance. We expect more and more parents will become aware of the importance of educating their children and that more boys and girls will attend school."
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