Refugees in the two Karenni Refugee Camps are set to face further cuts to their rations. In the past month, The Border Consortium (TBC), an NGO that supports provisions to the refugee camps along the border, has confirmed to residents of the camps that due to funding cuts they will be forced to further reduce rations, starting in August 2015.
TBC has already confirmed that the new round of cuts will only affect rice and charcoal rations. The stark reality for refugees is that, due to previous cuts of basic food stuffs, any cuts other than to rice would leave the refugees with a diet that is not nutritious enough to survive on.
Since the previous cuts, households are separated into different status groups. These are self-reliant, standard, vulnerable and most vulnerable households. The cuts will affect all but the most vulnerable households along with children aged between 6 months and 5 years. The cuts will mean that the first member of...
The annual end to the school year for students in Karenni Refugee Camp 1 is in March. During this month and early March, a number of schools hold their graduation ceremonies and celebrate their students’ achievements.
Students within Karenni Refugee Camp 1 can study at the Karenni high school until grade 10 level. This is equivalent to 10 years of schooling through primary, middle and high-school. The Karenni Education Department (KnED) runs the schooling system inside Karenni Refugee Camp 1. After completing high-school education, there are few options for young people within the camp to continue their education. The educational stage after high school is called post-10.
For students within Karenni Refugee Camp 1, there are 4 main Post – 10 schools available to study at. These schools are; the Karenni Community College (KNCC); the Ban Nai Soi Community Learning Center (BnsCLC); The Women’s Study Programme (WSP); and our SDC School. Each of these schools has a different area of focus.
WSP is...
Between September 3rd and 5th, Karenni refugees celebrated Deeku festival. The elderly leaders of our animist religion who preserve and are knowledgeable about our ethnic’s traditional ways organise our traditional festivals. They lead in predicting which days are suitable for celebrating Deeku festival. These leaders read a chicken bone on Monday 1st September. As a result of the prediction based on the chicken bone, this year the Deeku festival started on the 3rd September and ended on the 5th September. After this, people can make preparations for hosting their friends and relatives. The festival must take place within the days predicted by the chicken bone.
Deeku is celebrated by Karenni people inviting all of their relatives and guests to their homes. At their homes, they will provide food especially deeku, traditional wine and meat. Karenni people will visit many homes where they eat, drink and enjoy each other’s company.
During the festival, we closed our school for two days to allow our...
We use an open style of learning on both of our courses and allow our students to be involved in many activities.
This is a video of our Basic Course:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVlcS4bPSus
This is a video of our Advanced Community Management Training Course:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Ky2PR8d1w...
To celebrate the 139th anniversary of Karenni National Day on the 21st June 2014, Our SDC students participated in a march through the refugee camp. They carried an SDC banner and marched alongside a number of other organizations including the IRC. There were also students from the high school and middle school.
After concluding the march, all of the attendees sat down to listen to speeches by Karenni leaders about Karenni history and the importance of the day....
Before starting our class the new students had to repair their dormitory and classes because our buildings are made of natural materials such as dry leaves for roofing and bamboo for buildings. Usually, at the beginning of the rainy season, the weather is windy and there is very heavy rain so, we have to prevent the problem of flooding which could damage our buildings in camp.
This is one of the challenges of the environment we work in....
30 March, 2013 - SDC Class of 2013 Graduation Ceremony in Camp 1
Students and their families celebrated SDC basic training graduation in camp 1. Lunch included one goat and two pigs, and a feast of curries and soup with rice.
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We had the pleasure of celebrating the 10th Anniversary of SDC this year. The celebrations were held over the course of 3 days. From 11th to 12th November 2012, the students participated in sport competitions, as well as debates, poetry and art competitions. We also celebrated with song and dance. The official ceremony was held on 13th October 2012, and was attended by around 100 people, including representatives from CBOs, camp leaders and parents of students. At the ceremony, according to their services 8 staff members including an advisor who has been working at the SDC until to day were awarded some prizes and as in recognition they were certified with a certificate of each. The winners of the competitions of the Arts, sports, songs and debates were announced and awarded some prizes prepared by the SDC and speeches were given by prominent members of the SDC and Karenni community, including Aung Sun Myint (the coordinator and founder of SDC),...
SDC followed a 4 day environmental protection course with World Environment Day celebrations. On 4th June 2012, the community was invited to music, poetry, and art competitions as well as debates, with environmental protection being the central theme. A ceremony followed in the SDC compound, including a welcoming speech by Aung Sun Myint, coordinator of SDC, and a speech on the history of World Environment Day and the various activities held around the world by Khu Myar Reh, principal of SDC. The ceremony was attended by more than 100 people, including representatives from CBOs, camp leaders, and parents of students.
After the ceremony, food and beverages were served to all who attended. We also welcomed the new students who will be attending in the training course of the 2012-2013.
This is world environment day...
Basic Training Course 2012-2013
Currently, 30 students are undertaking the basic training course, and will graduate in March 2013. The current students were selected after the recruitment presentation in February last year, when according to the usual schedule, SDC staff went to community based organizations (CBOs) based in Karenni camps and along the Thai/Burma border such as Karenni High School, Karenni community college (KnCC), Karenni Ever Green (KEG), and Karenni Women Organization (KnWO), and gave presentations about SDC's vision, mission, objectives and activities, and distributed application forms for students to apply to attend the 2012-2013 basic training course.
After the recruitment presentation, an entrance test and interview session was held in April 2012 according to SDC procedure. 96 applicants sat the entrance test on 20th April, and after the test, the applicants were interviewed by our staff over two days. Out of the 96 applicants, 30 students were selected, with results announced on 30th April 2012. On 12th May, 2012, the students...
