The Sound of Hope

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Lucky #13

By Ericka Jackson | June 23, 2011

I am 16 years old. My village was attacked by the Burma army, and we all ran for our lives into the jungle. We heard that soon, the Burma army would come to capture the men and the young boys, and that we would be forced to fight as soldiers. The people in my village pooled together their resources so that we could escape. I came to the refugee camp with my older brother, my cousin, and two of my friends.

 

I am 13 years old. I never knew my father. When my mother was five months pregnant with me, my father was killed by the Burma army. I came to the refugee camp with my cousin. Her father was killed by the Burma army too.

This summer, 13 lucky children were able to escape from Burma. They fled the violence of their raided villages, and escaped through a jungle dotted with landmines and hostile Burmese military troops. They faced things that no child should ever face, just so that they could have an opportunity to live and grow in peace.

And now,  those 13 lucky little boys and girls (you can see two of them above) get to live in The Refuge – our Children’s Home inside one of the refugee camps* on the Thai border. They are safe. They are loved. And for the first time, they will get a chance to learn.

These kids are anxious to get an education, which is impossible inside Burma, where the military burns down their schools. They are excited to learn sustainable life skills, like gardening and raising livestock. And as time passes, they will settle in to the first place they’ve ever been safe from the troops that kill their family and friends, and destroy their homes.

We believe in these kids, and we know that they deserve so much more than the lives they’ve led up to now. But we need YOU to help us care for them! We raised the funds necessary to bring these kids out of the violence of Burma and into The Refuge, but now our total number of children in the home has gone from 6 to 19! That means the monthly amount needed for keeping this home running has risen drastically.

THE REFUGE – The 19 children in our Children’s Home are pictured here with our American partners (Ray, Candace, & Maile), our Karen partners (Hebrew & SerNeGay), and some other friends from the refugee camp.

Just $60 a month will provide a safe home, food, and education for a child. If 19 people gave $60 a month, that would mean that every child would be cared for! So set up your monthly donation today, or consider hosting a 60 Days of Summer event to help raise money for these kids! Together, we can protect these children from the violent, hopeless life they left behind.

*For the safety of our children, we can not list the name of the refugee camp they are in.

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