Lexitronics

The ESC School in Burma was co-founded by the late Hugh Cory, who was a colleague of John and Nilgun’s in Cyprus. After Hugh left Cyprus he went on to Poland, and eventually became involved in the project described below by a colleague and friend of Hugh’s from Poland – Karolina Gacke.

If after reading this you would like to help the ESC, please take a look at the accompanying ‘how to help the ESC page’.

To all Hugh’s friends, First of all, I would like to introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me. I was a close friend of Hugh’s for many years. I met Hugh in 1999 in Warsaw, Poland, where I did the teacher training course- CELTA. Hugh was my tutor on the course and I learned everything I know about teaching from him. We became friends during that time and even though we both travelled a bit over the years, we still managed to see each other every few months and stayed in regular contact.

I have recently come back from Thailand, where I visited the ESC school in Nupo refugee camp, this is the school that Hugh co-founded and where he passed away. I wanted to tell you a bit about this very special place. Nupo refugee camp or Noh Poe as it is also often called, means ’small lake” in Karen and is home to almost 15,000 people who have fled their native Burma. Many former political prisoners are sent here when they escape across the border in Thailand and the most of the refugees in the POC/PAB sector are political activists who have been involved in the democracy movement since 1988. The ESC school was formed in 2007 out of the huge demand for English classes in particular for adults. The programme relies almost solely upon private donations and funds that can be raised by those who work and live there.

First of all I have to say I was very lucky to have the help of the NGO Help Without Frontiers, without which it would have been a lot more difficult for me to visit the camp, as you need a special permit to go there (those of you who were at the celebration in June might remember Benno who works for this NGO). We set off in the morning from Mae Sot, the main town in the border area between Thailand and Burma, where the major NGOs are based. Just getting to the camp was an ordeal in itself. It took us about 6 hours to get there and we had to drive on a very windy road through the jungle, for the last hour there was barely any road at all, as the rain had washed away the asphalt and there were just enormous holes everywhere. Luckily, we were in an air-conditioned car and could stop to rest whenever we wanted, whereas Hugh made this journey on a songtaw, which is a little bus/ van type vehicle, used for public transportation and is always packed with people and their children, luggage and animals. It also goes incredibly slowly up hill, so I can’t imagine how long the journey must take.

When we finally arrived, it was late afternoon and we were shown to the ‘guesthouse’ where we were going to spend the night. It was a bamboo house just outside the camp, where we were given a thin mat to put on the floor, this was to serve as our bed, and a mosquito net. People from outside are not allowed to sleep in the camp itself. In the morning we went to the ESC school and met the people who work there. After spending a few hours with them, I understood why Hugh chose to help them and to live there in such difficult conditions. They really are a remarkable group of people. I asked them who the headmaster was and they said they didn’t have one, that they all work together. Already that was different from other schools in the area I have visited. There really seemed to be a team spirit there and everyone was so devoted to the school, if they were given the opportunity and the freedom to, I am sure they could achieve great things.

In front of the school is a café called Mementos. Its unlike any other café I have ever been to. There is a little stream that runs alongside the school and a bamboo platform has been built across it. You take off your shoes as is tradition here and step onto the platform, where you sit on the floor in front of a low table. This is where we were served breakfast. And I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. We had fried eggs, pita bread which we dipped in a bean sauce and Burmese tea. I was told that Hugh liked to spend time here. The school has two floors, on the ground floor are three classrooms and an office and upstairs is a computer room with a few laptops donated by Hugh and two small rooms where you can spend the night. Hugh stayed in one of these rooms. As I looked out of the window of his room I saw a huge spider, of a kind we don’t have in Europe, dangling from the roof. And it made me smile, as I thought that Hugh would have liked that. Insects and other animals have full access to these rooms, as the window is just a hole in the wall and can’t be closed.

The whole building is made of bamboo, so the walls are paper thin. The room had no door, just a curtain to pull across the doorway, so basically you have no privacy at all. The classrooms are very basic, all they have are some mats on the floor to sit on, wooden tables and an old blackboard. The school had asked for white boards before, so the Help Without Frontiers team bought them and we delivered them when we were there.

There are two volunteers at the school at the moment- an American and a Dutch man, who has been there for quite some time. The ESC team has built a hydropower plant, so they can sell the electricity to the houses in the area and make a little money for the school. They explained to me that sometimes a water snake gets caught in the system and blocks it, then there is no electricity! They told us that they would now like to start a small library at the school. It would be a way for the people there to learn more about the world, improve their English and just have something to do, as entertainment options at the camp are virtually nonexistent. One of the teachers speaks German, as he attended a course in Burma and even worked as a guide for tourists there, and another girl speaks Italian. They would both like to keep up their language skills, so we promised to get some books for them too.

In many refugee camps, and also at Nupo, there is a resettlement programme organised by international aid agencies, where every year a certain number of refugees are given the chance to go and live in America, Australia or some Scandinavian countries. Of course many of them apply for this resettlement programme as it’s a chance for a new life. But these countries are so alien to them, that they really need all the preparation they can get before going there. This is another way that books can help here. Maybe someone has some ideas for how to get cheap or free books in Thailand?

When it was time to leave, everyone walked us to the road and waved goodbye as we drove away. I had mixed feelings in my heart. I felt sad and at the same time lucky that I was driving off in my air-conditioned car to my hot shower and comfy bed, and they all had to stay there. I felt humbled that these people were able to achieve so much with so little and that even though they were trapped in this awful situation, they still managed to think positively and to make the best of things. The school has decided that the 6th of November (the day Hugh left us) will be a school holiday. They will be having a big celebration on that day.

And now to the most important point. I would very much like to continue what Hugh started at the ESC school. Hughs family are now also involved in helping the school. And I thought that maybe some of you might like to help too. Even a little money can go a long way over there, because the costs are a lot lower than in Europe. The donations go through Help Without Frontiers, as an organisation that I know and trust and 100% of donations for the ESC school are given to the school. It is necessary to go through an NGO for varous reasons, mainly because in this way we can be sure that the money ends up in the right place, but also it’s only through them that we can help ESC, because they are based in the area and have easier access to the camps, so can deliver supplies and money. The money is used for the running costs of the school, teachers salaries, stationery, books, building material and anything else they might need.

If you have any further questions, Karolina would be happy to hear from you at: karolina.gacke@wp.pl