Kids helping kids

Burma Emergency Appeal

Supporting Burmese Students Back to School in the wake of Cyclone Nargis

Cyclone Nargis hit the Eastern Irrawaddy Delta in Burma in May of 2008. In the aftermath, SchoolAid formed a partnership with internationally respected development agency, Save the Children, to deliver specially designed school kits for Burmese children to restart their education. Schools Australia-wide raised funds for the delivery of these kits directly to kids affected by the cyclone.

Over 100 Messages of Hope were received for the Burmese students, from schools all around Australia. Click here to read some of these heartfelt messages.

Research showed that in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, access to education could help protect children from harm, such as imparting critical lifesaving information on simple hygiene and health issues that emerged as a result of the emergency. Accessing education can also reduce the effects of the stress children may experience following the disaster, offering children a sense of normality and structure. Additionally, the sooner children are able to resume school following a disaster, the more likely they are to remain in the education system for the long term.

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The Burma Emergency Appeal is now closed

31 December 2008

Congratulations to all Aussie schools who created Messages of Hope and raised funds! The incredible progress of the Australian school community who created messages of solidarity and support and raised funds for the purchase of school kits to help Burmese students back to school are celebrated and acknowledged.

Together, you enabled the purchase of 241 school kits!

Each school kit caters for 50 students, so you helped over 12,074 Burmese students to return to school.

SchoolAid was ranked as Save the Children's 2nd highest corporate/private donor for the Burma Appeal - an outstanding contribution by the Australian school community.

Real Life Story

Right: Min Min, 6, in his new house in Kuyangon Township. His home was rebuilt with bamboo and building material from the old house that was destroyed by Cyclone Nargis.

(Photo: Save the Children)

Save the Children

Save the Children has been fighting for children's rights since 1919, working in over 100 countries. They are the world's largest independent child rights organisation, creating real and lasting change for children in need in Australia and around the world.


Messages from Australian schools being read aloud in a classroom in Burma (Photo: Save the Children)	Burmese students holding their new school kits in preparation for the beginning of the new school year on July 1 (Photo: Save the Children)	Burmese school students back in school on July 1 (Photo: Save the Children)

Monks lend a helping hand in delivering school kits to students in Burma to start the new school year (Photo: Save the Children)	Children back in class in Burma, in a temporary school of bamboo and plastic. (Photo: Save the Children)	Students line up in a school in Burma to receive their new school kits (Photo: Save the Children)

Some of the contents of the school kits being delivered to students in the Eastern Irrawaddy Delta (Photo: Save the Children)	A Save the Children staff member presents school kits to Burmese students at the start of their new school year (Photo: Save the Children)	A man fishes near a broken wharf, damaged by Cycone Nargis (Photo: Getty Images)

Lining up for drinking water, Yangon (Photo: Will Baxter World Picture Network)	Upturned tree in Yangon (Photos: Reuters)	Children at a temporary shelter for displaced families in Dedaye Township (Photo: AFP)

Families take refuge in a school building after losing their homes to Cyclone Nargis in Hlaing Thayar Township, Yangon (Photo: AFP)	Devastated Irrawaddy Delta region (Photo: AFP)