At a glance: Myanmar

Real lives

A better start for Myanmar’s poorest children

Mya Thidar Aung was born in prison while her mother served a sentence for petty crime. Fortunately, her mother was released from jail six days after she was born. However, her mother’s time in prison had already taken its toll on Mya’s health: she was born underweight due to her mother’s poor prison diet, while the unhygienic conditions in jail left both mother and daughter covered in scabies.

Three years later, Mya Thidar Aung was still covered with scabies, undernourished and filthily clad when her mother brought her to the Barma Aye nursery school located within the State High School 15 in Dawbon township, near Yangon, the capital of Myanmar. She was sullen, quiet and withdrawn. But six months later, it is difficult to believe that this is the same child. Now Mya Thidar Aung has gained weight and she comes to the nursery school clean and neatly dressed. The scabies is gone and Mya Thidar Aung plays happily with the other children.

Hers is only one of the many success stories from the UNICEF-supported pilot integrated early childhood care and development (ECCD) networking project in Myanmar. ECCD is a new concept in Myanmar. Traditionally, children are brought up by their parents or relatives who have little knowledge about how to stimulate their intellectual or emotional development. Parents tend to focus on their children’s physical development. Children from poor families are more severely affected as they are usually left by their parents in the care of other siblings or simply left unattended while the parents work.

UNICEF and Pyinnya Tazaung, a national non-governmental organization (NGO), collaborate with the Department of Education to provide early childhood care and development activities for 50 of the most deprived children in a pilot catchment area near Yangon. Two teachers were trained in ECCD to provide psycho-social stimulation for children using play and interaction with other children. Every day, the children receive a nutritious meal of 500 calories as supplementary feeding and a daily dose of vitamin A. In addition, children are de-wormed every six months and are taught about basic hygiene and sanitation. Support groups have been set up to teach parents about the basics of hygiene and sanitation and the importance of play and stimulation for their children.

Maung Thura was three months old when his father died in a car accident. Shortly afterwards, his mother was arrested by the police and sent to jail. His grandmother took him in while his big sister, a year older, was sent to live with an aunt in Shwepyithar township. Though she had brought up children of her own, the grandmother did not know anything about early childhood development. She often left the baby alone at home while she went to work. Sometimes she would feed the baby a little gruel when he cried.

When Maung Thura was brought to the ECCD Centre in State Primary School 36 in Hlaingtharya township, his head and upper body were unusually large while his lower body was emaciated, which are clear signs of acute malnutrition. He could not stand, walk or talk, even though he was already two years old. Under the loving care of Daw Sein Sein (one of the trained teachers), who de-wormed him and fed him nutritious food, Maung Thura began to show marked physical improvements. At the ECCD centre, Maung Thura’s interaction with other children has helped him come out of his shell. He has begun to talk and started calling his caregiver ‘Mummy’. Daw Sein Sein really felt like a proud mother when, after a couple of months, Maung Thura took his first steps. Now, two years and nine months old, Maung Thura is growing up in a healthy and stimulating environment.

Maung Thura’s own mother was released from jail recently and was grateful for the care that her child had been given. Her release means that she can now participate as a parent in the ECCD programme, learning how best to care for her child in the freedom of her own home.