Thawka Myoun Monastery School

Here in a remote village in Mon State, Myanmar, the good monk U Oketara Thara runs a boarding school for 340 kids. Needless to say, funding is a problem.

After several discussions with the monk and his village committee leaders they submitted a social enterprise proposal to purchase a truck. Their initial idea with this truck was to use it a transport vehicle to take visitors to and from the local shrine located high on a nearby mountaintop, and to also use it as a shuttle to take shoppers from the village to the nearest town. Their business plan looked good and we funded a truck for them in late 2018.

Timing was not good for their new business. With extremely bad weather and months of heavy flooding they were off to a slow start. They made money, but not at the expected level. Meanwhile, competition for the services they were offering became intense. So, the village committee, working with the monk and local government ministers, was able to secure a lucrative contract transporting gasoline to a very large local mining operation. That is their new business focus. It looks highly promising.

Meanwhile, we have funded four-year university scholarships for two of the girls living there at the Thawka Myoun monastery school. In keeping with our scholarship program, they have both committed to 2,000 hours of volunteer time teaching the secondary and high-school kids while they are attending university and afterwards. They are excited for the opportunity of further study, and the monk is happy to have two more teachers.

The truck is helping U Oketara Thara and the village committee with a significant portion of their operating expenses, but a gap remains. Should you be interested in supporting this wonderful monk and his school you may go here. Just mark your donation for the Thawka Myoun Monastery School and we’ll see that it gets to them in a timely manner.