For many Singaporeans, Myanmar is a lesser-known ASEAN country compared to its cousins Thailand and Vietnam. Even fewer folks would actually care enough about that country to set up a charity group to help the displaced migrant workers who had fled the country mired in decades-long political unrest.

Many of the refugees are now considered migrant workers living in the border provinces of Thailand. To this day, they continue to endure hardship and face obstacles from the locals; and they remain vulnerable as long as they are unable to receive fair and adequate earnings.

In 2010, a few FASS students along with their friends from other universities came together to form a voluntary group called Barré to support the education of the children in the refugee families. By doing so, they hope to lift the children and their families out of the poverty cycle and secure better and safer lives for themselves.

Barré also want to raise awareness about the refugees among “global citizens” and make them become more sympathetic to “communities that are less fortunate” and to encourage and inspire others to give the same opportunities of education they enjoy to the refugee children.

Barré’s founder and second year Southeast Asian Studies major Rachel Nadia Goh and her friends started with the idea to help children in need. After scouting around for the right charity to support, they decided to partner the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) to help the refugees in Ranong, a southern province on the Myanmar-Thai border.

Barré’s efforts have been remarkable so far—the full-time students held three events over the past two years and  raised close to ten thousand Singapore dollars for their cause. Through JRS, the money went towards the refugee children’s tertiary and vocational education in the form of scholarships.

When asked what motivated her to form the voluntary group, Rachel said it was her faith and education at CHIJ (Toa Payoh) as well as the sense of meaning she derived from helping the less fortunate. Another committee member of Barre in her third year majoring in Social Work Cherlynn Ang shared the same sentiment and said, “It is our common belief in helping the children that brought us together.” The other two FASS students in the group are third year Sociology major Charmaine Chew and second year student Trini Tan.

Rachel hopes that more fellow students would come forward and join her in Barre.

“It is more meaningful to do something to help others and not just spend all your time studying,” she said.

 

Photo courtesy of Rachel Nadia Goh. For more information on Barré, visit their website at www.barregroup.org.