| [00:00.10] |
From VOA Learning English, |
| [00:02.10] |
this is the Education Report. |
| [00:05.08] |
Burma also known as Myanmar, |
| [00:07.88] |
is one of the poorest countries in the world. |
| [00:11.46] |
United Nations says people there |
| [00:13.80] |
earn an average of about $460 a year. |
| [00:18.03] |
For more than twenty years, |
| [00:20.27] |
the military ruled the country |
| [00:22.37] |
leading to international economic sanctions. |
| [00:26.40] |
The country now has an elected government |
| [00:28.99] |
and international aid has begun to arrive, |
| [00:32.77] |
but there are few resources for education |
| [00:35.87] |
in rural villages. |
| [00:37.86] |
Bob Cornwell and the group called |
| [00:40.45] |
Build a School in Burma are trying to change that. |
| [00:45.07] |
Three years ago, |
| [00:46.62] |
he was a financial advisor to several foreign government. |
| [00:50.96] |
Today, he is building schools in Burma. |
| [00:54.79] |
"We're really trying to help kids on the margin |
| [00:58.17] |
who wouldn't otherwise get an education, |
| [00:59.92] |
and kids not having an education is just a recipe |
| [01:03.61] |
for every kind of personal disaster." |
| [01:06.60] |
He met some of those children in 2010. |
| [01:10.44] |
He and a friend were travelling from village to village |
| [01:14.18] |
in the northwestern province of Burma. |
| [01:17.22] |
"None of these villages had electricity. |
| [01:19.66] |
Many of them are not really accessible even by road. |
| [01:22.30] |
And lots of kids. |
| [01:24.60] |
Maybe like five on average per family. No school." |
| [01:28.61] |
Bob Cornwell returned to his home in California. |
| [01:32.84] |
Back home, he learned that the cost of |
| [01:35.48] |
building a primary school in Burma was just $15,000 to $20,000. |
| [01:43.30] |
So he sold his interest in the financial consulting company |
| [01:47.08] |
that he had started 25 years earlier, and returned to Burma. |
| [01:52.22] |
He looked for villages that would give land |
| [01:55.35] |
and construction help in exchange for school. |
| [01:59.00] |
Rick Heizman, an expert on Burmese music volunteers to help. |
| [02:05.37] |
He had been working on humanitarian |
| [02:08.52] |
and education projects in Burma for more than twenty years. |
| [02:13.74] |
(Music) |
| [02:27.03] |
Rick Heizman is married to a well-known Burmese harpist Su Wei. |
| [02:32.21] |
They live in San Francisco, California. |
| [02:35.37] |
But they return to Burma often to visit the school projects. |
| [02:39.70] |
Su Wei says the children are excited to learn to read and write, |
| [02:44.78] |
and she says their parents are happy that their children |
| [02:48.13] |
can getting an education without having to leave their village. |
| [02:52.72] |
"You know, The school is inside their village, nearby, |
| [02:56.40] |
so, at least, they don't have to worry about taking the kids |
| [02:59.89] |
to the school in faraway places. You know like that." |
| [03:03.09] |
Build a School in Burma has built two schools, |
| [03:06.47] |
and a third one is almost completed. |
| [03:10.04] |
In June, construction or renovation began on two more. |
| [03:15.03] |
Bob Cornwell says the group works with community leaders. |
| [03:19.32] |
"They have a very good connection to the local people. |
| [03:23.10] |
They understand what the needs are. |
| [03:25.24] |
So having someone who really understands the local situation is crucial. |
| [03:30.53] |
They are underground there all the time, |
| [03:32.33] |
so we really focused on those groups." |
| [03:34.92] |
Bob Cornwell is applying for grants and asking for donations, |
| [03:40.53] |
so he can build more schools. |
| [03:42.53] |
He says spending his retirement years this way |
| [03:46.12] |
has made him happier than he ever imagined he would be. |
| [03:50.15] |
And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English, |
| [03:55.12] |
I'm Jerilyn Watson. |
