[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.