A story published at Bamboo Delight Magazine
Minn Myoh Minn Oo
The Bamboo Delight Summer School project was started in 2013 together with Bamboo Delight Library.
Sue said, “I dreamed of opening this school. From the beginning, I wanted to share something knowledgeable to the kids who come to my home and do something for their happiness. I’ve had those ideas since 20 years ago when my parents were alive. After my parents passed away, I got a chance to start a business. When I thought of the name for the business, I told a foreigner to choose one concerning ‘bamboo’ as I am so crazy about bamboo. So she helped me chose the name ,‘Bamboo Delight’. It was a guest from France who chose this name for me.”
“At first, I didn’t know the meaning of that name. Later when I realized, I liked it even more. The nickname my father gave me when I was young was ‘bamboo princess’. So, I started the Bamboo Delight Cooking Class on 3rd March, 2013 in Nyaung Shwe. The first customer was the French lady who chose the name for me. She asked me if I could reserve 15% of my income for charity. If I could do so, she told me she could help me with the rest. So, I decided to start a charity which would support the education of the children.”
Children learning and reading at Sue's living room because Sue could not afford to provide a classroom
“I chose educational support as I had memorable events with education. I started summer school. It was originally a place only with the kids from my neighborhood. They would come when they were happy and went back when they were not. So, it was not officially a school but a place to read and play. At that time, the foreigners who took cooking class saw the kids and they played with them and taught English to them before going back to their guest house after cooking class. Then, I asked them if they could spare some of their free time to teach English to the kids. They said ‘yes’ and I got the idea to open a summer school and started to teach English to the children during every summer.”
“ The teaching style was like the foreigners would come to the cooking class and they would bring some stationery and teach the children in their free time. Initially, it was about 15 kids who used to come play at my home. It was the beginning of Bamboo Delight Summer School. When it first started, there were no desk and stationery so the kids had to just sit on the floor and write on the books on the floor. Years and years later, in 2018, I got so much help and advice from foreigners so I built a school made of bamboo.”
Foreigners teaching English at Bamboo Delight Summer School
“Firstly, over 70 students were accepted. 2018 was a year which Bamboo Delight Summer School can be said to be official. Uniforms were supported. At that time, I could support the children very well because my business was going well and many foreigners came to the cooking class. Over 70 children in 2018 and over 200 in 2019 were accepted free of charge. With the help of the foreigners, I could post about the summer school on facebook and social media. Later, it became well-known from facebook and became successful”.
“In 2020, the summer school had to be stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the school was closed, some of the children still came to my house. We helped our neighborhood community during the pandemic by delivering food for the people in lockdown with funds from the school. Since the children were at my house, we resumed teaching with my eldest daughter ‘Shu Ma Nyee’. There were not so many kids and we kept it private because of the pandemic.”
Bamboo Delight Summer Youth Camp 2022
“However, in 2022, in the form of ‘Bamboo Delight Summer Youth Camp’, we resumed the Bamboo Delight activities and through the Camp, we started teaching English, music and social science subjects to the children which have never been taught here at Bamboo Delight and this kind of idea has always been my dream. There were many difficulties as we couldn’t get the fundings because of the pandemic and the political situation of the country. However, it was successful and I would like to give a huge thanks to the willingness and effort of me and the volunteer teachers and most importantly, towards all the donors during difficult times. We will be continuing Bamboo Delight Summer Youth Camp every year with more detailed and improved curriculums.”
Sue (Yee Yee Minn)
“Now I am really proud that Bamboo Delight Summer School has reached the 10th Anniversary, together with Bamboo Delight Library and Hand to Hand Charity on March 3, 2023. I promise to keep trying for the continuation of the Bamboo Delight Summer School.”