The Team for Transition

In November 2013, World Education

(WE) sat down with the Wide Horizons
(WH) coordinator and teachers in a
tight circle in the coordinators
bamboo hut for the regular weekly
meeting to discuss school business,
community projects, and that
perfunctory category: Any other
Business. At that point, the meeting
became anything but regular, as the
WE staff member revealed that WH
would no longer have funding at the
end of November 2014 - a $20,000
cut for the 2014-2015 school year.

Since WH was founded in 2006, the WH team had rarely thought about the funding required to
operate the school. The coordinator, Too Mai noted, We never did fundraising in the past
because we never had to. We could get everything from World Education. The funding
shortage came as a shock, but the team was not dismayed. Within the next ten minutes they
were brainstorming ways to reduce costs and raise money for the school.

The staff quickly put the students to task, as well. The next day, Kristian, the English instructor
had the students summon their storytelling and summarizing skills to write short updates for a
new Facebook page that Too Mai and the computer teacher, Aung Pyi Moe were creating to
promote the program. By the afternoon, Andrew, the Community Development Instructor, had
students thinking of ideas to cut costs and raise money. The students came up with all sorts of
ideas from starting an interpretation service, to growing a garden, and creating a small shop.

In no time at all, Wide Horizons was organizing a fundraising event and raffle. The students
designed raffle tickets that they mailed to their networks of alumni from Bangkok to Moulmein
to Shan refugee camp. While Andrew set up online donations for family and friends throughout
the world, Kristian took rounds of students to sell raffle tickets to every business and
organization in Mae Sot. When asked how they sold so many, one student answered: we
simply used the persuasive speaking skills that we were taught in class. The fundraising efforts
surpassed expectations, with students and staff selling $8,000 worth of raffle tickets and
bringing in direct contributions from donors in Thailand and abroad. In total, WH raised
$21,172, more than enough to cover the remaining operating costs needed for the 2014-15
academic year.

The WH Team- ready for the challenges of the future
The fundraiser was just one of the many ways that the WH staff came together as a team to
strengthen the program. When the school flooded in July 2013, the WH team pulled together to
organize the students to move quickly to get all of the computers, books, and themselves to dry
ground. When the curriculum called for a lesson on sustainable development, the WH team
organized a trip for the students to travel to Border Green Energy Teams sustainable village in
Noh Boh, two hours away. In order to continue promoting their project, the WH team has
independently facilitated presentations for numerous visitors and potential donors this year,
including Thai-Japan Education Development Foundation, Childs Dream, Global Neighbors,
UNESCO, and the IRC President.

Sometimes the students worry that the end of PLE funding will mean an end to education
opportunities for the next generation, but with every challenge, the WH team has found a way
to turn it into a learning opportunity. As Kristian noted, Its a good opportunity for us to grow
as a project. As our students like to say, It is time for us to stand on our own two feet.


Building Independence while Increasing Value for Students & Communities