By Kantarawaddy Times
Residents of Pon Chaung Village, located in Somo Pray Soe Leh Township (locally known as Shan Daw Township) in Karenni State, are urgently seeking support to repair their village school, which was severely damaged by flooding in September 2024. The school was submerged following heavy monsoon rains, rendering it unusable for the upcoming academic year unless critical repairs are carried out.
The community currently faces significant challenges in clearing sediment and debris from the school premises and undertaking essential restoration work.
“We’ll have to postpone rebuilding facilities like toilets for now. We know we won’t be able to restore everything to how it was before. There’s still a lot of cleaning needed in the classrooms. They often call for volunteer labor every week, but with planting season approaching, it’s going to be harder to rely on volunteers,” explained the village head of Pon Chaung.
The previous flooding not only damaged the school but also destroyed the village health clinic and submerged over 20 homes. Farmlands and crops were also lost, leaving some families struggling to meet basic needs such as food and shelter.
Amid these ongoing hardships, mobilizing resources to rehabilitate the school has become an overwhelming challenge for the community.
Pon Chaung Village is home to over 60 households. The local school provides education from kindergarten to Grade 4. In the previous academic year, 40 students were taught by three teachers.
