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this page Newsletters - The International Year of the Family
Myanmar
Proverbs 22:6
Teach a child how she/he should live, and she/he will remember it all her/his life.
Some time ago, life was easy for people of Myanmar when caring for each other. Parents were not worried about leaving their children alone, knowing that their neighbours would be with them until they came back. The interesting part of past life was our grandparents or our parents spending time with children telling stories. The stories were about the Bible and moral teaching. I believe the positive part of this story-telling was to build up the relationship between children and parents. It also taught children about what is happening around them and was a strong foundation of the growth of every child to be an independent person.
It was an interesting and simple life. In summer, especially at night because of the hot weather, the children from each family went out and played traditional games. If we were tired, we went to somebody's house and listened to the stories. A few years later, we had cassettes and later still, television became a centre of attraction to everyone - children and parents.
In that time, only fathers worked away from home and mothers looked after the children. Mostly, families stayed and ate together every mealtime. However, nowadays both parents are working outside. The reasons are the improving of technology and living standards and also women are becoming educated.
Sometimes, mothers or fathers went away for two or three years. Some children did not see their fathers till two or three years of age. Somehow, the children learn to be independent and self-confident.
Nevertheless, the children are now not enjoying the story-telling (we don't have oral culture any more) because of the technology such as children's movies (Power Ranger, Superman, TV games, cartoons). Moreover, there are many children's playgrounds, swimming pools, and games. Somehow, children are becoming very sharp and active but they are facing some dangers. For example, one boy was trying to imitate Superman: he was riding a bicycle and descending the stairs and fell down badly.
In my Christian Education area, that was a big challenge for us. What are the children's needs and how should the church school relate to those needs?
When I was young, my Sunday school teacher taught us Bible stories and gave us pictures for colouring. We were very happy to get these pictures. However, the children nowadays are not the same because of their surroundings. We have to nurture them and meet the needs of the children in the Sunday School and also at home, with parents and children co-operating. For instance, we should give them different exercises such as puzzles, crosswords, maps and so on for their enjoyment and improvement.
The children's VCD organised by the Christian Education department, was produced for the very first time in Anglican Myanmar as one of the teaching methods in the new ways. Children can learn the Christian ethics but also patriotism by singing and dancing from these songs.
In this VCD which includes 16 songs, about 380 children participated. Some are from the Outstanding Children camp and some are in Sunday School at Yangon churches. (Outstanding Children are those selected for being active and clever in their diocesan camps.) Some children are orphans from Orphanage in Mandalay diocese and some are in Deaf school in Yangon. Some of the children are healthy and some are unhealthy; some are rich and some are orphans; some children are clever and some are ordinary, but they are all happy in their camps, their school and their lives. God loves them and so they all are equal as God's children.
It is important there are links between the Church School teachers and parents in the home because Christian education is more than Church School. Both the home and the school are working with the most valuable objects on Earth, so that the children can find the same attitudes as God's children.
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