BUILD A SCHOOL IN BURMA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2015
Contact (BSB):
JOYCE MCKINNEY
415-513-3109
Contact (BOOMERANG):
AYE MOAH
(530) 378-4257
Boomerang, the cross-platform email and productivity solution, and Build A School In Burma (BSB) announced today that Boomerang has committed $25,000 to fund BSB’s 17th school in Myanmar, the country also known as Burma.
Modern schools can be transformative in small Myanmar villages. A well-built school becomes a multi-purpose facility, bringing the community together for meetings, mass immunizations, festivals, and other events. The ability to educate its children becomes a source of pride and an incentive for greater improvements.
Pwe Hnyet San village (total population about 600), located more than four hours by car from Yangon, has 100 primary school-age children but no school. The villagers, who are primarily ethnic Karen, rely on rice and betel nut cultivation along with irregular domestic work in a nearby town for their subsistence. The children who attend school must walk some miles and cross a stream to a neighboring village. The stream is impassable in the rainy season, making it impossible for the kids to get to school. Building a village school has been a long-sought, but elusive goal.
Through collaboration between Build A School In Burma and Boomerang, Pwe Hnyet San students will have a brand new primary school in their own village. The 1800-square-foot reinforced concrete building will have three classrooms and a corridor. The land, on high ground and thus protected from flooding, was donated. The project also includes two separate toilets, one tube-well and a rainwater collection tank.
As Myanmar transitions from decades of military dictatorship to a form of representative democracy, education will be key to economic development and political stability. The average adult in Myanmar has only about four years of formal education. Ranking 148th of 187 countries on the United National Human Development Index, annual per capita income is about $1,200 and eighty percent of homes lack electricity. A large rural population of subsistence farmers, poor intraregional transportation, and roads made impassable by extreme weather combine to severely limit many Burmese children’s access to education.
“We wanted to build a company that included charitable donations as part of its DNA, and we take great pride in being able to help others achieve an education that can lead to a brighter future,” said Aye Moah, a co-founder and Chief of Product of Boomerang and a native of Myanmar. In keeping with that commitment, the Pwe Hnyet San School will be the third nonprofit education program that Boomerang has supported in Myanmar.
About Boomerang
Boomerang is a market-leading productivity company helping millions of customers focus on email that matters, when it matters. Its most well known product, Boomerang, is available on major email platforms like Gmail, Google Apps and Microsoft Outlook. Other key products include Boomerang Calendar, an email-based calendar assistant revolutionizing the way meetings are scheduled, and Inbox Pause, which puts new messages on hold. To learn more, please visit: www.boomerangapp.com.
About Build A School in Burma (BSB)
Founded in 2010 by Robert Cornwell and Andrew Lederer, Build A School In Burma is a nonprofit organization based in the Bay Area. To date, BSB has provided the funding for 15 schools, with the 16th set to open in June 2016. As a completely volunteer organization, 100% of donated funds go to build schools. Early on, BSB determined that every project had to meet the following criteria: 1) need, 2) benefit, 3) community involvement, 4) sustainability, 5) active participation of a local partner and 6) fundable cost.
BSB partners with One World Children’s Fund for fundraising and fiscal management.
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