Zaw Ti Kar Yar Ma school is a monastic school in a remote village in Sagaing Division, an arduous four hour drive from Mandalay. The existing school was built by the villagers and all the buildings of temporary materials like bamboo and thatch. This is a very poor region of Myanmar and opportunities for education are very limited.
A former student of BSB's executive director Robert Cornwell named Maung Pone did his service learning at this school and brought the need for new school infrastructure to BSB's attention. He also assisted in writing the grant proposal.
BSB worked with theZaw Ti Kar Yar Ma monastery and the school committee to build a new four room permanent brick structure. The project also includes a water well and a rooftop solar electricity system to power lights for night study and mobile devices. The new school allows expansion to a middle school, so local children can study longer near home and do not have to move away to continue to middle school.
Construction began in early 2020, and was completed in November 2020. Playground equipment will be installed before the next school term begins. The new school building (including playground equipment) was made possible by donations from Casey and Jack Carsten.