On 17 June 2018, the staff from the Rays of Youth programme organised, jointly with the Health and Child Protection teams of Help without Frontiers, an event called “Teenager Carnival”. The event was opened to students and teachers from Migrant Learning Centres as well as to the staff of Help without Frontiers and other NGOs. Over 400 people took part to the event organised in order to spread general knowledge on issues related to health as well as to raise awareness on the situation of children on the move along the Thai-Myanmar border. To this aim, various activities were organised in order to educate the participants about Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights as well as to inform on the mechanisms for ensuring that Child Protection policy is respected within migrant communities and yet to ensure safe migration of children, youth, and adults.
In the morning, following an opening ceremony, the participants were divided into three groups and rotated from one thematic booth to the other. As such, following the booth activities, children and youth acquired knowledge on three different topics: children on the move and safe migration; adolescent and reproductive health; and sexually transmitted infections, HIV and family planning.
In the afternoon, the youth participating to the Rays of Youth programme showed their talents through music, drama, and dance performances, greatly entertaining the audience. Young and passionate musicians, actors, and dancers did their best to convey messages on safe migration and child protection through their artistic performances. The students from 12 Migrant Learning Centres also had the chance to participate to a dance competition called “Gender Equality Talent Show”. Students from CDC conquered the jury and won the first prize while the students from New Road and Irrawaddy MLCs conquered, respectively, the silver and bronze medals and many rounds of applauses.
Awareness raising campaigns and events are pivotal to the peer to peer model of education. In such occasions, the youth leads their peers in discovering knowledge through participatory and child-friendly activities. As a result, children, youth, and adults have the chance to understand issues that they would otherwise not have the opportunity to face.
Help without Frontiers Thailand understands the crucial need for spreading knowledge on safe migration and health along the Thai-Myanmar border. Empowering migrant communities with knowledge and life skills is a key to ensuring they access better life opportunities and futures.
Do you want to understand more about how the Carnival looked like? Check out the video of the event.
