Raise Awareness on the Privilege that is Education
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When I grow up

The film produced to celebrate the 60th-anniversary of Children of the Mekong

From Myu Lat Awng a young 10-year-old Burmese boy living in a refugee camp, to Thookolo whose determination and hard work enabled her to leave her mountains in North Thailand to study in Bangkok, WHEN I GROW UP is the extraordinary adventure of 6 children in 6 different countries of Southeast Asia.

Through their stories, we at Children of the Mekong are trying to raise awareness of the daily lives and dreams of these children and the privilege that is education. WHEN I GROW UP is the testimony of these children, full of hope for the future and with a great desire to end the circle of poverty they were born in, despite the challenges they face every day. Rather than focusing on the difficulties, we are trying to highlight the successes of each child and how a little help can go a long way. So while turning 60 is certainly worth celebrating, we do not wish to turn attention on ourselves but on the children who have so little and who deserve so much more. The need keeps growing and so does our resolve in helping them turn their dreams into reality.

WHEN I GROW UP is the extraordinary adventure of 6 children in 6 different countries of Southeast Asia and is meant to raise awareness of the daily lives and dreams of these children and the privilege that is education. So while turning 60 is certainly worth celebrating, we do not wish to turn attention on ourselves but on the children who have so little and who deserve so much more. The need keeps growing and so does our resolve in helping them turn their dreams into reality.
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The making of the film has been just as incredible as the lives of the children it is filming and we thank Jill Coulon, an award-nominated documentary and TV director, and Yaël Naïm and David Donatien, award-winning singer and songwriter, who respectively directed and created the music for the film and Garvin, our marvellous volunteer who translated the film into English.

Watch the film 'WHEN I GROW UP'!

We invite you to download our booklet ‘Behind the lens’ to learn more about Phout, Thookolo, Prin, Juliet, Pagna, and Myu Lat Awng as well as the communities we work with and the fantastic team behind the movie.

Download the document

The film WHEN I GROW UP has been shown to many school-age children (from 10 years old) and is a great tool to raise awareness about how lucky children are to go to school. As one student said it “While we sometimes don’t want to go to school, somewhere across the globe they are dreaming of it. It really puts things back into perspective!”

Be in touch with us if you want to organise a screening in your school.

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