Xavier de Rochegonde: “The young people of Myanmar will shape a better future.”
“After my children returned from a year in Cambodia as “Bamboos”, a period of overseas volunteering, I was able to fully grasp just how serious, committed and life-changing the work of Children of the Mekong is for children from poor communities across the region.”
Xavier de Rochegonde.
A COMMITMENT BORN IN FRANCE
After my children came back from a year in Cambodia as “Bamboos”, I saw just how serious and vital the work of Children of the Mekong really is for children from poorer communities across the region.
As retirement approached, I naturally drifted towards Children of the Mekong. After a full family and professional life, I wanted to give something back. I started by helping with sponsorship files for Burmese children, then moved on to translating the letters between them and their sponsors.
Through that, I got to know their lives a little better. In their letters, they would quietly describe life under civil war, and how hard it is to think about the future in a country that has been torn apart for more than five years, with no real end in sight.
And yet, it was also clear what sponsorship meant to them.
Seeing all this first hand made a real impact on me. I felt very fortunate when Children of the Mekong invited me to go out to the region, at least to the areas we could reach. I went with a small group led by Anne, who runs the Myanmar programme and knows the country and its projects inside out. It brought together everything I had been reading with what life on the ground is actually like.
IN MYANMAR WITH CHILDREN OF THE MEKONG
Arriving in Yangon, I was once again struck by the feel of Asia, which I have always been drawn to. But what stayed with me most was meeting the young people supported by Children of the Mekong in Myanmar. It gave real meaning to why we were there.
Over the following days, we visited several sponsorship programmes. What stood out was the resilience of the children, the importance they attach to their sponsors, and the quiet dedication of the Sisters, priests and lay people who support them.
We were welcomed with real warmth: we shared meals, sang songs, watched dances, received small gifts. Nothing elaborate; just simple gestures offered with sincerity. Speaking with the older students, it was clear how much these moments meant to them, a quiet way of expressing their gratitude to those involved in Children of the Mekong.
LOCAL STAFF, THE UNSUNG HEROES OF EVERYDAY LIFE
Those who devote their lives to protecting and supporting these children left a strong impression on me.
Watching the way the children look at them, I became aware of something more than care alone, a quiet strength that seems to pass between them. It is never spoken of, but it is there. At the same time, it became clear just how urgent it is to reinforce support, with so many children now displaced, separated from their families by the political situation, the fear of forced conscription, or simple poverty.
On this trip with Children of the Mekong, I had expected to be expressing gratitude for what we had ourselves been given as children,
a solid education and the opportunities
that come with it. In the end, I found
myself on the receiving end of far more gratitude than I had anticipated.
I returned with my fellow travellers more convinced than ever that we need to keep providing the means for these children to study, and to continue supporting those who teach them. But I also came away with the sense that our presence, and the simple act of keeping in touch with the older students, plays a real part in helping them stay on course.
Above all, they need to be able to see beyond the uncertainty around them, to be encouraged to carry on, and to be reminded that through their education and effort they can build a better future for themselves and their communities.
“So they know we are always by their side.”
