BODIES swaying, the 31 children happily recite the poem in a small room of a building in Pazundaung township. The thanakha on their faces is running with sweat from the heat of the day.

After reciting the poem, the children will learn about the Buddha and his teachings. For example, they are told they will go to hell if they steal from others.

Then, meditation class. “It takes only three seconds between breaths in and out, record it in your mind. When you’ve finished, share your good wishes with others,” Daw Tin Hlaing instructs the children.

“Don’t bend at the waist, sit straight up. Ko Oo, my son, do you hear me?” she addresses one child.

Before lunch, the children pay homage to Buddha.

“It wasn’t easy holding their attention at first, since they came from various backgrounds,” says Daw Tin Hlaing, supervisor of the Ratana Metta Day Care Centre, which is run by the Ratana Metta Organisation, a Buddhist group that focuses on working with people living with HIV.

“But now they have come to understand our goodwill. They have become much more clever and obedient children over the past four months,” she says.
They call them the Ratana Metta Children. Their parents can’t afford to send them to school.

“But the children get money by collecting things that can be recycled from garbage, such as bottles, paper, pieces of metal and so on around the city” she says.

“There are 40 children. Now some of them are going on to school for registration,” says Daw Thida Aye, a volunteer at the centre.

“We specialise in teaching by the Buddhist method as we are a Buddhist group,” she says. The instruction includes Myanmar, English and mathematics.

“When we asked them what we should do if they do not obey our discipline, they said we should beat them. But instead of doing this, we use the prize system,” she says. Disobedient children have their marks reduced.
“If they got more than 40 marks, we give them a prize,” she says.

Ratanna Metta opened the day-care centre last January in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

“We know there are lots of children who want to come here. Because here they can learn, they can watch television and they are happy here. But we don’t have enough room to accept more children,” Daw Tin Hlaing says.

The children come to the centre at 9am, piling up the bags containing things they’ve collected from the streets. Their daily activities included learning, watching television, having lunch, playing games and meditation. At the end of the day, 4pm, they take their bags back and go home.

“They come from Htamalone in Thanlyin township, Waso in Thaketa township and South Dagon township,” Daw Tin Hlaing says.

“I came here together with my two younger siblings. I attended school up to grade five. My parents don’t scold me if I’m absent collecting things and can’t find money,” says Ma Chaw Su, who is aged about 14. She says she can find recyclables worth K1500 to K2000 a day. “If I attend this care centre, sometimes I go home directly in the evening without looking for any more things,” she says, adding that she wants to continue her education if possible.
Mg Zarni Oo, 13, wants to be a mechanic “to get more money”.

“I went to school as far as grade three. But now I can’t remember my lessons. So I started again from grade one,” he says.

“If these children are neglected, their future will not be good,” says U Myint Swe, president of Ratana Metta. “So we guide their future life path by teaching and trying to prepare them for a normal career.”