The Marist Centre in Ranong was blessed and opened in June 2013 by Bishop Joseph Prathan of the Sura Thani Diocese supported by two Bishops from Myanmar.

The Blessing and Opening was celebrated with prayer, dancing and singing and performances by Marist Mission Ranong Students.

The Ceremony was also attended by Fr Pat Devlin, the Marist Superior of Thailand-Philippines District, by Fr Kevin Stewart, with Geoff Henry, from the Marist Mission Centre Australia,  3 Thai priests and 3 Burmese priests, the Catholic network organizations, the catholic community in Ranong, friends from Singapore, and the Marist Brothers (FMS) from Bangkok.

Fr Jimmy McElroy and Irish students from St. Mary’s College in Dundalk, Ireland were also present during the ceremony.

The whole Marist Team now enjoy working together in one Centre and providing Education, Health and Migrant Support Programmes daily to hundreds of Burmese Migrants and their families.

Students from the Marist Secondary School Dundalk, Ireland have been making the journey to Ranong, Southern Thailand for the past 3 years to discover a little about what life on a misson is like.

Each year the students take part in Summer camps organised in a Thai school but attended by Burmese migrants also. Here they teach English to local Thai and Burmese students, do activities and generally get to know the children.

Fr. Jimmy McElroy is the longstanding link between these two communities facilitating the trip each year with teacher Michelle Dullaghan on hand to keep things running smoothly.

This year they even had a cameraman with Michelles’ husband Wayne Doherty coming along to discover what is it that keeps Michelle coming back!

This year’s group of 8 students came ready to take on the challenge of teaching. They had the lessons prepared and were even armed with hurleys and footballs – GAA has reached Ranong! Watch out Co. Louth there could be a few new players coming your way soon.

The entire trip provides exposure to many new and varied experiences for the visiting students; from arrival in Bangkok navigating the Skytrain to the Buddhist Temples and Grand Palace to arriving in the tropical and more traditional town of Ranong.

On Saturday they crossed the border to Myanmar by boat, visiting the charming but chaotic town of Kawthung.

Fr. Gregory was tour guide in his mighty minibus taking on the hairpin bends to the fabulous viewpoint before a very tasty lunch at the kindergarten, a visit the Sisters from Our Lady of the Misson and a quick spin around the local area and a chance to pick up some souvenirs before hopping onto our boats for the choppy crossing back to Thailand.

The rest of the week was a blur of classes and activities with 3 full days in Eakasin Thai School teaching the English Camps. They covered many topics like the weather, directions, sports and hobbies and put their new words into practice with classic games like “stuck in the mud” and ” Simon Says”.

The week finished up with a day in the MMR centre.

Some of the students spent the morning teaching about life in Ireland and getting taught about life in Myanmar and Ranong in return.

Meanwhile the girls accompanied the health team on their home visits and met a few of the many HIV AIDs patients in the community.

In the afternoon everyone hit the sports field trialing the new equipment – putting the theme of “fun and friendship” into action.

The day wrapped up with a talk from the director of the health program at MMR, Kirsten Sloan, about the work the program does providing care and education for those with HIV AIDs.

After a well deserved day off – the group hit the road for the journey back to Ireland taking with them great memories, new friends and the knowledge they have made a difference.

Every year 150,000 Burmese migrants flood the border into Thailand and the majority of these come to Ranong to work in the fishing industry and factories.

The work is repetitive but demanding, non-exploitive jobs are hard to come by.

Migrants, generally without work permits, can work for up to 12hrs a day in cramped, dark and stinking conditions for up to 20 hours a day on trawlers, returning home only every few months.

In these conditions, education is a leg up.

Burmese learning centres offer a primary level education to the migrant children, providing basic literacy and numeracy skills.

Secondary education is limited to those accepted to Thai schools and whose parents can afford to let them study.

HIV is a massive problem in Ranong, money is needed to pay for ARV and other related medical expenses as well as basic living expenses.

Some Marist Mission Ranong students have now finished school and have been inspired to serve and become ‘teachers’ for these children. They are participants or graduates of the online diploma class run at the Marist Centre in Ranong.

Sunday 23rd June Marks World Day of Prayer for Refugees and Migrants.

2nd Burmese Youth Camp at Marist Prayer House

In March 2013, ‘The Future Group”  Youth Leaders had a weekend camp at the Marist Community Prayer House on the edge of Ranong.

Over a weekend the Youth Leaders were helped to reflect on their lives, appreciate their Burmese Culture and the traditions of their different ethnic groups. Identifying what they were passionate about, how to set goals and develop a hope and plan for their future were some of the workshops and topics discussed together.

One of the leaders summarised the reflection of the group as they recognised how Burmese Culture influences their lives and plans for their future.

‘In Burmese culture, parents decide for everything for their children and we, as children, are not allowed to share our ideas and say no to parents decisions. But we have come to recognise from our learning that we are able to think about our own future and have the courage to share this within our family. Bit by bit our parents may understand us and we can negotiate with our parents.”

A number of the Leaders have a hope and dream to study the University Online Learning Programme offered at Marist Mission Ranong. One of the group shared that  “I just don’t think about studying for myself anymore but I’m now thinking to help my own family and community with my work.”

The strong bonds of friendship have been growing with these leaders and a camp together helped them share and listen more deeply to each other.

In one exercise the leaders recognised that a common experience and desire was to help Burmese Migrant Children who were not able to go to schools.

One of the great experiences the Leaders enjoyed was sitting around  the bonfire on the cold windy night and sharing in trust with their friends and Group Leaders the blocks and struggles they experienced in achieving their goals.