American Lisa Nesser Gives Free Education to Stateless Children from Burma

24 February 2010

Lisa Nesser in her school in Chiang Mai, Thailand

American Lisa Nesser moved to northern Thailand six years ago to help refugees from Burma. Lisa discovered many minority children from Burma were unable to attend regular schools in Thailand so she started giving the children free evening classes and her small group of students soon grew into a unique school. As we hear from VOA's Daniel Schearf, Nesser is making a difference in the city of Chiang Mai through her school - Thai Freedom House.

Lisa Nesser chops watermelon slices in the kitchen of a traditional Thai-style wooden house. The fruit is for about 15 stateless children from Burma who are sitting on the floor, having their evening English class.

Nesser says she never planned to open a school for stateless children from Burma. But when she saw children late at night on the streets of Chiang Mai who had no access to education, she decided to teach them herself.

Word spread about the free classes. And as more students showed up, Nesser enlisted volunteers, hired a small bus and used her own money to turn her house into a school.

"So I was really trying to get them into regular schools," said Lisa Nesser. "And they just wouldn't take them, even when I offered to sponsor fees."

Most of Lisa Nesser's students are children of migrant workers from Shan state in Burma. They do not have Thai citizenship or language skills - making it difficult for them to enroll in Thai schools.