Sakhantha Training School--located in Insein, a suburb of Rangoon--trains mostly young women in maternity and child development. 
In 2009, 48 students, 47 women and one man, are pursuing their studies. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and have passed 9th standard in government schools.
Students enroll from all over Burma--eighteen are from Rangoon, ten from Pegu, twelve from Irrawaddy Division (West Delta of Burma), two from northern Shan State, two from southern Shan state, one from Mandalay and one from Karen state.
The six months course includes lectures; one month is at the Karen Baptist Convention Clinic, one month practicing home care and one month of exams. Once a week students gain first-hand experience working under a volunteer doctor at a free clinic. Instruction is in Burmese (Myanmar) language.
Students are applying their new skills in a village setting.
The cost of the training is 90,000 kyats (about$110). Families and villages sponsor some of the students. Most return to their village; others work as Nurse's Aids.
Some years, when someone has made a special, designated donation, the graduates are given the book, Where There Is No Doctor. Once they were also given the book, Where There Is No Dentist. Both books have proven very useful for village health workers in isolated villages.
This school also offers 3 months training to graduates of Karen Baptist Theological Seminary and 3 months training to evangelists. Both groups often serve in areas with minimal health care services.
Robertson Bwa Presenting "Where There Is No Doctor" book to graduates.
The Wish List of the school is:
1. To give each graduate both "Where There Is No..." books at $4 each. 160 of each book are needed each year. ($4.00 each)
2. Another oxygen tank at 200,000 kyats ($242.00)
3. Foot operated suction pump at 100,000 kyats ($121.00)
4. Money to expand their pharmacy--300,000 kyats. ($363.00)
Two Students at Sak Han Tha Maternal and Child Development School.
Naw Sha Khu Paw
She is from the village of Aung Naing Gone in the delta. It had 274 houses and therefore about 1,370 persons. All are Christian. When Cyclone (Hurricane) Nargis hit, the villagers ran to high ground but still 13 died. The village and church were destroyed.
She took part in rescue operations and saw many sick and injured and wanted to help them. Her desire, plus the loss of the village midwife in the storm leaving no one to help village women in childbirth, made her decide to get Health Worker Training at Sakhantha Training School.
Her family and some members of the village paid her fees for the school. She was able to stay with a professor at Karen Baptist Theological Seminary in exchange for doing house work.
She has found the training at Sakhantha to be very useful. The cost of the school is 90,000 kyats--about $109. It is a six month program with three months of lectures, one month at the Karen Baptist Convention Clinic (Hospital), one month of home health care, and one month of exams.
She is from the Sgaw Karen ethnic group.
Yes San Lone
She is from Nan Fas Ling village of 538 houses or about 2384 persons. It has a primary school with 3 teachers. Yes San Lone has an adopted brother.
Her uncle brought her to Sanhantha Training school. Her father is a teacher and the village promises to support her when she returns to her village.
Yes San Lone is Christian and is from the Wa ethnic group.
