Partner content
For more than 20 years, WorldShare has partnered with Hope Orphanage in Yangon, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
The orphanage is run by Word of Hope Church under the leadership of Pastor Suanza Pau. It is an important part of the church’s mission to care for orphans in their distress, as encouraged in James 1:27.
The team provides the children with love, care and education, as well as opportunities for both boys and girls to know Jesus personally. Many of the children later study at the church’s Bible school and go on to serve in Christian ministry.
Cing Khan Ming, who has lived at Hope Orphanage for 11 years, said:
“Living in this orphanage has allowed me to know Jesus Christ, receive an education and have the opportunity to build a future for myself. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has sponsored me.”
Hope Orphanage currently provides a home for 51 boys and girls, all of whom are sponsored through WorldShare. The children come from across Myanmar, a country that continues to experience insecurity and hardship because of ongoing armed conflict.
An Urgent Need for a Safe New Building
When WorldShare’s trustees visited the orphanage in late 2024, they discovered that the girls’ dormitory had suffered extensive damage from the annual monsoon rains. Flooding had caused significant subsidence, leaving the building in urgent need of replacement.
In response, WorldShare’s trustees committed to helping fund the construction of a new, flood-resistant dormitory.
The new building will not only provide safe accommodation for the girls but will also create space for up to 15 additional residents. It will include a new kitchen and dining area that can be used by all the children at the orphanage.
WorldShare began fundraising for the project in 2025. Generous donations from supporters were supplemented by sponsorship from a special 10K fundraising event at Rutland Water.
Everything was on track for construction to begin. Then, in March 2025, Myanmar was struck by a devastating earthquake.
The disaster caused the cost of building materials to rise by as much as 500 per cent. Pastor Pau and his team were forced to wait for a full year until prices had stabilised sufficiently and work could begin.
The New Dormitory Takes Shape
In March 2026, demolition of the old building finally began, and the foundations for the new dormitory were laid in April. Thanks to the funds raised in the UK, WorldShare has supported each stage of construction through a series of grants.
Over the past six months, the new brick-built dormitory has risen from the ground. The main structure of the three-storey building is now in place, and attention has turned to installing the doors, windows and electrical system, as well as completing the plastering and other essential work.
Although it is not yet finished, the building has already protected the children.
When the monsoon rains arrived in July, approximately three feet of floodwater entered the orphanage compound. The children were able to shelter safely in the new building, where they and their belongings were protected from the floodwater.
This unfinished building has already demonstrated how important it will be. Now, with your help, we can complete it.
Will You Help Us Finish the Dormitory?
A further £24,900 is needed to complete the project and give the girls a safe, secure and permanent place to live.
In September, WorldShare launched Miles for Myanmar, a campaign inspired by the 24,860-mile circumference of the Earth. For every £1 donated, the campaign moves one symbolic mile closer to travelling around the world and completing the new dormitory.
WorldShare CEO Andrew Yelland launched the campaign by undertaking a sponsored skydive from 15,000 feet. Together with the generosity of supporters, the skydive has already raised £9,000 towards the target.
But the journey is not yet complete.
Could you give today and help provide the girls of Hope Orphanage with a safe place to call home?
Every gift, whatever its size, will help install the doors, windows, electricity and other essential facilities needed to complete the building. Your support will help protect vulnerable children from future floods and allow Hope Orphanage to welcome even more children into a loving Christian home.
Together, we can finish the dormitory and give these children a safer and more hopeful future.
To learn more and make a donation, please visit:
www.worldshare.org.uk/girlsdorm
WorldShare is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 803575.
