UNG’s College Assistance Migrant Program puts higher ed within reach

UNG’s CAMP students and staff. (Photo courtesy of CAMP)

While most 6-year-olds worried about which toy to play with next, Hae Htoo and her family plotted their escape from the decades-long, ongoing civil war in Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation also known as Burma.

“I remember walking by foot for what felt like months through mountains and mountains with barely any food,” Htoo said.

In 2006, after a month-long journey, Htoo and her family arrived at a refugee camp just over Thailand’s border.

The refugee camp remained her home for the next six years. In 2012, she and her family were granted asylum in the United States. She was 12.

“Six years after escaping Burma, I would’ve never imagined myself being a first-year college student,” said Htoo, now 18 and a freshman at the University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of UNG’s Camp Program.”

The College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, is a nationwide program that caters to the needs of students who are migrant workers or come from a family of migrant workers. Htoo heard of CAMP from her high school counselor, who urged her to apply.

“I am so grateful for the CAMP program because I had no clue if I would even be able to afford college and the living expenses,” said Hae Htoo, who lives in a CAMP-funded apartment in Oakwood.

Two years ago, CAMP introduced a federally funded housing program open to first-year students. Eighteen of the 40 CAMP members now reside in the Hawks Nest at the Preserve apartment complex, where transportation to and from campus is available.

“For some students, their family situation wasn’t conducive for studying. They wouldn’t be [able to] attend college without housing and transportation, due to financial struggles,” CAMP retention coordinator Thalia Escobedo said.

In addition to housing and weekly stipends for food, CAMP offers academic assistance and resources to its students.

Escobedo holds one-on-one coaching sessions with each student to discuss academic success. CAMP students have a dedicated study space on the Gainesville campus.

After UNG News published an article on CAMP’s housing program, some local citizens complained that the program was unjust.

“The backlash has not gotten to our students, who have done their best,” Escobedo said. “Some of these kids have worked years and years in the fields, even during school. This is their opportunity to be a student and not a worker.”

CAMP’s vision and goals are ever-increasing as more students enter the program. CAMP director Christian Bello Escobar has high ambitions for the organization’s upcoming Department of Education grant renewal.

“We’re hoping to get a bigger space, though we understand that space is at a premium at any college campus. We hope to be re-funded in 2020 and continue to help the North Georgia farmworker community,” Bello Escobar said.

Meanwhile, Htoo looks forward to using her time in college to pursue opportunities to improve lives.

“I grew up in a place with no hospital and no education. I saw so many kids sick and women giving birth without doctors or medical help,” she said.. “My dream is to major in nursing and help others.”