Volunteer

As former volunteers, we strongly believe in the value of donating your time and knowledge to the democracy and development movement in Burma. Therefore, we will act as a link connecting Oxford students to reputable long- and short-term volunteer opportunities in Burma and the Thai-Burma border area. We will also be a source of information and assistance to students preparing to embark on their volunteer experiences.

The OBA has also partnered with various organisations to link Oxford students with interesting and unique internship opportunities along the Thai-Burma border. See below for details.

Internship Opportunities

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - Internship in Mae Sot, Thailand

On the 23th of March 2000, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) was founded by former political prisoners. AAPP is an independent, non-profit organization that works for the release of all political prisoners incarcerated throughout Burma. AAPP believes that a democratic Burma is a Burma without political prisoners.

Even though Burma is currently undergoing a period of democratic transition, the process is slow and reversible. People are still being harassed for their beliefs. Despite recent prisoner amnesties, numbers of political prisoners remain high. Those imprisoned include monks, students, women and lawyers. People are being detained for involvement in democracy activities and peaceful demonstrations. To distribute just one pamphlet, could mean sentences of up to seven years with hard labor and a fair trial is nonexistent.

AAPP welcomes internship applicants from Oxford with an interest in human rights issues to help us reach our goal of getting all remaining political prisoners released from prison.

Burma Lawyers' Council (BLC) - Internship in Mae Sot, Thailand

The Burma Lawyers' Council is very enthusiastic about having Oxford students intern at their organisation in Mae Sot, Thailand. BLC prefers interns with a legal background, but welcomes applicants without legal degrees as well. Students familiar with issues such as genocide, land confiscation, environmental projects, etc. would make excellent applicants. Ideally, interns will be able to commit to a minimum of two months, but this may be flexible.

BLC's Mission Statement: "By vigorously opposing all unjust and oppressive laws, and by helping restore the principle of the Rule of Law, the Burma Lawyers' Council aims to contribute to the transformation of Burma where all the citizens enjoy the equal protection of law under the democratic federal constitution which will guarantee fundamentals of human rights."

More information about how to apply coming soon!

Volunteer Opportunities

Mote Oo
(Mixed Placements)

Mote Oo was formed in January 2013 by staff with many years experience working in Myanmar education. It is a small, locally run, community-focused organisation specialising in teacher training and adult education materials development. Training workshops and teacher support are based on the needs of teachers, students and organisations and build upon previous training and classroom observations. Mote Oo design social science, civic education and English language materials to meet the needs of teachers and students in the non-formal adult education sector.

Eduzone
(Mandalay, Burma)

The programmes at Eduzone, based in Mandalay, are designed to help university students improve their English Language skills and to prepare them to be ready for applying scholarship programs around the world.

Human Rights Foundation of Monland (Sangkhlaburi, Thailand)

HURFOM is a non-governmental human rights organization founded in 1995 by a group of Mon students, youths and community leaders. The main objectives of HURFOM are to monitor the human rights situation in Mon State and other areas of southern Burma and to protect and promote the human rights of all people in Burma. HURFOM produces periodic reports, published in print and online and which contain news and analysis of ongoing human rights violations in southern Burma. HURFOM also frequently publishes incident reports, commentary, and feature stories on its website.

Phaung Daw Oo Monastery Monastic Education High School (Mandalay, Burma)

Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education High School was founded in 1993 by Venerable U Nayaka and his brother, Venerable U Zawtika. It started as a primary school with ten local volunteer teachers and over 300 students. The school was established with the purpose of providing free education to poor children. PDO is predominantly for poor students who, for various reasons, are unable to attend government schools. Currently, the school is successfully running from Kindergarten to High School levels with over 6000 students and 280 teachers. [. . .]

Kaw Dai
(Yangon, Burma)

Kaw Dai is an education programme for young adult students from rural areas of Shan State, aimed at building the capacities of Shan youth to become leaders in their community. Each year 17-20 students are accepted into the programme, most of whom will have finished High School. These students receive 8 months of youth empowerment training in Shan State, before travelling to Yangon for the final part of their training.

Children of The Forest Foundation (Sangkhlaburi, Thailand)

Founded in 2005, Children of the Forest Foundation (COF) is a Thai Foundation working to provide protection, education, healthcare, and opportunities to migrant Karen and Mon children and mothers living in the Thai-Burmese border region of Sangkhlaburi.

We Women Foundation
(Chiang Mai, Thailand)

By providing marginalized women opportunities for academic and professional development, the We Women from Burma project supports women in gaining access to key positions within policy- making and influential organizations in order to become leaders in their community. Through the project, young women can access pre-university preparation, in-university mentoring, full scholarships for academic courses, internship
opportunities and an alumni network.

Phophtaw News Association
(Sangkhlaburi, Thailand)

PNA works to broaden the political discussion surrounding issues in Burma, by delivering radio and internet news reports to ethnic minorities (as well as others) on the Thailand-Burma border and throughout the world. Launched in 2011, PNA is staffed with an experienced team of writers and is often seeking a volunteer news editor/ writer to help produce articles for the association’s English language site.

Karenni Social Welfare and Development Center (Mae Hong Son, Thailand)

KSWDC was founded in 1996 in response to continuing conflicts affecting the lives of the Karenni people and their exploitation at the hands of the Burma military government. Their goal is the democratic empowerment of all Karenni people through education and community development. Departments include Mine Risk Education, Emergency Relief Assistance, Community Development and Information Collection. The organization is centered in Ban Nai Soi about 50 minutes from Mae Hong Son.

Thoo Mweh Khee School and Senior College (Mae Sot, Thailand)

TMK is a migrant school running from Nursery to Grade 10 and senior college from Grades 11 to 12 – the whole school contains nearly 800 students. It is situated near the town of Phopra 50 km (30 miles) south of Mae Sot. Most of TMK’s students are Karen refugees from Burma who live in dormitories on site. The language medium of TMK school is mostly Karen but English, Thai and Burmese are also taught. [. . .]

Burma Volunteer Program

UPDATE: BVP is phasing out and not accepting any more volunteers. The organisation has decided to concentrate its efforts on equipping its local partners with the necessary skills, knowledge and support to be able to recruit their own volunteers.

For now the best advice for people looking to volunteer in this region would be to network on Facebook groups such as 'What's Happening in Mae Sot' and 'What's Happening in Chiang Mai'.“

See below to read about OBA members' experiences volunteering with BVP or click here for more information about BVP.

Karen Education Department (3 month min.)

A non-profit organisation, KED provides education in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, as well as conflict areas inside Karen State (Burma). KED is seeking skilled volunteers for 3 - 24 month periods.

KED Volunteering Information Package
File Size:	110 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

OBA Members' Volunteer Experiences

Nora Godkin

OBA Co-President (2011-13) and Founder

Volunteered in Chiang Mai, Thailand with Burma Volunteer Program (September 2010 - February 2011)

Ebba Lekvall