What am I doing? Why do I feel like I’m really not helping and rather being more like a 5th wheel? I quit my job to volunteer for a year and after only 6 months working in Burmese migrant issues in Bangkok I was already asking these questions. Time and time again, I found myself being asked to perform tasks that, just because I’m an English native speaker and fresh from teaching English at a well-reputed university in Thailand, I’m expected to magically be capable of doing with hardly any experience or training. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t very good at the jobs and was spending far too much time on trying to educate myself. With the money in the bank fast-depleting, I soon discovered that it wasn’t that I’d chosen the wrong field to volunteer in, it was just that in my haste to find every way I could to help, I was being swept in a direction that I did not really want to be swept in. Plus, all the organizational politics I was encountering was starting to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Time to regroup.

It was then that I came across the Curriculum Project and thanks to an encouraging nudge from a good friend in the industry, I arrived in the northwestern border town of Mae Sot. In all honesty, I was still disillusioned because of my previous volunteering experiences, and I was ready to pack my bags if things started to go the same way again, despite all the good things I had heard about the organization. I was happily and gratefully disarmed by what I found.

Instead of being bamboozled left, right and centre, by things I had to do by yesterday, I was gently led into the world of CP and its Mae Sot

Teacher Training Workshop in Mae Ra Moe Camp

circle, and all the basic necessities of my new life there were quickly attended to. As if it had been preordained, I instantly knew where and how I could help and how I could apply my skills. The urgency with which I had to get on with things was there of course, but instead of being pushed off the plank with a wooden stick, I found myself breaking into a sprint and hurdling into the tasks at hand.

CP provides all the opportunities for those seeking to really understand the dynamics of the situation on the Thai/Burma border and to help ease the plight of the thousands that cross it every day. The number of schools for migrants, exiles, and refugees from Burma that it provides services to is staggering considering the size of the organization (it consists of only 8 local members of staff) and it seemed somehow amazing to me that this beautiful, bustling machine would have such a relaxed working environment. School visits, teacher training workshops and organizational meetings were valuable insights into the success of its strategies and the number and range of lives that CP touches. In my three months with Curriculum Project, I finally felt like I was doing my bit and it was entirely rewarding being a part, if only for a short while, of such a professional team and such a worthwhile movement.

DEAR Burma Students

DEAR Burma Class

DEAR Burma

After 4 or so years living up the proverbial Bangkok high life, of burning candles at both ends, working hard as an EFL teacher and squeezing as much playtime around work as I could possibly muster, I found myself as I tended to be at the end of every candle – wondering if I should be doing something more useful with my life. I had always flattered myself since university days that I could one day end up in Africa or South America, or some other far removed place from where I was, working with some humanitarian organization on the frontline battling human hardship and strife. Why did the opportunities to do that always seem like they existed in a different galaxy to my own? I needed look no further than my own doorstep to see that there were people in need of a helping hand.

Lucky for me, I had worldly wise friends who knew better. What flipped the switch I’m still not sure but the day that I expressed interest in joining my friend’s cause was the day that would give my whole perspective on life an irreversible facelift.

So there I was pacing up and down the rows of students in a fourth floor classroom at the DEAR Burma school, doggy-paddling in the face of the needs of an entirely different style of English language learner. An English language learner from a different country after so long: I’d become so used to the needs of Thai speakers learning English at that point that I was spun into a state of panic, all parts of me focused on upgrading my usual tried and tested repertoire of techniques in order to meet the needs of a variety of language speakers (the students are mainly Burmese-speaking but often hail from different divisions and states, like Karen or Mon state for example). And an English language learner I knew nothing about. How could I have been so ill-informed about a country that neighboured Thailand and how was I ever going to make my classes interesting and relevant for my students? 

I was grateful to the students for making things easy on me. Their warm, gracious smiles and insatiable eagerness to learn instantly made me want to make every moment in that classroom a meaningful one for them. As each Sunday flew by, I would learn more and more about the beautiful, cultural hotpot of ethnicities that is Burma, and about its current situation. And I would also learn about the lives of the thousands of migrants and refugees that cross the Thai border everyday to find a new life or make a decent wage to send back to their families. I wanted to do more to help.

DEAR Burma itself is a perfect place to do more. In its best days before the downturn in the economy and the political situation in Thailand, it boasted 600 students in attendance and was becoming increasingly popular as a place for migrants from Burma to develop their Thai and English language skills, learn the basics of computing, browse a library of Burmese, English and Thai books run by a student committee, cultivate and nurture the desire to learn more. In fact, it still thrives as that place and one for migrants from Burma to congregate, or feel a spirit of solidarity, with a community of people from similar backgrounds and with similar experience to their own, regardless of their ethnicity. For one day a week, and for a lot of the students, the only day they have off work as a domestic or factory worker, or sometimes as a tailor or waitress.

And if the students weren’t in themselves inspiring enough, they are also responsible for the setting up of a committee that organized and distributed donations for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, as well as for ‘spreading the love’ into other communities of migrants from Burma living around Bangkok, sending out students who have reached a level of fluency in Thai in order to teach others. Others have gone on to win scholarships and to further their studies at universities in Thailand and overseas. The list of DEAR Burma’s students’ achievements goes on, but that does not mean there isn’t anything left to do to help.

So how can you help? Well, by providing 2 hours of your time every, or every other Sunday, for starters. Usually the English language program is the one starved of dedicated volunteer teachers and if you are ready to commit for at least a semester (of three months)and you enjoy a challenge (especially those who are not trained as teachers: it’s a preference but not compulsory) then this could be the ideal spot for you to start helping. Things are fairly flexible for the teachers: the course materials and supplementary activities are ready for you to prepare before your class at the school (3-5pm for the higher levels), co-teaching* is definitely not a problem (in fact, probably necessary if you have a hectic weekly work schedule already) and you are your own boss as long as the students are prepared for the end of term exams and as long as you remember that you have a responsibility as their teacher.

DEAR Burma has done and is still doing its best to provide its students with the tools they need to better integrate into the Thai community, find a comfortable life for themselves and their families, further their education and protect themselves from exploitation and abuse. I know that I have been proud and still am to have been a part of its efforts.

If you would like to help, contact the English Program Coordinator, Zarni, at uznn2002@hotmail.com, or the Director of the school, Myint Wai at tacdb@truemail.co.th

*Co-teaching means that you and your teaching partner get together at the beginning of the semester after the teacher’s meeting and figure out what your schedules look like: In most cases, the arrangement tends to be that your teaching partner takes one week and you take the next so you are not committed to being at school every weekend.

DEAR Burma Students

Teaching English in Bangkok is a great way to volunteer.  DEAR Burma is a project dedicated to helping Burmese refugees and is one of the many programs run by TACDB.  The students are extremely motivated and grateful for the opportunity to learn English.  Classes are held throughout the day at a Thai public school near Ratchathewi BTS Station. 

Zoe Matthews has been involved with DEAR Burma for some time and has contributed this article.

After 4 or so years living up the proverbial Bangkok high life, of burning candles at both ends, working hard as an EFL teacher and squeezing as much playtime around work as I could possibly muster, I found myself as I tended to be at the end of every candle – wondering if I should be doing something more useful with my life. I had always flattered myself since university days that I could one day end up in Africa or South America, or some other far removed place from where I was, working with some humanitarian organization on the frontline battling human hardship and strife. Why did the opportunities to do that always seem like they existed in a different galaxy to my own? I needed look no further than my own doorstep to see that there were people in need of a helping hand.

Lucky for me, I had worldly wise friends who knew better. What flipped the switch I’m still not sure but the day that I expressed interest in joining my friend’s cause was the day that would give my whole perspective on life an irreversible facelift.

So there I was pacing up and down the rows of students in a fourth floor classroom at the DEAR Burma school, doggy-paddling in the face of the needs of an entirely different style of English language learner. An English language learner from a different country after so long: I’d become so used to the needs of Thai speakers learning English at that point that I was spun into a state of panic, all parts of me focused on upgrading my usual tried and tested repertoire of techniques in order to meet the needs of a variety of language speakers (the students are mainly Burmese-speaking but often hail from different divisions and states, like Karen or Mon state for example). And an English language learner I knew nothing about. How could I have been so ill-informed about a country that neighboured Thailand and how was I ever going to make my classes interesting and relevant for my students? 

I was grateful to the students for making things easy on me. Their warm, gracious smiles and insatiable eagerness to learn instantly made me want to make every moment in that classroom a meaningful one for them. As each Sunday flew by, I would learn more and more about the beautiful, cultural hotpot of ethnicities that is Burma, and about its current situation. And I would also learn about the lives of the thousands of migrants and refugees that cross the Thai border everyday to find a new life or make a decent wage to send back to their families. I wanted to do more to help.

DEAR Burma itself is a perfect place to do more. In its best days before the downturn in the economy and the political situation in Thailand, it boasted 600 students in attendance and was becoming increasingly popular as a place for migrants from Burma to develop their Thai and English language skills, learn the basics of computing, browse a library of Burmese, English and Thai books run by a student committee, cultivate and nurture the desire to learn more. In fact, it still thrives as that place and one for migrants from Burma to congregate, or feel a spirit of solidarity, with a community of people from similar backgrounds and with similar experience to their own, regardless of their ethnicity. For one day a week, and for a lot of the students, the only day they have off work as a domestic or factory worker, or sometimes as a tailor or waitress.

And if the students weren’t in themselves inspiring enough, they are also responsible for the setting up of a committee that organized and distributed donations for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, as well as for ‘spreading the love’ into other communities of migrants from Burma living around Bangkok, sending out students who have reached a level of fluency in Thai in order to teach others. Others have gone on to win scholarships and to further their studies at universities in Thailand and overseas. The list of DEAR Burma’s students’ achievements goes on, but that does not mean there isn’t anything left to do to help.

So how can you help? Well, by providing 2 hours of your time every, or every other Sunday, for starters. Usually the English language program is the one starved of dedicated volunteer teachers and if you are ready to commit for at least a semester (of three months)and you enjoy a challenge (especially those who are not trained as teachers: it’s a preference but not compulsory) then this could be the ideal spot for you to start helping. Things are fairly flexible for the teachers: the course materials and supplementary activities are ready for you to prepare before your class at the school (3-5pm for the higher levels), co-teaching* is definitely not a problem (in fact, probably necessary if you have a hectic weekly work schedule already) and you are your own boss as long as the students are prepared for the end of term exams and as long as you remember that you have a responsibility as their teacher.

DEAR Burma has done and is still doing its best to provide its students with the tools they need to better integrate into the Thai community, find a comfortable life for themselves and their families, further their education and protect themselves from exploitation and abuse. I know that I have been proud and still am to have been a part of its efforts.

If you would like to help, contact the English Program Coordinator, Zarni, at uznn2002@hotmail.com, or the Director of the school, Myint Wai at tacdb@truemail.co.th

*Co-teaching means that you and your teaching partner get together at the beginning of the semester after the teacher’s meeting and figure out what your schedules look like: In most cases, the arrangement tends to be that your teaching partner takes one week and you take the next so you are not committed to being at school every weekend.

Curriculum Project

 What am I doing? Why do I feel like I’m really not helping and rather being more like a 5^th wheel? I quit my job to volunteer for a year and after only 6 months working in Burmese migrant issues in Bangkok I was already asking these questions. Time and time again, I found myself being asked to perform tasks that, just because I’m an English native speaker and fresh from teaching English at a well-reputed university in Thailand, I’m expected to magically be capable of doing with hardly any experience or training. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t very good at the jobs and was spending far too much time on trying to educate myself. With the money in the bank fast-depleting, I soon discovered that it wasn’t that I’d chosen the wrong field to volunteer in, it was just that in my haste to find every way I could to help, I was being swept in a direction that I did not really want to be swept in. Plus, all the organizational politics I was encountering was starting to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Time to regroup.

 It was then that I came across the Curriculum Project and thanks to an encouraging nudge from a good friend in the industry, I arrived in the northwestern border town of Mae Sot. In all honesty, I was still disillusioned because of my previous volunteering experiences, and I was ready to pack my bags if things started to go the same way again, despite all the good things I had heard about the organization. I was happily and gratefully disarmed by what I found.

 Instead of being bamboozled left, right and centre, by things I had to do by yesterday, I was gently led into the world of CP and its Mae Sot circle, and all the basic necessities of my new life there were quickly attended to. As if it had been preordained, I instantly knew where and how I could help and how I could apply my skills. The urgency with which I had to get on with things was there of course, but instead of being pushed off the plank with a wooden stick, I found myself breaking into a sprint and hurdling into the tasks at hand.

 CP provides all the opportunities for those seeking to really understand the dynamics of the situation on the Thai/Burma border and to help ease the plight of the thousands that cross it every day. The number of schools for migrants, exiles, and refugees from Burma that it provides services to is staggering considering the size of the organization (it consists of only 8 local members of staff) and it seemed somehow amazing to me that this beautiful, bustling machine would have such a relaxed working environment. School visits, teacher training workshops and organizational meetings were valuable insights into the success of its strategies and the number and range of lives that CP touches. In my three months with Curriculum Project, I finally felt like I was doing my bit and it was entirely rewarding being a part, if only for a short while, of such a professional team and such a worthwhile movement.

A recent visit to Baan Gerda in Lopburi province proved to be an enriching and inspiring experience.  This village which is made up of 83 HIV and AIDS

Family house at Baan Gerda village

infected orphans and foster parents is a real success in that these children who have had such tumultuous lives are truly thriving in their new homes. 

The basic premise of Baan Gerda is to create a family environment so that the children grow up in a secure, safe, and nurturing home.  There are several houses on the property and each one is assigned to the foster parents and children. As in a real family everyone has to pitch in to do the chores, help with homework, ensure that everyone has taken their medication, and live independently within the Baan Gerda community.

Initially, Baan Gerda was intended to give children a comfortable place to spend whatever time they had left but with the introduction of new and affordable antivirals these children are truly living life to the fullest and proving how resilient they can be when they are put in the right environment. 

Baan Gerda was started in 2001 by Karl and Tassanee Morsbach in a response to the growing number of HIV and AIDS infected orphans who fell between the cracks of the system.  Many of the children were abandoned and arrived in very poor health but under the supervision of an expert medical team, caring foster parents and a safe environment in which they are not discriminated against they are nursed back to health and live relatively normal lives including going to a local school which is part of the King’s project which provides educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth. 

Unfortunately, the stigma of HIV and AIDS in Thailand is still a big problem, particularly in rural areas and these children whose parents have also died of AIDS often have nowhere to turn as relatives are often not in the financial position to provide the care they need and more often than not many people are still uneducated about how HIV and AIDS are transmitted and those who have the virus are often ostracized from society at large.

Visiting this little village in Lopburi was a testament to the idea that one (or in this case two) people can make a real difference.  This project is a part of the Children’s Right Foundation and was founded by Karl and his wife Tassanee. 

 While they do not actively seek volunteers unless they can commit to staying for at least 3 months what they are in most need of is donations to support their growing village with food, medication, school supplies, clothes, transportation fees to school and ultimately scholarships for those children who attend university.  To find out more about how you might be able to support this organization visit their website or contact Baan Gerda directly. 

Other ways you can help Baan Gerda:
1. Link to their website
2. Tell your friends about the great work they do
3. Make a donation
4. Sponsor a child and become a godparent
5. Include their header in your emails
6. Volunteer to teach the children a skill (photography, yoga etc…)
7. Fundraise
8. Put a banner on your website