Partners' Links

http://widehorizonsacitvies.blogspot.com/  Kay Thi Thant Zin

http://thinzaraungmyint.blogspot.com/  Kyi Khala

http://dogcrazy09.blogspot.com/# Edward

http://background012.blogspot.com/  day wah

http://creativeidea16.blogspot.com/ Zoaw Htaw

http://article1993.blogspot.com/ Mya Win

http://cherrywin20.blogspot.com/#     Cherry Win

http://jalornhtaw.blogspot.com/ Jalorn

http://ahremorganization.blogspot.com/ john soe

http://phyoachitchit.blogspot.com/     Phyo Wai Lin

http://lisuadvertisement.blogspot.com/ avyar

http://floweringmeyou.blogspot.com/ Than Maung

http://mytraditionalderss.blogspot.com/ Pa Pa Moe

http://ohnshipvillage.blogspot.com/# - Jhon

http://snowmary2016.blogspot.com/ mary

http://nayhlaingkoko.blogspot.com/ koko

http://maelarefugee.blogspot.com/ wah ku paw

http://juwuthainote07.blogspot.com/  J Ah Dau

http://pyawtawschool.blogspot.com/     Mu Ku

http://communitybenefitorganization.blogspot.com/  Pakaw Mol

Teaching OT in faraway places

Many people arrive at Mae La on the main highway from Mae Sot the nearest town about 40 minutes to the south. The first time hopefully a contact will pick you up from the bus station, after that it is easy (except on the behind) to catch a “line bus” (a ute with bench seats for passengers either side of the luggage). At first the highway goes through farms, then as it climbs into the hills there are less and less people, and lovely forest on either side. Pleasant country, though not spectacular.

After a Thai Army checkpoint you start to pass the camp. The main purpose of the check points seems to be to “catch” Burmese citizens moving freely around Thailand without proper papers (i.e. to restrict the movement of refugees and illegals – there are checkpoints on many roads in the border area, not just near the camp). KKBBSC and its associated Baptist centres (like the home for landmine victims and the children’s “orphanage”) are at the far end, almost were the camp stops and the hill rises to Prayer Mountain.

Mae La is the largest in a chain of seven camps inhabited mainly by Karen refugees fleeing the Myanmar Military Government. The chain stretches along much of the length of the Thai border with Burma from the extreme north down to one east of Bangkok. The official figures are certainly an underestimate of their populations, since there are many reasons why some inhabitants of the camps do not want their presence officially known. The UNHCR figures cover only those people who have been granted official “refugee” status, something that sometimes takes years to achieve. According to the figures used by The Thailand Burma Border Consortium as a basis for the food and other resources they supply there were 38,923 refugees in the Mae La camp during March. All one can really say is that between 40 and 80 thousand people inhabit this camp.

It does not look like a town though, because the houses are not built of permanent materials (officially all buildings are of wood, bamboo and leaves). The line bus will stop several times along the camp, the longest stops will be the checkpoints, and outside the market. Officially there can be no market in the camp, since no one has any job or money. However, humans being what they are if you do have money you can buy almost anything you need in the market that isn’t there. A student managed to find me some blank DVDs to backup these videos, and others have got medicines they needed there too…

Driving past the camp in a private car takes about 6-7 minutes at 80KPH with a couple of places where one has to slow for checkpoints, which gives an idea of its size. It is long and fairly thin, squeezed between the road and the steep cliff that rises on the other side of the river. The camp is formally divided into “sections”, KKBBSC is in Section C. I can’t show you photos of the market or of the other sections, since our presence was unofficial we were asked to keep within the college area.

Livelihoods

 

The Livelihoods Working Group meet every two months in Mae Sot and these meetings are attended by representatives from the following NGOs:

ACTED  Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development

ADRA Adventist Development and Relief Agency
ARC American Refugee Committee
COERR Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees
HI  Handicap International
JRS Jesuit Refugee Service (Asia Pacific)
SI Solidarités International
TBC The Border Consortium
WEAVE Women’s Education for Advancement and Empowerment

Shelter

TBC The Border Consortium lead the shelter sector. 

Food Assistance and Nutrition

The Food Assistance and Nutrition Working Group meets on an adhoc basis and is attended by representatives from the following NGOs:
ARC  American Refugee Committee
IRC International Rescue Committee
MI  Malteser International
TBC The Border Consortium

Psycho-Social Health

The Psycho-Social Health Working Group meets every two months. They alternate their meetings between Bangkok and Mae Sot. Meetings are attended by representatives from the following NGOs:
ARC American Refugee Committee International
COERR Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees
IRC International Rescue Committee
MI Malteser International
PU-AMI  Première Urgence - Aide Médicale Internationale

WASH

ARC American Refugee Committee International
COERR Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees
IRC International Rescue Committee
MI Malteser International
SI Solidarites International

Cash Transfer Programme Specialist

Based in Bangkok

In Consultancy contract from 1 Apr – 30 Sep 2016

Cash Transfer Programme Specialist will be responsible for overall programme in Cash Transfer Project (CTP) under supervision of Technical Programme Director. This position will facilitate and implement programme from the mode of delivery in Food Assistance Programme into Cash Transfer Programme. The pilot projects will be implemented into 2 camps and then extends to another 2 camps.

Position Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master degree) preferably in economics, development studies or a related field with 3 years relevant experience in designing and implementing cash transfer programming in Asia.
• A team player and ability to build strong relationships with community groups, focuses on impact and result for the community and responds positively to feedback.
• Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of cash transfer programmes and projects, mobilize resources
• Ability to train, coach, support programme staffs and community programme implementers and decision makers
• Thai and non-Thai Nationality with effective interpersonal and communication skills in English are encouraged to apply. There is no visa and work permit provided for internationals applying.
• Language Knowledge of Thai and/or Burmese/Karen languages are very advantage.

Women and people with disability are encouraged to apply for this position
A job description and information about TBC is available at: www.theborderconsortium.org
Please submit a current CV/resume including 2 references and a cover letter explaining why you are suitable for this post to hr@theborderconsortium.org by Thursday 10 March 2016 within 5 p.m. This position is ready to work on Wednesday 30 March  2016.
Required information should be submitted in English.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

UNHCR makes dream of education come true for Myanmar refugee boy

Making a Difference, 22 June 2009

© UNHCR/T.Falise

Tway Tway hitches a ride to class with a friend in Mae La refugee camp in northern Thailand, where he studies in a regular classroom.

MAE LA REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand, June 22 (UNHCR) – Born without the use of his legs, 15-year-old Tway Tway has always had a passion for education.

"I can't use my physical energy," the refugee boy explains. "The only thing I can use is my brain."

In the Karen state of his native Myanmar, he was only able to complete one year of schooling. So when the teenager came to this refugee camp in northern Thailand two years ago and discovered that he could attend school with other children, "I was already happy on the first day," he says.

His mother and sister walked three days through the jungles of eastern Myanmar, taking turns carrying Tway Tway on their backs in a sling to get here after his village was attacked, his house burned, and his father killed.

"When he came to the camp he asked to go to school and he started going to class immediately," his older sister, Tin Tin Nwey, confirms.

Thanks to a UNHCR-funded programme implemented by Handicap International, disabled children like Tway Tway are able to study in regular camp classrooms with other refugee children. He's in Grade Two, studying his native Karen language, Burmese, English, maths, geography, social studies and health.

I can't use my physical energy. The only thing I can use is my
brain.

– Tway Tway

Handicap International has provided him a wheelchair, but on the hilly dirt trails of this camp – particularly now in the rainy season when they turn to mud – it is not always useful. When asked how he gets around the camp, Tway Tway just shrugs and replies with a grin: "Feet, hands and bottom." Friends also pitch in and carry him on their back.

"When he's in the class, he's the same as all the other students," says Naw Moe Moe Khing, the young principal of his school, who taught him last year. "He acts good, but when the teacher is outside the class, he teases his friends. He's just a normal child."

His older sister says studies hard, often going to friends' houses to cram in extra homework, but says he sometimes gets frustrated by his physical limitations. "He can cook for himself, but he can't cook for others because he can't carry big pots," she says.

Tway Tway says he's getting an opportunity in the refugee camp he would never have had if he had stayed in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and only laments that his family can't afford enough candles for him to study longer at night. The bamboo huts in the refugee camp do not have electricity.

Although his principal confesses he's only an average student, he dreams of some day passing knowledge on to others in another country if his family can leave Thailand through UNHCR's successful third-country resettlement programme. "I would like to become a teacher," Tway Tway says. "I don't have any plan which country it would be, but for sure not Burma."

By Kitty McKinsey in Mae La Camp, Thailand

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Making a Difference

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UNHCR country pages

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Education

Education is vital in restoring hope and dignity to young people driven from their homes.

DAFI Scholarships

The German-funded Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative provides scholarships for refugees to study in higher education institutes in many countries.

PU-AMI

Work Locations with Displaced Burmese: Nupo, Umpiem Mai, Mae La camps.

Première Urgence-Aide Médicale Internationale (PU-AMI) is an international non-governmental organization whose mandate is to bring a comprehensive response to the essential needs of populations suffering from humanitarian crises in emergencies until autonomy and dignity can be obtained.

Operational in 16 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Caribbean, PU-AMI works in the areas of food security, health, nutrition, rehabilitation of infrastructure, water and sanitation and economic recovery. PU-AMI is the result of the merger between two NGO’s: Première Urgence and Aide Médicale Internationale in 2011. The Thailand mission is a former AMI mission.

In Thailand, AMI has been working with the Burmese population since 1984 providing healthcare and capacity building in Karenni, Karen and Mon State, and since 1987 from their base in Manerplaw. When the population fled, after the fall of Manerplaw in 1995, AMI fled along, and established health programs in Temporary Shelters (refugee camps) in Thailand. Today, PU-AMI works in Mae La (ML), Umpiem (UP) and Nupo (NP) Temporary Shelters in Tak province, building capacity of health workers and providing healthcare to an estimated 80,000 beneficiaries.

The WHO has defined health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being, not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. In accordance with this definition, PU-AMI’s medical programs integrate physical, as well as mental and social components in order to contribute to a state of improved well being of individuals, as well as the community as a whole. Its mandate is to contribute to autonomy, in which light PU-AMI invests and works toward durable solutions and community empowerment by building capacity and strengthening self-reliance wherever possible.

History

The camp was originally established following the fall of the KNU base at the Thai village of Mae La on the border in 1984 with a population of 1,100. Shortly afterwards, due to security concerns, it was moved to the site where Zone C currently lies. After the fall of Manerplaw (KNU headquarters in Karen State, Burma) in January 1995, a number of camps were attacked in cross-border raids and the Thai authorities began to consolidate camps to improve security. Mae La was designated as the main consolidation camp in the area.

In April 1995, Mae La increased in size from 6,969 to 13,195 due to the closure of five camps to the north – Mae Ta Waw, Mae Salit, Mae Plu So, Kler Kho and Ka Mawlay Kho and the move of Huay Heng later in October of the same year. Over the following year, the camp doubled in size again to 26,629 as those lost in the move came back into the camp. In March 1997, some people were relocated to Mae La following the closure of Huai Bone camp and again in February 1998 when Shoklo camp was closed.
The camp has been the focus of several military attacks. It was infiltrated by Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) troops in 1997 with support from Burma Army units. The DKBA is a faction of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) which split off and aligned itself with the Burma Army in 1994. There have been no incursions since then, although a mortar shell landed in Section A5 in March 1998. Every dry season, this area is quite tense with concerns relating to camp security – threats of armed attack and/or attempts to burn down the camp.
In more recent years, the area of Karen State opposite Mae La camp has been the scene of substantial conflict, with the DKBA and Burma Army deposing the KNLA from its headquarters in 2009. The area is now under the control of the newly transformed DKBA as a Border Guard Force under the Burma Army.
Due to its size, Mae La has a wide range of educational opportunities and is considered a centre of study for refugees, so the current population includes a few thousand students who come to study in the camp (some from other camps, but mostly from Burma). They are registered only as temporary inhabitants.
In 2008, mobile phone coverage was made available to the camp, and this has also facilitated privately-run Internet services in the community.
A year later, the camp was connected to the mains electricity grid, and the camp office, most health, education and social centres, as well as a number of households in the camp now have access to 24 hour-a-day electricity.
                                                                                                             Courtesy of The Border Consortium
Resettlement (Source: IOM)
In 2005, RTG gave approval for resettlement opportunities to be offered to camp residents. Statistics for resettlement by camp are available since 2006. As of December 2011, 23,120 persons had departed from Mae La, with the majority resettling in the USA.