Burma refugee centre

Spend 14 days volunteering in the Burmese refugee community in Chiangmai, Thailand.

Purpose

Many refugees flee Myanmar (Burma) across the border into Thailand in search of peace, safety and the opportunity to make a living. By volunteering on this program, you can help them do that.

You will be based in the northern Thai city of Chiangmai, a safe distance from the border with Burma. Chiangmai has many regional offices of NGOs, political organisations, as well as minority groups that have fled Myanmar.

Volunteers on this project will:

• Staff the resource centre which provides for these displaced people.
• Work directly with community-based organisations representing many of the fragmented ethnic and demographic groups.

You will be assigned a Myanmarese NGO to work with, helping them to better serve their specific area of interest, including:

• Women's issues
• Human rights
• Health education

Volunteer work

During your 2 weeks as a volunteer, you will perform a variety of activities such as:

• Orientation training sessions to prepare you for Chiangmai and working with the Myanmarese groups.
• Gain exposure to human rights issues.
• Visit a migrant labour camp to see the living and working conditions.
• Introduction to TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) training.
• Learn from permanent staff at the Resource Centre.
• Briefing on the community-based organisations (CBOs) the Resource Centre works with.
• Varied work schedule based on current needs of the Resource Centre.
  
• Work on hosting events or workshops at the Resource Centre.
• Work on specific services to the individual CBOs.

Volunteers will also arrange activities with the children, such as sports, art and music for one or two afternoons during the week.

Typical day

• Wake early.
• Planning training sessions and workshops. Adding your own skills that you have to share. (Workshops have set programs and textbooks, but the real potential of volunteers to contribute skills from home must be met by the individual.)
• Attend meetings and events at the Resource Centre as assigned. Daily meetings are held to review the schedule ahead, solicit feedback from volunteers and assess our team performance in delivering services to the Resource Centre.
• Build towards the planning, execution, then review of training workshops. When workshops are not scheduled, providing services to CBOs through the Resource Centre.
• One-on-one time with local CBO partners to plan delivery of services to meet their needs and agree on deadlines for publication or submission of materials. Some will be formal workshops, some will be tutorials helping with English.
• Some events are scheduled on weekends, but volunteers should schedule days off each week.
• Most Fridays organise a BBQ for volunteers and co-workers from the Resource Centre.
• Keep living areas clean, including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, outdoors, etc.
• Prepare breakfast / lunch / evening meals for the group on days when scheduled to do so.
• Visit migrant work sites.

Dates

Trips are availalble all year round starting on a Satruday and finishing 14 days later. You can choose your dates after you have booked and you can change them at any time up to 3 months before departure. Volunteer trip dates for 2012 are:

• 14 January 2012
• 28 January 2012
• 11 February 2012
• 25 February 2012
• 10 March 2012
• 24 March 2012
• 07 April 2012
• 21 April 2012
• 05 May 2012
• 19 May 2012
• 02 June 2012
• 16 June 2012
• 30 June 2012
• 14 July 2012
• 28 July 2012
• 11 August 2012
• 25 August 2012
• 08 September 2012
• 22 September 2012
• 06 October 2012
• 20 October 2012
• 03 November 2012
• 17 November 2012
• 01 December 2012
• 15 December 2012
• 29 December 2012

Included

Included in the Holiday Volunteers program:

• Air fares from Bangkok-Chiangmai and back. (The cost of any changes made by the traveller separate from the Holiday Volunteers program may not be included.)
• Meet-and-Greet, transfers from Chiangmai airport to working location.
• 13 nights' accommodation in the working location chosen, and three meals daily (except on days of arrival and departure).

Not included

• Air fares to-and-from Bangkok. But we'll help you find the best flight.
• Travel insurance. (You are strongly advised to take out personal, accident, and illness insurance for your journey.)

What to pack

Travel as lightly as possible. We recommend:

• Sandals or flip flops
• T-shirts
• Lightweight clothing
• Socks
• Alarm clock/watch
• Camera and extra memory
• Lots of reading material, cards, travel games, etc.
• Small daypack
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• SPF 30+ sunscreen
• Other personal essentials

Accommodation

Volunteers stay in shared accommodation in Chiangmai city, not far from the Resource Centre where most activities will take place.

Cold running water and shared bath and toilet facilities are on site. Food is simple but nutritious, most meals prepared by volunteers for the group and some meals consisting of Thai food prepared by local staff.

Meals

Meals are prepared daily. There is no special choice of vegetarian food but vegetarian will sometimes be the available meal.

Shops

Chiangmai is a busy town in Northern Thailand which attracts many foreign tourists. A wide range of facilities are available. SIM cards are widely available, as are internet-cafes. Please don't count on reliable wi-fi connections. Volunteers that bring laptops, smartphones and other valuable devices must be aware that theft is a constant risk.