VIA In Myanmar – Celebrating 10 Years
Thanks to an introduction brokered by Dwight Clark, VIA’s founder, VIA began quietly sending teachers to Myanmar in 2006, long before the country opened up. We started at the Pre-Collegiate Program of the Diplomatic School, Yangon, which was one of the only institutions offering a bridge to study in the U.S. at the time. In 2012, we expanded with a generous three-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. Currently, there are four fellows working in schools and NGO’s in Yangon, Mandalay and Inle Lake:
1) A vocational training center that trains village youth so they can find employment in the growing tourism sector around Inle Lake
2) A bridge program for promising students that helps them get into college, run by a monastery in Mandalay with a range of service programs that led Dwight to call it one of the most effective community organizations he has seen.
3) At International Rescue Committee in Yangon, where the fellow assists with project reports for water, sanitation and health projects and other international communication
4) At Kant Kaw, a training program that brings together students from many of Myanmar’s provinces for a one year curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking and service to train students to go on for university study or return to their hometowns to teach and start community projects