Shan Youth Power

Many children and youth in Shan State and Burma have suffered from abuses such as forced relocation, forced labor, the burning of their homes and villages, rape and murder.  These atrocities have been committed by the dictatorial military regime, which has retained its brutal grip on power for nearly 50 years. Therefore, there are thousands of Shan youth and children from Shan State who immigrate along with their parents to Thailand, and many of them settle in Northern Thailand in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son division.

They, Shan migrant children and youth, face unique hardships when attending school in Thailand.  Constant moving, discrimination and academic misplacement within the school system, lack of transportation, and language barriers all hinder or block the Shan migrant students’ ability to attain academic success, and therefore gain access to higher education or better jobs in their future.

To help solve this problem, Shan Youth Power started to offer basic education programs for children and youth in Shan migrant communities since 2002. The program benefits over 300 students each year.

Goal

To provide basic education for migrant children and improve development capacities for migrant children and youth

Migrant Children School

To provide Basic education for Shan migrant children and youth, Shan Youth Power‘s Migrant Children School project has provided a total of 17 class in Chiang Mai, Thailand, since 2005 . And recently, Shan Youth Power’s Migrant Children School project is providing 10 classes in 7 areas in Chiang Mai to over 250 students.

The academic schedule runs over a nine month long term.  The program focuses on teaching Shan, English, Thai and Math to Shan migrant children aged 5-13 and Thai language for youth aged 14-25.

Computer skills are very important for people nowadays, particularly for those wishing to seek employment in sectors outside of difficult, manual labor or wanting to obtain further education.

As other, many Shan youths want to further their education, but it is very difficult for them to attend Thai or other schools because they don't have a Thai ID and the school fees are expensive.  According to 2008 statistics, close to 80,000 Shan migrants live in and around Chiang Mai.  Most of those will have very limited access to further education or better employment.

Goal

To offer a computer training program designed to improve practical and research skills and encourage further participation in the community

English and Computer Training

To develop Shan youth skills and expand their job opportunities, SYP started to organized computer trainings for Shan youth refugee and migrant workers since 2004. Until recently, SYP has organized a total of 11 computer trainings for Shan migrant youth and 2 computer trainings for Shan refugee youth at the border.

The trainings offer many basic aspects of using computer to students. For instance, students are taught to use and work with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Photoshop, Internet, Install Programs, and Portable Programs.

In addition, the trainings also include English classes which teach at Elementary and Pre-intermediate level to the students.

As a result of the trainings, Shan youth possess good computer skills and are able to produce stickers and posters to sell and earn money. In addition, they can use their skills for communication, editing videos, creating layouts, and to do research on the internet.

Others can continue their education by applying to other programs that require basic computer knowledge. The students have good networking amongst them and are able to help each other to find better jobs.  This is another way to improve their knowledge to have a good job and a better life and moreover to increase the number of skilled, committed youth in the democracy movement for Burma's Shan State.

Shan State Migrant workers who stay in Thailand and IDPs a long the Thai-Burma border are also the group which risk getting HIV because they are moving for working place to place and when they are tired from working some of migrant youth will relax by visiting karaoke at night time. Additionally, it is very difficult for them to get knowledge of prevention HIV/AIDS. Most of them can not read and write others language and also some can not read their mother language.

Goal

To prevent the spread of HIV/ AIDS in the greater and stop Shan community discrimination against HIV positive people

HIV/AIDS Training

In 2005 SYP linked with the Migrant Assistance Project (MAP) Foundation to provide at least 9 HIV/AIDS training for Shan Migrant workers in Chiang Mai per year. In addition, SYP also provides HIV/AIDS Training of Trainers (ToT) training, and produces HIV/AIDS IEC materials and distributes them to Shan Migrant workers.

The HIV/AIDS project for Shan Migrant workers is still continuing through the year. Moreover, SYP also gives HIV/AIDS trainings to Shan refugees along the Thai-Burma border. To provide more information about HIV/AIDS for Shan people, SYP has produced 1000 copies of an 108-page HIV/AIDS handbook.

ARHZ

To provide health training for Shan adults, SYP has joined with BWU, Lahu organizations, and Kachin organizations to run the Adult Reproductive Health Zone (ARHZ). The project provides two 5-day health workshops about HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and family planning choices for Shan adults per year. The training was held 1 time in Thailand for Shan Migrant adults and another one was held at the border. Every year, SYP expects to train a total of 70-80 Shan Youth.

The nation of Burma currently has no press freedom, as it is ruled by an oppressive military regime that restricts most sources of information in an attempt to control people and suppress a transition to democracy.  Most of news released is in Burmese, with other surreptitiously obtained sources typically in English.

For people in Shan State, the largest state in Burma, it is difficult for them to find information in their native Shan language regarding people from Shan State and events occurring in Shan State and Burma.  The few information sources that are available to Shan people lack a focus on youth and issues specifically relating to the younger generation, a focus greatly needed to encourage youth involvement in social and democratic change in Burma.

To provide people of Shan state reaching information, Shan Youth Power founded media team named Youth Power Media Project in 2002.

Goal

To promote social and democratic awareness and advocacy among youth, and forward progress towards change in Burma

Newsletter

The newsletter is produced every 2 months and is titled, “Youth Power Media Magazine.”  It is one of only two Shan-language newsletters regularly available, and the only one with a youth focus.  The newsletter features several regular sections; current news (particularly focusing on politics and human rights cases), youth activities, culture, health, political cartoons, and poetry from the readers.

So far, a total number of 19 newsletters have been released. And for each edition, 1,000 copies are printed in Shan language and are distributed in Thailand, along the Thai-Burma border, along the China-Burma border, and in some parts of Shan State. Plus, it is sent to overseas Shan.

Website

Shan Youth Power is the first group which created Shan language website in 2003. The website is posted in Shan language, and it focuses on many issues, such as Burma and Shan State news, world news, culture, environment, health, technology, article, poem, cartoon, and joke, in order to promote social and democratic awareness and advocacy among youth.

In addition, the Shan language website of SYP continues to experience an increase in visitors each year. In order to access to the website please visit www.youthpowermedia.org.