Internship Programs

One way to accomplish this objective is to create a space where young women from the camps, migrant community and inside Burma can go to learn important skills and ideologies associated with demanding for their rights. It is our hope that trainings such as these will equip women with skills so that perhaps one day they can become leaders in the organization and the Burmese women’s movement as a whole.

The BWU began running the internship program in 2003. Following the graduating class of 2005, the program became a permanent part of the BWU’s operation. The program is very beneficial to young women who without the program have no other educational opportunity. Through this internship program, many are able to improve their language, computing and communication skills as well as knowledge and understanding on such issues as human rights, women’s rights, and democracy. This program has been highly praised by the people involved with the program from the English teachers/volunteers to the interns. After testing and witnessing the overall improvement of these young women, the BWU had also recognized the program’s success in meeting our goals and plans to continue it as part of work for a long time to come. Selection of the young women is based on their educational and/or life background and the interns are required to have some high school education in order to participate in the program.

As mentioned in the previous section, many interns end up joining the BWU. Many are now actively working in the programs themselves and are involved in nearly every aspect of the BWU’s work from the drop in center, libraries, Dove magazine to the Chiang Mai main office. In fact, many girls who were second line leaders of the regions in the camps are now taking a more active leadership role following the completion of the program and some have chosen to become trainers on women rights and gender equality issues within their own communities.

We choose interns from the refugee camps, migrant community and from inside Burma. From the refugee camps the interns are regional leaders and girls who have finished high school. From inside Burma and the migrant community, the interns are girls who want to continue their studies and are interested in the women's movement. The main goal has been to find women who are willing to return into their communities and share their knowledge with others and take on a more social activism role within these communities.  The programs have been funded by the BWU and the organization has arranged for the entire training and has assisted others by funding them.

As a results of the internship programs’ success, it will be expanded and offered at two sites: Mae Sot and Chiang Mai. The Mae Sot program will be called Young Women Development Center. This idea came out after the Organizational Development Workshop finished and we think it will be more appropriate to call YWDC rather than internship program since we are providing training on computer, English, Thai language, study on general knowledge (with a focus on gender equality), study on international women movement, Burmese history, Burmese women movement and international political study. The girls will be chosen through similar criteria as that mentioned above with the only difference being that the interns must now have finished high school and are between the ages of 16-25. They must also have an interest in the women’s movement forward gender equality in the society.

As for the Chiang Mai internship, the interns will be trained at the BWU headquarter in Chiang Mai. They will be regional leaders, young girls with potential for their communities. The interns will be trained in technical skills depending on their fieldwork of choice. Professional skills associated with accounting or bookkeeping, office management, community organizing, leadership skills, computer training (to learn programs, Photoshop, website creating, PageMaker in order to do layout), library management, and conflict resolution will be taught.  The BWU needs to train more young women so that they become capable regional leaders and this in turn will allow women to become active participants in all spheres of social change and movement for democracy in Burma.