While predominantly Buddhist, freedom of religion is widely accepted in Myanmar; Muslims, Hindus, and Christians practice their faiths openly. Burmese is the national language of Myanmar, with minority languages used in different areas of the country. English is widely spoken in urban areas. Language should not provide a barrier for volunteers, except for some bus journeys and when in remote areas. Myanmar has a monsoon climate with three main seasons. The rainy season is generally from May to October, giving way to dry cooler weather from October to February.
Overall the best months to visit are from November to February. Lightweight cottons and linens are recommended throughout most of the year. A lightweight raincoat and an umbrella are needed during the rainy season. Local calls are cheap, though network quality is unreliable. Most internet users in Yangon use their phone for internet access. Internet speeds are slower than elsewhere in Asia, however, in most work locations they are strong enough to support Skype, Zoom, Viber.
Shopping malls and markets are reportedly the best in Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw. Branded and imported goods are more expensive compared to other neighbouring countries. There are many clubs and classes to join, including yoga, public speaking, Burmese language, dancing, painting, writing and music.
Yangon has a vibrant art scene that has existed for many decades, and volunteers can listen to live music — traditional and modern. The in-country team support volunteers to contact real estate agents to find appropriate rental accommodation. If a long-term lease is required with upfront rental, the Australian Volunteers Program will try to provide a sufficient advance accommodation allowance to cover this. Leases generally require a six-month upfront payment.
Volunteers living in Nay Pyi Taw stay in hotels, as accommodation in private rental apartments is not permitted. In Yangon, infrastructure is generally in a poorer condition than other Southeast Asian capitals. Public transport in Yangon is limited and tends to be crowded and uncomfortable. Driving in Yangon is not recommended. Bicycles and motorcycles are not permitted on the main streets, although some foreigners ignore this rule.
Room to Grow is Canadian charity based in Thailand helping to alleviate poverty among unparented refugee children from Burma by providing them with food, shelter and basic daily necessities. Minmahaw Education Foundation aims to educate Burmese youth from disadvantaged backgrounds in the border refugee community. Thoo Mweh Khee provides education to over predominantly Karen students from Burma. Beginning in nursery school and continuing on to post-high school, the school offers a wide variety of educational opportunities and experiences to disadvantaged youth.
Ban Nai Soi seeks to provide a high school education, practical vocational skills, and community development skills to high school aged children living in the Mae Hong Son Province area of Thailand.
Karenni Social Development Center is a small community-based organisation located on the Thai-Burma border. Their goal is to protect the environment and promote the human rights of the long-suffering Karenni people. Burma Children Medical Fund was established in response to the increasing number of patients on the Thai-Burma border who required surgery that was not available at local clinics or hospitals.
They also support the local area by providing jobs for single mothers and families, who help care for the children, and assist with farming, construction and weaving projects. One Sky Foundation works to meet the needs of vulnerable children in the border district of Sangkhlaburi. They focus on child protection, education support, alternative care and income generation. Acorn Overseas is a small UK charity which supports underprivileged children abroad. The aim is to provide them with food, shelter and education and to make sure that every penny raised goes directly to them.
About 45 children live there who escaped the regime in Burma and are now looked after by a wonderful Christian couple. Karen Hilltribes Trust is committed to working alongside the Karen people, in the poorest province of Northern Thailand. Taking a community led approach, they are helping the Karen people build a better future for themselves. And so we represent those refugees that have come to this country, almost all of whom have family members in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, in concentration-like camps in Myanmar.
And many of them came after , when Facebook began hosting hate speech and disinformation and was being used to target specific villages in Myanmar. And then we now know from the testimony that we've heard from Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, before the Senate committee that Facebook went beyond simply not acting.
But it appears that they have been using algorithms for many years that effectively went beyond distribution and hosting of content to actually engaging in the creation process of content through the way their algorithms amplified and accelerated the spread of the hate speech and the disinformation that ultimately resulted in horrific violence against the Rohingya people.
Under U. How do you get around that? And there's no immunity statute like in Burma. But under international law principles that have been adopted by U. If we're wrong about that - and we don't think we are - we also believe that doesn't apply because they've gone beyond distribution and hosting. And then we see a shift in the courts on these issues beginning to happen. And we're encouraged by that.
And, you know, it's kind of hard to believe that Congress intended for to create an environment on the internet where these kinds of things could take place.
It's not just the violence that's occurring around the globe because of what's happening on social media, but there are other things as well. I mean, there are other kinds of problems arising out of social media.
And we've seen that with some of the reports around teenagers on Instagram. There are reports of illegal drug sales on social media. And, you know, there's much more. It's one of the firms bringing forward a class action suit on behalf of Rohingya refugees against Facebook, now known as Meta.
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