Chapter 14: The Reading And Writing For Critical Thinking (Rwct) Project: Working in the Thai Jungle with Indigenous Myanmar (Burmese) Teachers

People of the indigenous tribes in Myanmar (formerly called Burma)¹ come from the Arakanese, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Shan, and other tribes; the plight of many of these ethnic minorities has received comparatively little attention from the outside world. Yet, each year hundreds of these people are killed, and tens of thousands are displaced by the Myanmar army because of their resistance to the current political regime in Myanmar (Culture Care Connection, 2012). As a result, many have fled though the jungle to neighboring northern Thailand. However, Thailand reluctantly welcomes those people (Lwin & Lung, 2009). Therefore, most of the Myanmar indigenous people live in Thai government-controlled jungle camps on the Myanmar/northern Thai border. There is no electricity in the camps and people must build their own shelters. All of the camps have a school for children who often speak different dialects and languages. The teachers are volunteers who usually have no formal training in education. However, they do their best to hold classes with no teaching supplies.