Phaung Daw OO and Intensity are two schools that are actively making a difference. Founded in 1993 by brothers Venerable Nayaka and Venerable Jotika,  Phaung  Daw OoIntegratedschool in Mandalay offers tuition-free education to both boys and girls who would otherwise, due to poverty, be forced to drop out.  Providing standard education from kindergarten to high school, the school staffs 130 teachers, 70 of which are volunteers, and 6390 students.

The semi monastic facility offers a dormitory for young  male students who are all novice monks from around the country. Students study web design, sewing, cooking, medicine, languages and more.  Although no medical degree from Phaung Daw Oo will hold ground even in Myanmar, the students are able to help others in the community as well as to learn marketable skills for their own future careers. 

Equipped with internet, which even many universities in Myanmar can’t boast, web design is considered an extremely important skill, perhaps because the internet is the only viable way to communicate with the outside world. Philanthropists have donated all computers and textbooks. The new wing (donated by an Australian and currently under construction) is to be an expansion of their free clinic offering aid to walk in patients and is staffed by a volunteer doctor who is assisted by the students. Medicine for the clinic was also donated. Without such aid they have no way of getting medicine except to purchase low quality Chinese generics.  Whether the handouts make it to the school or not is another story. The government opens all mail into the country and makes the decision to deliver or not.  The best way to donate is to send through the British Council in Yangon.  The monks don’t like to bother the British but it’s the surest way for them to receive packages.

Volunteer teachers can come to the school to work for up to 3 months with a Meditation Visa that the government devised for Buddhists to come and prey.  Since the school is also a monastery it is the only viable way to get into the country to help.  The legality of working for the school is an evolving matter.  One English teacher I met from California informed me that working there was illegal and you can and will be expelled from the country if you do so.  She was working for a private language facility.  Her friend, also a teacher at the same facility, said it had become legal quite recently. Either way, the regime changes it’s mind on such matters quite frequently, so if you plan on volunteering it’s probably best to not mention it when applying for the 3 month visa.