A group of EarthRights School Burma alumni drawn from regions across Burma recently reunited in the capital for an Alumni Reunion and Workshop. Twenty two alumni attended the event on 30 and 31 January in Rangoon, facilitated by ERI’s Alumni Program Coordinator. Participants, including alumni from 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007 and 2004 graduating classes, travelled from some diverse and distant locations to take part, including Mon, Kachin, Arakan, Shan and Wa States and other areas.

Since the beginning of the Mekong Alumni Program, different generations of alumni have come to the Mekong school to share their experience. They have provided invaluable support that has made both the program and the alumni network grow stronger. Through teaching sessions at the Mekong School in 2011, several alumni shared their knowledge and expertise as guest teachers.

Lao alumni Dorn and Somsy (alumni from 2007) worked together on a 2011 small grant project aimed at raising awareness of the impact of dam projects on the Ou River in Northern Laos. The Ou River is a major tributary to the Mekong and its rich natural resources and high level of biodiversity provides a livelihood and also serves a spiritual purpose for the people living along its banks.

In October 2011, EarthRights alumni Siriporn Kotawinon (2007) and Phairoh Suchinphram (2008) organized a public seminar for villagers in Kalasin province as part of a local community campaign aimed at raising awareness about the impact of the government’s plans to build a nuclear power plant in the province.

The Ta-ang Students and Youth Organization (TSYO) is pleased to announce the release of two new reports on ongoing earth rights violations in Ta-ang Region of Shan State.