Nine Students from War-Torn Burma in Washington DC

The story of how Parami University was transformed from a residential liberal arts program to an online degree-granting program primarily for students in Burma has been described in the Myanmar Updates. I've been posting every few months for a few years. I know the story well because I was present at its creation and have been a member of its Board of Trustees since September 2022. As the 2024-25 academic year begins, we have 240 enrolled Freshmen, Sophomore, and Junior students, as well grow to a full complement of 400 students over the next two years. This past summer we were able to bring nine of our rising Juniors to Washington DC for 8-week internships at top organizations. The program was a great success and we plan to repeat it next summer. The biggest problem was finding good host-family arrangements. If you might be able to host a Burmese student next summer, please let me know. They are great kids.

The Parami University Internship Program in Washington DC

Summer 2024

Nine students from war-torn Burma got off a bus at Union Station on June 18 to begin 8-week internships at nine distinguished organizations in Washington DC. Their experience in the nation’s capital was overwhelmingly positive. They left with a keen appreciation of this city and with hopes to return at some point during their careers. The nine sponsoring organizations and the host families they stayed with are looking forward to welcoming a new group of Burmese students next year. 

This story must begin with a few background facts. Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been in a state of civil war since independence in 1948. From 1962 to 2011, the country was ruled by a series of repressive military regimes. In 1988, a student uprising propelled Aung San Suu Kyi into the iconic leader of an anti-military opposition that earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She remained under house arrest for most of the years up until 2012 when she was elected to a seat in the parliament under a military-led reformist government. She led her political party, National League for Democracy (NLD), to a landslide victory in the national election in 2015 and her government deepened the reforms during the next five years. 

A second landslide victory by Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party in the 2020 election was nullified by a coup in February 2021 by the Burmese military, which arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and many civilian leaders. This coup precipitated an unprecedented popular uprising across the country that the military regime immediately attempted to extinguish with time-tested brutal methods, resulting in much suffering, death, and destruction throughout the country. The atrocious and indiscriminate crackdown by the military turned a peaceful resistance into to an armed one.

A village burned down by the military junta

In contrast to previous uprisings, however, the opposition gradually gained strength to a point in late in 2023 when it began to achieve a string of substantial victories. By mid-2024 the military junta was in control of less than half of the country’s territory. Moreover, in February it began forcibly drafting young men and women into the army, throwing the country into a state of chaos and forcing the youth to flee from their homes to safer places. 

The Counselor and the [opposition] groups agreed on the importance of maintaining pressure on the military regime to change its course. The Counselor stressed that the United States will continue to promote accountability for atrocities and human rights abuses committed by any parties amid the escalating violence. –US State Department Press Release 16 August 2024

The nine Burmese students who came to DC are now starting their Junior year at Parami University, which is another incredible story. Parami U is the dream of Kyaw Moe Tun, a young Burmese man who went to Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2005 and then earned a PhD in organic chemistry from Yale University in 2014. To pay back his academic success, he decided to establish Burma’s first private nonprofit residential liberal arts college, modeled on Bard College. 

Parami U was formally incorporated in 2020 and began the process of building a residential campus for 600 students less than an hour outside of Yangon. The February 2021 coup disrupted this plan days before breaking ground and forced Kyaw Moe Tun to flee to the USA.

Miraculously, Parami U has been reinvented as an online, degree-granting higher education institution licensed in Washington DC by the Higher Education Licensure Commission. Bard College based in upstate New York is Parami’s institutional dual-degree partner, thereby allowing Parami’s graduates to receive two degrees––one from Parami U and one from Bard College. Its first Freshman class of about 50 students matriculated in August 2022. Among these were the nine students, four women and five men, selected competitively to have internships in Washington DC this summer.

“Although many nonformal educational programs were launched after the military coup, formal degree programs are scarce throughout Myanmar for students who have decided to leave public universities to protest the military junta. With the support of the US embassies in Yangon and Bangkok, I was able to relocate to the United States to provide an online 4-year degree program for young men and women inside Myanmar who can meet our admission standards. —Dr. Kyaw Moe Tun, President of Parami University

Commencement in Chiang Mai, Thailand, June 2024

The success of the Parami U internship program in Washington DC in the summer of 2024 is due primarily to the nine distinguished DC-based organizations that sponsored its students: ACCION, Asia Foundation, Cassidy Levy Kent, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), East-West Center, International Center for Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC), US-ASEAN Business Council, and U.S. Institute of Peace. 

This Parami U program gave nine students a chance to grow both personally and professionally. It exposed them to American values and culture. It gave them an opportunity to engage with people whose concerns and fears are drastically different from those of their Burmese families and friends. It offered them a chance to directly experience the fast-paced and accountable work culture in these organizations. It led to connections and friendships that will help shape their professional trajectories. 

As the Internship Manager, I had the privilege of witnessing the remarkable growth of all nine interns. The experiences they had with their host organizations pushed them to think beyond conventional boundaries and helped them develop lifelong skills that will be essential when they emerge as future leaders in Myanmar. –Ms. Mai Sia Wang

Below are first-hand brief reflections from some of the students and their supervisors at the host organizations. 

The US-ASEAN Business Council has been working since 1984 to promote relations between the US corporate community and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 

It humbled me to get exposed to the bright minds of my fellow interns and colleagues. It made me realize how far Burmese youth are left behind in the international arena and how important this kind of cross-cultural opportunity can be to us. –intern Mr. Kaung Myat Phyo at US-ASEAN Business Council

ACCION is an NGO with an exceptional funding model that combines for-profit and non-profit activities. It was founded in 1961 by a UC/Berkeley Law School graduate, Joe Blatchford, who became the third director of the US Peace Corps. In its words, “We work with local partners to develop and scale responsible digital financial solutions for underserved people globally, so they can make informed decisions and improve their lives.” ACCION started in Latin America and now works in 75 countries.  

My internship experience has had a profound and transformative impact on my life, fostering a deep commitment to contribute meaningfully to my country’s future. –intern Ms. Moe Thiri Myat at ACCION

C4ADS was founded in 2002. It is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit with a mission to defeat the illicit networks that threaten global peace and security.  Powered by its cutting-edge data and technology capabilities, it produces compelling analysis to target networks that operate across borders to destabilize communities, prevent development, and devastate the environment. In 2023, C4ADS completed 41 collaborative investigations with journalists, notably exposing illicit networks in Mexico (illegal fishing), North Korea (breaking sanctions), and Iran (supplying drones to Russia used to attack Ukraine).

C4ADS gave me the skills needed to investigate the illicit business of the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise that funds the atrocities of Myanmar’s military junta. This internship will enable me to contribute to Myanmar’s anti-military resistance movement at an impactful scale. –intern Mr. Naing Min Khant at C4ADS

Mr. Naing took the initiative to participate in planning a multi-stakeholder roundtable event focused on a post-conflict Myanmar. His contributions have been critical to the success of our Myanmar portfolio. –Ms. Ellen Tyra, C4ADS supervisor

The U.S. Institute of Peace was established by the U.S. Congress in 1984, “dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical and essential for U.S. and global security.” In the current Fiscal Year, USIP is working in 26 countries to help people suffering from ongoing conflicts to overcome differences and establish stable, respectable, and effective governments. 

This internship provided me with an opportunity to meet a lot of great people and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work in a prestigious institution in Washington DC. 

–intern Mr. Ming Thet Paing at U.S. Institute of Peace

The East-West Center (EWC) was established in 1960 by the U.S. Congress—in Hawaii— “as a national educational institution to foster better relations and understanding among the peoples of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific islands through programs of cooperative study, training, and research.” EWC has a very active office in Washington DC that organizes conferences and publishes important reports like Asia Matters for America.

My expectations were not only met but exceeded. I gained a deep understanding of US politics and culture while also having the opportunity to share insights into the current situation in Myanmar. –intern Mr. Nyan Htet Htay Win at East-West Center

Briefing for Parami U students at the East-West Center

The Asia Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, was founded in 1954. Over seven decades, it has been “building effective institutions, promoting responsive public policies, helping economic growth to become more inclusive, and contributing to peaceful resolution of violent conflicts.” It has had an active office in Washington DC for many years.

At first, I was intimidated, being surrounded by colleagues who are always ready to contribute their thoughts in the meetings I attended. Then I started realizing my own potential and found the strength to share my knowledge and ideas. –intern Ms. Myat Moe Kywe at the Asia Foundation

Cassidy Levy Kent (CLK) is a law firm that specializes in international trade issues and supply chain matters, with offices in Washington DC and Ottawa, Canada.

I was genuinely impressed by the working atmosphere in the U.S and people were incredibly open and approachable, whether it was for a chat over coffee or a casual conversation during lunch. I got the chance to learn about the on-ground experiences of the people who are working in my field. –intern Mr. Aung Kyaw Win at Cassidy Levy Kent

Typical of an outstanding liberal arts student, Mr. Aung was able to switch between different skillsets seamlessly, including substantive projects ranging from data programming to a self-designed analysis of the impact of tariff measures on trade flows and supply chains. –Mr. James Ransdell, Cassidy Levy Kent supervisor

The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) “focuses on how ordinary people wage nonviolent conflict to win rights, freedom and justice”. Since its establishment in 2002, ICNC has supported civil resistance education through every region of the world, including for learners from Burma/Myanmar.

During my internship with ICNC, I became a passionate nationalist. Now I am determined to contribute to my Rakhine community. It is one of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities and resides in Myanmar’s second poorest state. –intern Ms. Ei Mon Soe at ICNC

Ms. Ei worked diligently on our online course, helping us make revisions and amending the materials with updated knowledge. This course is taught annually to over 60 learners from around the world who are activists in or scholars of social movements. –Mr. Bruce Pearson, ICNC supervisor

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) was founded in 1962 and since then has been one of the think tanks at the center of the foreign policy community in Washington DC. It has a full range of activities: forums, conferences, workshops, blogs, podcasts, publications, etc. It has policy research teams focused on every region of the world covering hot topics and policy issues from nuclear weapons to human rights.

The brown bag lunch with my colleague in my host organization, where they discuss updates from movies to politics motivated me to stay up to date with recent developments in Southeast Asia.” –intern Ms. Pann Ei Thwel at CSIS

Ms. Pann excelled and demonstrated significant growth in her time as a research intern with CSIS. Her work culminated in a thoroughly researched and impactful blog post on the importance of U.S. soft power and educational engagement with the youth of Myanmar. –Mr. Andreyka Natalegawa, CSIS supervisor

The biggest challenge for Parami’s student interns was adjusting to American culture. They had difficulty at first following conversations at their sponsoring organizations because people there were speaking so fast. There were also many cultural references (movies and TV shows, local restaurants, local and national politics) that had to be explained to them. The biggest challenge for the organizers was making sure the students had enough rice to eat. We started by buying a 25-pound bag of rice for each of the four households where they were staying. We had to buy more for their last week in DC!

Because all of Parami’s courses are online and its students are scattered around Burma (also in Thailand and in refugee camps in Bangladesh and Kenya), Parami U strongly supports extracurricular activities with the aim of developing a strong sense of community among the students. We arrange field trips and require students to engage in community service activities. We help students self-organize clubs, both online and for small groups able to meet in person. 

At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Building on this practice, the students in Parami’s internship program this summer were involved in almost daily extracurricular activities. These included watching the 4th of July fireworks from the Washington Monument grounds, visiting Shenandoah National Park, conversations with “friends of Parami U” (such as Derek Mitchell, former US ambassador to Burma), and movie nights at one of the host-family homes. A special treat was a tour of the US Capitol arranged by former representative Tom Malinowski that included an hour-long conversation with Representative Andy Kim (New Jersey) in his office.

In the Capitol Rotunda

The Parami U internship program in the summer of 2024 was remarkably trouble-free. Administratively, the biggest challenge was finding host families for the interns to live with.  Parami U is budget-constrained and was unable to pay the market rate for housing interns in Washington DC, including at the university dorms often rented out for summer internships. Despite appeals sent to well over 100 households in the DC area, we were only able to double up eight students at four households and only one of these was a household with a family. Two others were with single women in their 80s and one was in a large house that was empty because the family spends the summer in Maine. The ninth student stayed at the International Student House, wonderfully located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood but with a room and board charge of around $2000 per month.

Parami’s nine student interns were only able to benefit from their eight weeks in Washington DC because of the support provided by the nine internship organizations and the four host families. We plan to have a second group of rising Juniors doing internships in Washington DC in the summer of 2025. Our ability to do this will depend greatly on how the conflict in Myanmar evolves and getting the donor support required to grow the enrollment from the current level of around 240 students to a sustainable 400 students.

On top of Stony Man Mountain

in Shenandoah National Park

©Lex Rieffel

Member of the Board of Trustees, Parami University

Washington, DC

16 October 2024