INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
1st-30th JULY 2016
Dear Friends and Supporters of Bridge Across Borders South East Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEACLE) and BABSEACLE Australia,
I am so grateful that I became part of the BABSEACLE/Australia team for a month and though my internship is coming to an end, I have had a solid experience from doing Clinical Legal Education (CLE) work. I learnt fruitful knowledge from the local community leader to supervisors. I experienced the strong team spirit of the BABSEACLE/Australia team that made me feel like home over the past month I will always value and appreciate this opportunity.
My name is Sai Oo Hseng Ngin (a.k.a Philip) and I am very honored to have been asked to write this newsletter for BABSEACLE/Australia.
CLE externship program at YUDE_ Photo: KyawHtin
Starting off with my first week at the CLE English workshop training at Yangon University Of Distance Education (YUDE), I was warmly welcomed by the four BABSEACLE/Australia team members and another twenty plus externship students from both YUDE and various universities in Australia. The one-week training gave us knowledge of useful teaching methods and helped us figure out how to cope with barriers when doing CLE work within the community. It as well is a great chance to encourage students from Myanmar to learn through interactive and reflective methods where opinions are welcome to share. I was very glad to see Myanmar students are trying their best to participate in various learning activities although most of them have never been exposed to those interactive teaching method before.
After the CLE training at YUDE, the Australian extern students were formed into two groups; Pyay University group and Taunggyi University group. I was with the Taunggyi group and our team travelled to Taunggyi on the 9th of July for CLE English teaching at Taunggyi University for three weeks. However, I was only going to stay at Taunggyi for 2 weeks because I had a CLE English teaching schedule for YUDE Burmese students during the last week of July. Though experiencing some difficulty with participant scheduling in Taunggyi, the team managed to solve it quickly to meet the community’s needs.
Before and during lesson planning, the externs considered the barriers that Myanmar students might face during the lesson and they really took into consideration the different teaching methods so that the teaching went smoothly
CLE English Teaching @ Taunggyi_Photo: Philip
Another thing that must be mentioned is the beauty that Taunggyi has to offer, the hospitality of the local people and of course, Shan food because those are what keep each and every BABSEACLE/Australia team member motivated and active throughout their stay. Shan Tofu noodle has been a good lunch routine for the team. One fine evening after training we went to the top of the mountain, it was very refreshing and gave us strength for tomorrow’s CLE English classes. Also, we really enjoyed dinner on 21st July which was organized and hosted by the Taunggyi law teachers and tutors.
Exploring the Beauty of Taunggyi_Photo: Philip
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone who has been supporting the BABSEACLE/Australia team and intern like me. My heartfelt thanks also goes to the United World College of South East Asia, Singapore for funding me and I am glad that I was able to contribute back to the Myanmar community with the BABSEACLE/Australia team. I’d also like to encourage future interns to consider doing an internship program with BABSEACLE/Australia based on my experience as an intern. I can say that future interns will surely experience a practical CLE related work to the fullest.