THABYAY ALUMNI UNIT
For more than two decades, Thabyay Education Foundation supports human development with a goal to promote peace and reconciliation in Myanmar. Thabyay provides essential academic and student services to the country's neediest communities. Many of its students return to their communities as educators and leaders, and win scholarships from international universities and have made positive impacts in the communities and society at large. As the number of alumni is growing year after year, Thabyay wishes to strengthen its relation with the alumni, and continue proposing activities and projects that will give the alumni the opportunity to be part of a positive and peaceful change in Myanmar. As a result, the Thabyay Alumni Unit has been created!
This new initiative aims to bring together both programs, CLASS and PLRI. The project has been established together with Bread for The World, a globally active development and relief agency and has started beginning of July. This project is part of the Civil Peace Services (CPS) program that aims to prevent violence and promote peace in crisis zones and conflict regions. The CPS is funded by the German Government. It aims to build a world in which conflicts are resolved without resorting to violence. Nine German peace and development organizations run the CPS together with local partners, including Bread for the World together with Thabyay Education Foundation. CPS Internationals support people on the ground in their commitment for dialogue, human rights and peace on a long-term basis.
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The main activity of this project together with Bread For the World include:
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Should you need more information about TAU, please contact:
Nilar Aye via email: nilar@thabyay.org; by phone: 09768766587 |
Staff & Volunteers
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LEAD RESEARCHER Radka Antalíková, PhD, is the Lead Researcher of Thabyay Education Foundation, responsible for coordinating all of foundation’s research activities, contributing to developing proposals for new research projects and writing research publications. From 2018 to 2020, she acted as the Peace Leadership & Research Institute (PLRI) Research Instructor/Mentor. Prior to working for Thabyay, Radka worked for a number of years as a Teaching Assistant Professor at Aalborg University in Denmark, where she taught cognitive and cross-cultural psychology, research methods and quantitative methodology as well as supervised numerous quantitative and qualitative research projects on both Bachelor and Master levels. In 2016, she took on the position of Academic Skills and Project Management Instructor at Global Border Studies, a university-level program for young refugees from Myanmar, located in Nu Poe Refugee Camp, Thailand. Radka holds a Master Degree in Psychology from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, and a PhD Degree in Cross-Cultural Psychology from Aalborg University, Denmark. Apart from Slovakia where she is from, Radka has lived in the United States, England, Denmark, Spain, Thailand and now Myanmar. “Change in society is of secondary importance; that will come about naturally, inevitably, when you as a human being bring about the change in yourself.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti ALUMNI RELATIONS AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR Veronique Geraud joined Thabyay Education Foundation in July 2020 from Europe as an Alumni Relations and Program Development Advisor. Due to the recent covid-19 restrictions on travel back to Myanmar she is beginning her work remotely, from France. Veronique arrived for the first time in Myanmar in 2012. After obtaining a master’s degree in crisis analysis & humanitarian action she decided to dedicate herself to the country and gained experiences and knowledge in Myanmar. She also has a peace and conflict consultant diploma from the academy for Conflict Transformation with Forum ZFD, a program in Germany. She has worked in the field of education, WASH and conflict transformation & peace building and has gained a deep appreciation for Myanmar. Her experiences have also led her to start a part time psychological master’s degree to address the topic of mental health in conflict dynamics and transformation. Veronique will work with Naw Calista (Program Officer at CLASS), Saw Htein Linn (Sr. Program Officer at PLRI), and Nilar (Project Assistant) developing activities and opportunities for the group. She will also work with the 4 Alumni Coordinators. Her motivational quote is: "Be the change you wish to see in the world" Gandhi CLASS ALUMNI COORDINATOR Phyu Sin Oo is one of Batch-6 CLASS program alumni. She graduated in Arts and English at Myitkyina University. She has experience working as a trainer, a program coordinator, an admin, a teacher and in INGOs and Institutes for over six years. Nowadays, she is giving peace based training, supervising and coaching trainers, empowering youth and coordinating with local and international societies in Kachin State. She is very happy to be part of Thabyay Alumni Unit and wishes to strengthen the alumni network. Her motivational quote is: "The future depends on what you do today" Gandhi PLRI ALUMNI COORDINATOR Specializing in social research, Nang Seng Raw has contributed to the design and implementation of various scope of social research projects across Myanmar in both qualitative and quantitative methods. She worked for Myanmar Survey Research for two years since 2018 and gained a lot of experiences in project management, preparing study tools, sampling, analysis and report writing. Nang Seng Raw holds a bachelor degree in Computer Science and post graduate diploma in International Relations. In 2019-2020 academic year, Nang Seng Raw conducted a research under PLRI namely – Bridging the Gap; Understanding of Different Interpretation of Terminology in Peace Process. Her inspirational quote is: "A winner is a dreamer who never gives up" by Nelson Mandela PROJECT ASSISTANT Nilar Aye is originally from Mobye, Phekhon Township, Southern Shan State in Myanmar. She is now studying her third year of Bachelor degree in Art and English at Loikaw University. Nilar holds a Diploma in Community Leadership and Social Studies from Kant Kaw Education Center and is therefore part of the alumni group. She worked as an intern with the Emerging Peace Leadership Initiatives (EPLI) program for seven months and currently, is working as Program Assistant at the Community Leadership and Social Studies (CLASS) Program for Thabyay Education Foundation. Nilar's favorite quote ever is by Malala Yousafzai “With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism” PLRI ALUMNI COORDINATOR Mi Ah Chai comes from Mudoon Township, Mon State. She graduated from Women Empowerment, Leadership, and Management Program, Women Internship in Bangkok Thailand, and graduated in Organizational Development with PAYAP University from Chaing Mai-Mawlamyine. In 2019, Mi Ah Chai graduated from the Peace Leadership & Research Institute - PLRI in Peace Leadership Research Diploma. Currently, she is working with Oxfam in Myanmar as a Research Project Officer for the Natural Resources Management program. She is one of the initiators of the PLRI Alumni network and has just been nominated as a volunteer for PLRI Alumni Network Coordinator. Mi Ah Chai chose a quote from Jeffery Sachs: "Business often does a good job supporting communities: the arts, universities, and scientific enterprises... But that philosophy has rarely reached poor countries. Even businesses that are enlightened in their home bases see Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia as places to exploit natural resources or use cheap labor" PLRI SENIOR PROGRAM OFFICER Saw Htein Linn is Senior Program Officer at the Peace Leadership & Research Institute (PLRI) of Thabyay Education Foundation. He received his B.A. in English from Yangon University of Distance Education. He later attended the Intensive Community Development and Leadership Program at Tounge La` Yat Academy, Education Gathering Group (EGG) in Hpa-An, Karen State. During his studies at EGG, he led a team of young professionals to win the Outstanding Capacity-Building Project Award in Mu Yin Gone village, Karen State, as Project Manager. Saw Htein Linn also holds a Diploma in International Relations from Yangon University and is one of the alumni of the New York Fall Academy, a program for young professionals organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in New York City in the United States. One of his favorite quotes is from John Maxwell: "The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails." CLASS ALUMNI COORDINATOR Naw Seng Awng is currently working as a freelance translator, interpreter, transcriber and researcher. Moreover, he is presently pursuing MBA from European International University and also a CLASS Batch-(4) Alumnus. He used to work with Kachin Theological College, which is the leading institute within Kachin Society. He considers himself as “forever student” eager to both build on his academic foundation with business and politics and stay in tune with the latest marketing strategies through continued coursework and professional development. Furthermore, he loves to write gender awareness songs, as well. His dream is to be a change-maker for his country, Myanmar. His motivational quote is from Rihanna: "All you need to do is to help one person expecting nothing in return! That's a humanitarian to me!" PROGRAM OFFICER FOR COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP & RESEARCH INSTITUTE Calista May Man joined Thabyay Education Foundation in November 2018 as an intern for the Community Leadership and Social Studies Program. In April 2019, she became permanent staff as a program assistant position. Her mains tasks are related to recruitment and communication. Calista holds two bachelor degrees, specializing in English from Liberal Arts Program, Myanmar Institute of Theology(MIT) and Dagon University and Diploma in Project Management (ICM). Her motivational quote is the following: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"_ Philippians 4:13 |