P P D D

The Peoples Partner...

“voices of peoples and communities”

This e-newsletter features the various programs and projects developments of Peoples Partner for Development and
Democracy (PPDD)

Issue Nº1 - April 2008

INTRODUCTION ON PPDD
PPDD - Peoples Partner for Development and
Democracy...
... “empowering peoples and communities”
PPDD started in the Philippines in 2002 with a
group of young activists and academicians who
wanted to address the dismal economic situations
of some communities in Manila and in some other
parts of Luzon. PPDD worked with communities
living in Malabon and Payatas which are con-
sidered slum areas. It implemented projects on
micro-finance, health and sanitation, women em-
powerment, gender education, organic farming
and community rehabilitation. These projects
were in operations for one and a half years and so
far had humble successes. After 2 years of opera-
tion in the Philippines, PPDD transferred its base
to Chiang Mai Thailand and this paved the way
for the broadening of organizational mission and
vision, fields of work and issues of concern. It
facilitated the expansion of geographical areas of
work of the organization. These changes rede-
fined the nature and scope of the organization.
PPDD became a regional organization working in
Southeast Asian countries in conflict and in post
conflict situations like Burma on issues such as
human rights, social movements, development,
democracy and peace. PPDD has two offices, one
in Maesot Thailand which is the base of the or-
ganization and a branch office in the Philippines
in Manila.
Peoples Partner for Development and Democ-
racy (PPDD) is a regional organization working
mostly in Southeast Asian countries in conflict
and in post conflict situations. It was formed to
help address stressful poverty and developmental
related problems of local people and communities
living in Southeast Asia affected by war, victims
of cruelties, injustices and oppressions under
repressive governments and are in the process of
democratization by providing human rights, sus-
tainable and rights based approach to develop-
ment and political training and education that
promotes the building and proliferation of peace-
ful and democratic societies. PPDD puts special
consideration and attention to the most vulnerable
sectors of society i.e. children, youth and women,
and the marginalized sectors (the indigenous peo-
ples) as beneficiaries. PPDD’s prime vehicle in
Children of the Light School
realizing its mission is “empowering people and
communities” through capacitating and raising Livelihood for the Communities where the
their level of awareness on the ways and means school programs are located
and processes of resolving problems that affect
Training Programs
their lives.
• Conflict Resolutions and Transformation
As an organization it has its local, regional and • Basic and Advanced Political Education
international partner organizations, individual • Democracy and Democratizations
supporters and it is also a member of international • International Human Rights Laws, Standards
umbrella organizations. PPDD is a member of and Mechanisms
CLAN – Children’s Legal Advocacy Network • Organizational Development and Management
and CAP (Children/Youth as Peace Builders) • Basic Diplomacy and Human Rights Courses
International. The Philippines branch office of • Human Rights Reporting and Fact-Finding
PPDD is working closely with its partner organi- • Fundraising and Project Proposal Writing
zation - CLRDC – Children’s Legal Rights and • Strategic Campaigning and Advocacy
Development Center (a human rights organiza- • Media and Publicity Work
tion based in the Philippines). In terms of finan- • Sustainable and Human Rights Approach to
cial support for 2007 - 2008, the organization Development
receives financial assistance from May 18 Foun- • Women and Environment
dation (an organization based in South Korea); • Transitional Justice
TSUKI (a meditation center based in the Nether- • Political Training
lands); CAP International; Humanitarian • Community Development and Organizing
Committee University of Utrecht, The Nether- • Leadership
lands; Laughing for Life (a French circus • Micro-finance and savings
group); Thaimes Bar and Restaurant (a busi- • Campaign and Advocacy on Children’s
ness establishment based in Maesot Thailand); the Rights, Business and Human Rights, Politi-
Eekhof Family (Leiden, The Netherlands); Mr. cal and Democratic Issues
Eugene Leader (Russian –American supporter
Other and General Services
and board member of PPDD); and Ms. Erin
Nicholson (an Australian individual supporter).
• Research and Technical Writing
PPDD wishes to extend its heartfelt gratitude and
• Policy Advocacy, Lobbying and Campaign
wants to say thank you to all these people and
Media Work and Networking
organizations for their continuous support. The
• Fundraising
following are PPDD current Programs and Pro-
• Preparation and Formulation of Educational/
jects;
Training Curricula and other paper works re-
Children Alternative School Programs lated to it
• Political Work
• Light School 1: Alternative School for Bur-
mese Stateless and Displaced Children along
the Thai-Burma border, Maesot Thailand
• Up-coming - Light School 2: Alternative
School for Burmese Stateless and Displaced
Children along the China-Burma border, Mai-
jayang Kachin State, Burma
• Up-coming - Ashram School: Alternative
School for Displaced. Marginalized and Less
Fortunate Dalit Children from Koran Tahsil,
Madhya Pradesh State, India
Community Organizing and Development
Projects
• Micro-Finance and Savings – Community
Based “Bayanihan” Banking Program/Center:

“voices of peoples and communities” 1

 P P D D

News Brief

• International Training Course on the Light School in Mae Sot

Children’s Legal Advocacy Network (CLAN) and Investigation and Prosecution of Extra-
the Anti-Corporal Punishment bill and its Judicial Killings, Enforced Disappear- • AHRA - Asian Human Rights Academy
campaign ances and Torture (Davao) by Camila Fas-
sarella
• Anti-Corporal Punishment law cam- This project is an international human rights
DAVAO, Philippines. It’s considered the nation’s academy designed for individuals who want to
paign cleanest and most child-friendly city and its citi- work on human rights issues, or who work for the
zens are proud to say they feel safe walking first time on human rights issues and/or are inter-
CLAN (Children’s Legal Advocacy Network) has
around without fear of violence, but those seem ested in pursuing international human rights stud-
an ongoing campaign on an Anti-Corporal Pun-
like pure cover-ups to what the city really hides. ies.
ishment Law. Two members, Abegail (from
CLRDC) and Camila (from PPDD) are going on
The International Training Course on the Investi- The project shall be a three-week activity and
constant visits to the Congress, House of Repre-
gation and Prosecution of Extra-Judicial Killings, shall be held either in Bangkok or in the Philip-
sentatives, to personally deliver material kits to
Enforced Disappearances and Torture held be- pines, where founding members hold their respec-
the Congressmen and Congresswomen.
tween February 29tth and March 2nd showed its tive offices. There are two founding member or-
The kit contains materials printed by Save the participants a little bit of the truth behind, not ganizations of AHRA, Peoples Partner for De-
Children (Sweden) concerning the bill and anti- only in Davao, but in the whole country. velopment and Democracy (PPDD) a regional
corporal punishment (what it is, why it’s wrong, organization based in Thailand with a branch
ways to a positive discipline and the relevant Also, we were given examples of how cases were office in the Philippines and the Children Legal
human rights), and a cover letter in the name of or are being handled in other countries, such as Rights Development Center (CLRDC), a legal
CLAN. Argentina (Disappearances during the Dirty and human rights based organization based in
Wars), Spain (genocide cases in Rwanda and Manila, Philippines. The three-week training shall
Their staff members receive the material, and Guatemala) and America and Torture plus, or- delve on discussion and analysis of international
through them, we can gain an idea if the response ganizations’ cases such as the ICC and its view on human rights instruments, human rights mecha-
is positive or if they are more interested in pass- Command Responsibility and ICRC’s Privileged nisms and procedures by different human rights
ing other types of bills. Luckily, there have been Communication. system.
some positive responses from the staff, and we
have already received replies through phone calls One dared to say that the biggest proof of the The goal of AHRA is to enhance and deepen un-
or fax, and have received requests for the bill existence of freedom of expression in the country derstanding of the international human rights
itself. Since it’s costly to send it to every Con- is that there are still media killings happening, tribunals and how these systems operate and re-
gressman, the bill will only be forwarded to those and it was not said as a joke. Although most agree spond to address issues being brought up to them
who express interest. We have also received some that shouldn’t be the case. Each and every lecture such as those issues that include, but are not lim-
tips from the staff on who to contact and who showed us that oppression leads the people no- ited to, gender justice, poverty, sustainable devel-
might be interested. where; it actually leads the whole population to opment, peace, democracy and human rights.
live in constant fear. And those living in fear will Particular attention will be paid to the regional
Also, as of March 12th, some Congressmen and have no courage of ever trying to stand up for context and current discussion regarding human
women have given feedback and seem truly inter- their rights; a population living in fear will never rights implementation in South East Asia.
ested in sponsoring the bill. We even had a meet- develop. A population in fear will lead a country
ing with the chief of staff of one in particular, to stagnation, because they are too afraid to ever The program will provide an opportunity for par-
who should give us a feedback from his Con- try anything new. ticipants to exchange experiences and ideas from
gressman soon. their national context and offer a forum for the
It was interesting to relate those facts and deci- establishment of a regional human rights network.
Hopefully, soon enough, there will be Congress- sions made by the lawyers, the presentation of the Participants having completed the programme
men intensively interested in the rights of the cases to what we see during human rights work, will gain knowledge in the area of human rights,
children and those who will sponsor our bill to outside the court and also from what we read in which can be transferred to national human rights
end the suffering of thousands (if not millions) of newspapers – those who solved the case or inves- training activities.
children in the country who are constant victims tigated the case were there, they knew the whole
of different types of maltreatment. story and could show us how the process un- The primary objective of the training is for the
folded. participants to be able to apply their leanings
-- Camila Fassarella from their training in their respective work to
PPDD Philippine - Manila Office Coordinator The Philippines still has a long way to go until it further strengthen the human rights advocacy for
can be described as a country with complete free- social change.
dom of expression, without fear of retaliation,
from whoever it may be. But the participants of
the training, most of them prosecutors, showed
faith that there is hope and they’re fighting for it.

2 “voices of peoples and communities”


PPDD in action... the Light
School and its development
The “Alternative Education and Community
Development for Stateless and Displaced Chil-
dren along the Burmese border, Mae Sot, Thai-
land” is one of the main programs of PPDD. This
project aims to provide basic education, safer
conditions, child-friendly environment, critical
and analytical teaching methods for displaced and
stateless children. The project has been in opera-
tion for over one (1) year and 2 months now and
is catering to 120 stateless children from Burma
which will for sure increase in number in the
coming school year (2008-2009). The school
currently has six (6) teachers, one cook and a
project coordinator working together to run the
school. The school is located a few kilometers
outside of Mae Sot.
The school serves meals for children and takes
care of the health. It asks health and medical re-
lated assistance from Mae Tao Clinic, a partner
institution of Light School. The teachers of Light
School for over a year of being together devel-
oped a sense of camaraderie, friendship and care
for the school and their students. They have a
harmonious relationship as colleagues and work-
ers and they live together in the school since they The project generally consists out of 5 phases
are being provided by PPDD with quarters/rooms
and place to live inside the school compound. • Phase 1: Building of the new school and the
They are happy being at the school and are really
committed in their work. Each teacher has his/her
own responsibilities to observe and the head mas-
ter supervises and is ensuring that these responsi- • Phase 2: Opening of the school, education of
bilities are fulfilled in lieu of the daily operations
of the school. The parents of the children are very
happy that their children have access to educa-
tion. They believe that education is important for
their children to have a better life in the future. • Phase 3: Active involvement of the commu-
They believe that knowledge is power.
LS Developments
• Light School was provided with a play ground
complete with recreational facilities for kids.
• PPDD and CLRDC (Children’s Legal Rights
Development Center) confirmed its partner-
ship in trying to provide legal assistance to the
pupils of Light School in trying to provide and
look for ways and mechanism for these state-
less children to have legal status and identity in
their own country or in other countries.
• The school built a new toilet to accommodate
the growing number of children coming to
Light School.
• Students are doing an excellent academic per-
formance. All grade levels generally speaking
are progressing in each of the subjects offered
by the school.
• PPDD rented another piece of land just beside
the existing school area and facilities for 5
years. A new school was built just besides the
first school building. This is for the purpose of
“voices of peoples and communities”
P P D D
expanding the school to accommodate more
children which is expected to increase in terms
of number by next school year.
• A well had been constructed for the school to
have a regular water supply and a water tank
was provided as well.
• Uniforms both for the Light School teachers
and the 120 kids were provided.
• A motor bike for the school to be used by the
school project coordinator will be provided as
well in the next coming week
• The Christmas party and year end party of
Light school will be on Dec. 20. It will be a gift
giving and fun time for the kids
PPDD envisions that this project will not only be
a one time thing but will expand in the next com-
ing years. It is currently expanding its activities
not only to educational related initiatives but
community development and organizing activities
as well of which the primary beneficiaries of
these are the parents of the pupils/school of the
school itself.
provision of necessary educational and teach-
ing materials and facilities
local youth and guidance for teachers and the
school, and implementation of certain alterna-
tive teaching methods
nity, awareness-raising on human rights, com-
munity education, introducing community
development activities and projects will facili-
tate improvement of local conditions and re-
duce child labor in the area
• Phase 4: Legal Assistance to Stateless Children
• Phase 5: Expansion of the school operation to
higher grade level and continued community
development and organizing and human rights
education of the community
Closing ceremony of Light School for school year
2007-2008
Director’s Section: Reflections and
Commentaries
• The Different Faces of Human Rights Viola-
tions in Burma: Atrocities Committed
Against the Children in Burma
By Anna Malindog (Human Rights Activist work-
ing for Burma)
Working for Burma, a country bleeding and suf-
fering from the claws of the “Burmese Army, the
Tatmadaw” – is quite a challenging experience for
me. In as far the country is concern, it is indeed
facing acute cases of not only political and eco-
nomic crises but much more it is confronting
social unrest like the massive deterioration of the
country’s social and moral fibers being exempli-
fied by the massive and extensive cases of human
rights violations committed against the civilian
population of the country. Human rights viola-
tions and abuses are but common undertakings in
Burma. They are too common that they already
become part and parcel of the daily life of the
peoples of Burma. This has been my realization
and observation after several times of visiting and
traveling all throughout the country.
In as far as my journey to the different places in
Burma is concerned there were two constant
scenes I was always confronted with. The first is
the war-torn and the hard kind of life that peoples
of Burma is facing especially in ethnic areas. The
other one is the atrocities and human rights viola-
tions and abuses committed against children in
Burma and this is the area that I would want to
highlight in this article since I am currently work-
ing and monitoring on this issue.
Burma as a country has been in constant conflict
since independence from Britain in 1948. Internal
civil war and poor governance has brought about
widespread poverty, poor health care, low educa-
tional standards and systematic human rights
abuses. Children are among the most vulnerable
members of society, have been disproportionately
affected by all these factors. Children in Burma
are increasingly vulnerable to different kinds of
exploitations. These include dangerous and forced
labor, trafficking, portering, recruiting child sol-
diers, imprisoning children in labor and military
camps, and sex assaults against children.
A growing number of children between 10 to 14
years old are engaged in paid work and there are a
growing number of street children in concentrated
urban areas. As the economic conditions continue
to deteriorate in Burma, children are often needed
to work alongside their parents in order to raise
enough income for the family. Other children are
forced to work to support themselves, after losing
one or both parents. Children are frequently seen
working in teashops, and begging to supplement
their family income. In addition to working to
support their families, children, like adults, are
often pressed into service to carry out forced la-
bor for the military. I have seen this horrible sce-
nario when I was traveling around the country.
3

On the other hand, the military regime forcibly
conscripts and uses children as forced laborers on
infrastructure development projects, income gen-
erating projects for the military, and to provide
support for military operations. Forced labor in-
cludes such work as portering, road construction,
sanitation and building maintenance for military
camps, building construction, acting as messen-
gers and various other chores for military person-
nel. Widespread poverty has also led to a growing
number of children from Burma being trafficked
into prostitution and street begging. In the face of
extreme economic hardship, some parents sell
their children, because they believe that the child
will have a better life elsewhere, or because they
are desperate for the small amount of money paid
by the trafficker.
As a consequence, children who are sold into
prostitution suffer both emotional and physical
trauma, in the immediate context and long term.
Thailand is the primary destination of trafficking
from Burma. These young prostitutes are not
adequately educated about sexually transmitted
diseases and customers who pay more for a virgin
girl are rarely willing to use a condom. Child
prostitutes are often held against their will after
being sold into prostitution and do not receive
adequate food or health care and live in physi-
cally insecure situations where they fear bodily
harm from both their employers and customers. If
a girl is no longer profitable because of pregnancy
or disease she is often turned out on the street.
Moreover, ethnic minority children are often
more vulnerable to abuse due to the fact that civil
war is often drawn along ethnic lines and fought
in ethnic minority areas. In most cases, children
living in ethnic minority areas, like other mem-
bers of their communities, continued to be sub-
jected to physical injury, torture, rape, murder,
forced labor, and forced relocation. Children in
these areas were also forced to witness atrocities
carried out against their family and community
members; to endure separation from their families
and communities; and to suffer from extremely
limited access to health care, education, housing,
and food.
In retrospect, as far I am concerned, when you
speak about human rights violations of which of
different kinds and latency (extensiveness), chil-
dren being the most vulnerable sector of the Bur-
mese society are most affected. Almost all kinds
of human rights abuses that you can name in
Burma, you can always see children as victims.
This condition is quite alarming and needs imme-
diate action. And I hope that even through this
short description on the dismal condition of the
human rights situation in Burma contextualized
on the plight of the Burmese children, the interna-
tional community will pay attention to the case of
Burma and make some interventions in order to Soon my first big project with the PPDD will
stop human rights violations in the country as a begin. The construction of the new “sister
whole.
4
P P D D
Staff in Focus ment. I am currently in the process of doing fund
raising for the school here in Boston. On top of
Eugene Leader... making a difference in lives the great feeling that comes with knowing that I
of Burmese Stateless Children in Thai and am helping out with a great cause, I really like
China – Burma border… living in the remote parts of Asia and getting
“away from it all”. I also like adventure and I am
expecting many incredible experiences from my
second trip. I am extremely excited. I will be able
My name is to get more and more involved in similar projects
Eugene Leader. after I finish up my last year for my accounting
I was born in degree in the upcoming school year.
Moscow, Russia
in 1983 and
moved to Bos-
ton, USA in
1993. I discov-
ered poker dur-
ing college and
stunned my
family with my
decision to take
a break from
school with
only a year to go
in order to see the world and to play poker profes-
sionally. My work is unique in many ways. I have
a lot of free time and since most of my play is
through the Internet, I am never committed to
staying in one place. Another unique aspect of
playing poker professionally is that is provides no
The new Light School building constructed by the
benefit to society. This has bothered me for a
Light School community and Mr. Eugene Leader
while and has led to my involvement in wanting
to help others in need. In summer and fall of 2006
I tried to sponsor and build a small, family-style
orphanage four hours north of Kiev, Ukraine.
After three months of running into disappointing
dead ends which resulted from dealing with cor-
rupt government and religious officials, I gave up
on the idea.
In fall of 2007 I stumbled upon, and eventually
joined, the PPDD during my two month trip to the
Thai-Burma border city of Mae Sot. I began as a
volunteer English and Music (recorder) teacher at
nearby schools and discovered PPDD and Light
School when I heard that it was in need of a sec-
ond building and so I decided to help out. I was
also immediately impressed with the unique at-
mosphere and global curriculum of the school and
I said to myself that I wanted to contribute to
either expanding it further, or to the creation of
other schools like it. I was also surprised to find
out that my favorite bar in the area, Thaimes Bar,
was actually a non-profit bar. It was founded by
the PPDD at the same time as the Light School in
order to support its operating costs. Soon after, Eugene having fun playing with Light School kids
Anna Malindog, the Executive Director, a Fili- in the new uniforms donated by himself
pino human right activist flew in from Istanbul
Turkey and from Europe from her post graduate
studies and we discovered that she and I shared
many common view points and interests. I was
overly excited when she and the others offered
me to join the PPDD organization.
school” of the existing Light school will begin in
this May and I am heading over to Southeast Asia
in late April so that I can help with its develop-
“voices of peoples and communities”
 P P D D

Literary Gimmicks
• Poems and arts
The struggles of our people ……

We come from different nations

Mongolia, India and the Philippines
But our problems are the same
Land confiscation! Displaced people!
Environmental destruction, child labor and milita-
rization
Who’s to blame? Who’s to blame?

ADB, MNCs, and the World Bank

You come to our lands
You take away our lands
You set-up factories
Extract our natural resources
Exploit our people and violate our rights

You destroy our environment

You bribe the authorities to suppress us
And when we resist, the police and the military Painting made by a 12 year-old Light School
take our lives Student

Chorus 2x:

It’s our place!

It’s our rights!
It’s our people!
It’s our homelands!
We will fight for our rights!

Fresh air and nature… that’s our rights!

Water, air, rivers and forests… that’s our rights!
So go back
Give us back our lands
Give us back our freedom
Give us back our lives
We will not give up
We will not give up our rights
We will stand and fight

(Repeat chorus 2x)

Painting made by a 13 year-old Light School

Student

Aung San Suu Kyi, Democratic Icon Leader of

Burma: Free HER!

Painting by Saw Kennedy

Painting by Saw Kennedy

“voices of peoples and communities” 5

 P P D D

Give and Thanks

Support Peoples Partner for Development and Democracy (PPDD)
initiatives… If you are willing to make a donation, our bank account information fol-
lows below:
There are many ways you can get involve:
Bank Name: Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited
• Make a Donation to any of PPDD activities Account Name: Ms. Anna R.D. Malindog
Account Number: 390 4 31440 2
• Help Build School for Stateless an Displaced kids in China-Burma Swift Code: BKKBTHBK
border and Northeast India
Bank Address: 125 Changphuak Road
• Donate for the Light School Alternative School for Children located at T. Sriphoom A. Muang
Maesot, Thailand (Thai-Burma border)
Chiangmai 50200, Thailand

• Make monthly or recurring donations Bank Branch: Pratungchangphuak Chiang Mai Branch
For more information, please contact:

Anna Malindog
PPDD Executive Director
Email: anna@peoplespartner.org/armalindog@gmail.com

Contact Details Staff Members

Got any comments and/or questions regarding our work or the
newsletter? Feel free to contact one of our staff members:
Find Peoples Partner for Development and Democracy online:
Anna Malindog (anna@peoplespartner.org)
— Executive Director
Official website:
Eugene Leader
http://www.peoplespartner.org — Funding Coordinator/Board Member

Official blog: Camila Fassarella (camila@peoplespartner.org)
— Philippines, Manila Office Coordinator
http://armalindog.blogspot.com PPDD e-newsletter coordinator
Facebook Causes Page:
Dale Bromley
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/58258 — Training Coordinator

Myspace Official Page: Naing Win

— School Program Coordinator
http://myspace.com/peoplespartner

Orkut Official Community:

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=43393908

6 “voices of peoples and communities”