Many of the teachers and trainers delivering courses at the EarthRights School of Burma are members of the School’s own staff, or come from other ERI programs to share their expertise in campaigning, law, or organizational development. But sometimes the School and its students also benefit from an incredible pool of educators from diverse backgrounds and from all over the world. So far in 2009 alone, the following visiting educators have given ERSB their time and expertise, providing students with invaluable skills, knowledge and networks that they could never otherwise have accessed:

• Thein Oo, Chair, Burma Lawyer’s Council: the Rule of Law
• Steve Thomson, Images Asia (E-Desk): Mining and Dams
• Kate Tillery, Human Rights Attorney and ERI Board Member: International Law
• Misti Miley of Arakan Oil Watch: International Environmental Law
• Jelson Garcia, Regional Coordinator, Mekong & Southeast Asia, Bank Information Center: International Financial Institutions
• Permaculture Professional Colette Schmidt: Sustainable Development
• Aung Myo Min, Director, Human Rights Education Institute of Burma: Gender and Women’s Rights, a course which could easily lead to some raw feelings in the classroom but which, thanks to his expertise and sensitivity, remained a calm and in-depth discussion of the equal rights of women

ERSB and its students are more grateful to these experts for their generosity and commitment than it has words to say.

Following all of these courses, students took classes in report writing, mapping and map-making, and interview and fact-finding skills, and were given intensive orientation sessions by key staff and ERSB alumni, to properly prepare them for the fieldwork research they have been carrying out in recent weeks. They will soon return to the School to write reports and make presentations on their findings relating to such earth rights issues as mining, dams, logging, forced relocation, migration, land confiscation, forced labor, and food security.