Position: English Teacher

No. of positions available: 2

Length of contract: 11 months

School: English Immersion Program (EIP)

Location: Umphium Mai Refugee Camp, Tak Province, Thailand (4 days a week)
Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand (1 day a week)

Responsibilities:

• Teach intermediate-advanced English to 20 adult Burmese refugees 18-24 hours per week.

• Actively involve students in the learning process

• Update and improve the curriculum provided

• Attend monthly education meetings with Karen refugee camp leaders

• Give final exams and write report cards each trimester

• Live in the student dorm (inside the refugee camp) 3 nights a week.

• Help manage after school activities at school such as activity nights, cleaning duty, coking duty etc.

• Help recruit a new English Teacher for the following school year

We are looking for 2 native English speakers who:

• Have a university degree and at least 1 year teaching experience

• Have good essay writing skills

• Are culturally sensitive and discrete

• Are motivated, flexible and have international experience

Stipend and Benefits:

• 8,000 bhat per month (about $200 US)

• Free accommodation in Mae Sot (w/air con.) and bicycle

• Free visa renewals and weekly transportation to and from the refugee camp.

• Breakfast and dinner provided at school.

• Valuable on-site international development experience

• Gain experience living and working with refugee communities from Burma

• Opportunity to learn Burmese and Karen culture and language

Here are the answers to a few questions that might come up about this position:

1. What are the living conditions like?

When living in camp 3 nights a week teachers sleep in the student dorms, each with have a showering room and toilet. The bathrooms have clean, Thai-style toilets. There is a male and a female dorm, both are cozy bamboo houses which usually have electricity from 6 PM to 9 PM each night. Teachers have their own room inside the dorm with bedding and mosquito nets. Outside of the time we use car batteries to power to run movies, music and lights. We have a water storage tank so, we rarely run out of water. Students make every effort to make the teachers as comfortable as possible. The students cook breakfast and dinner for the whole school which usually includes a vegetable curry and rice. The classroom and dorm are also cleaned by the students who rotate through a cleaning schedule. Shops and restaurants and available in camp to buy whatever basic necessities you need. There's a long market street near school with shoe and clothing shops, kitchenware and hardware shops, tea shops etc. The refugee camp is located on a mountainside, so walking to and from the market, though a short distance is not leisurely. It takes about 5-10 minutes but it is mostly uphill. Thanks to the mountainous location, however, there are very few mosquitoes and other pesky bugs. There are dirt roads through the camp, but not all the way to the school. You will be dropped off about a 5 minute walk from the school.
Myself and Patrick, the other EIP teacher haven't found the living conditions to be a problem this year. Sometimes things aren't perfect. Our car batteries might run out so we have to watch a DVD the following night instead of right away, but we've seen these as small inconveniences.

In Mae Sot, living conditions are very good. There are Thai, Western and Burmese restaurants. In the EIP Mae Sot office, where the teachers will live, we have air conditioning, fans, a fridge and a hot shower. We have 2 computers with internet access. The healthcare is good in Mae Sot and you can buy almost anything you would like including some Western products like peanut butter and M and M's. There's a decent se

2. Is it safe in Mae Sot and in the refugee camp?

There have been no major security problems along the Thai Burma border for many years. There is an occasional bomb set off on Burmese side of the border, but they are small and I've never heard of them harming anyone. There is very little malaria in Umphium and Mae Sot. People who have malaria here, got it from working for long periods of time in the deep jungle. It is not necessary to take anti-malarial drugs while working in Mae Sot or the refugee camp.

3. Can you live off your 200$/month stipend?

Both myself and Patrick have been able to live comfortably on 200$ a month. We have free accommodation, and meals at school. In Mae Sot accommodation is free as well as bicycles. We go out to eat almost every meal because food is very inexpensive. We spend our money on food, traveling around Thailand, calling our families long distance, going out with friends, renting movies, buying clothes. We haven't budgeted carefully our stipend has covered all our costs.

4. Are there any difficulties with visas?

EIP is supported by two legal education NGO's working on the Thai Burma border. One of the NGO's will take care of your visa. EIP teachers will recieve a Non-Immigrant Visa which will allow them to work legally in Thailand, in Mae Sot and in the refugee camp. We have had noproblems with visas this year.

If you are interested in teaching at EIP please send a cover letter and resume to brooke@attglobal.net