Anand Gopal

Monks teach children critical thinking and human rights, to groom the next generation of activists. Part 3 of 3.

Mae Sot, Thailand; and Rangoon, Burma - Deep in the Thai jungle bordering Burma (Myanmar), a group of children gather every day for their lessons. In an elongated but modest teak shack, nearly a dozen ashen-faced children – all different ages – sit in front of a tattered blackboard.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” teacher Zaw Lazein Oo asks. Each student answers in measured English. “A doctor,” answers one. “An aid worker,” another replies.

Such open-ended questions are unthinkable in Burma’s government schools, where learning is by rote and adheres strictly to the ruling junta’s ideology.

But a new generation of political activists is striving to change that by setting up a network of secret schools – from the Thai-Burmese border to monasteries in Burma – that service impoverished students and teach critical thinking and human rights.

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Last year’s crackdown on Burma’s biggest protests in 19 years spurred them to try new tactics, from teaching human rights to stockpiling arms.  Part 1 of 3

Rangoon, Burma - If Ashin Zawta has his way, the next time the government of Burma (Myanmar) clamps down on dissent it will have to deal with a new force: monks with guns.

“Last September the Army proved too powerful for us and defeated our nonviolent tactics,” says the young monk, whose real name, like those of other activists in this story, has been changed for security reasons. “We need weapons. That is the only way we can bring down this regime.”

One year after monks led thousands in Burma’s largest antigovernment protests in 19 years, many activists say they are losing patience with the slow pace of change. Up against a powerful regime, they are calling for fresh tactics, from teaching human rights theory to stockpiling arms.

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