The Mon people are an ethnic minority group living mostly in Southeastern Myanmar, with large communities across the border in Thailand. We work in and with Mon communities in rural areas of Mon state, Karen (Kayin) State and Tanintharyi Region. Providing services and projects in these areas is a top priority for us because they are difficult to access areas that tend to be underserved by other actors. Complicated political divisions and tensions making traveling to and from many of these villages a challenge, both because of checkpoints and travel restrictions and because infrastructure like roads and bridges are not as well maintained as in other areas. In addition, for many Mon people Burmese is a second language. This means many people cannot speak it, let alone read or write it in the hard to reach rural areas. This is our target population because we see a need that is not being met, and a growing gap between this population and the Myanmar population in general.
From within these communities we work with many groups. Our capacity development program works on training youth and young people on skills that will help them succeed in their careers. We work with village leaders and administrations to ensure a strong grasp of the changing political situation in Myanmar, and discuss issues like rule of law, democracy, the constitution, gender equality and federalism with these influential people. Many of our activities target women to encourage political participation and to facilitate conversations about the regular occurrence of violence against women and support survivors. Our beneficiaries are whole communities because a peaceful future for Mon people lies in the strength and fairness of community.