But within the burgeoning technology community there was an eagerness to transform the country, and a commitment to doing so as a community. And so when, as part of an informational meeting with members of the Myanmar Bloggers’ Society and Myanmar Computer Professionals’ Association, Mark and I mentioned BarCamp, a kind of technology “unconference” increasing in popularity elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the bloggers and computer programmers got excited about the potential for this kind of conference to engage the local tech community. Mark and I were excited by their excitement: Pulling off a BarCamp in Burma seemed unlikely, but we were learning that not everything in the country was as black and white as it may have appeared from the outside. The potential BarCampers were clearly dedicated, so we spent some time discussing the merits and challenges of BarCamp (can you really pull off a conference where most of the schedule is determined the day of?), connected them to BarCamp friends in Bangkok, and headed back to New York City, full of thoughts and questions about the complex realities taking shape in Myanmar. Many of these were ideas we were careful not to talk much about for the past few years, in the interest of protecting people’s security and privacy. But we had reasons to feel cautiously optimistic about the trajectory of the country, in no small part due to the amazing spirit of the people we met. Their dedication to working for a better future, despite the odds, encouraged us to believe that something more was taking place, underneath the surface of this beautiful but politically-fraught country.

And then, something astonishing happened.

After a few initial hiccups, and questions over the merits of planning a BarCamp, the volunteer organizers gained momentum, and scheduled a BarCamp for January, 2010, despite the threat of events being shut down due to elections scheduled for later that year. Merely scheduling a BarCamp was an impressive astonishment, but in the weeks leading up to the actual event, as I watched from afar, something incredible happened – more and more people registered, creating a snowball effect, and driving the number of BarCamp Yangon participants higher than any other BarCamp in the world – ever. In the end, 2700 registered for BarCamp Yangon 2010, and estimates raised as high as 3,000 participants total.

Fast forward three years, and a core group of organizers – plus scores of volunteers – have been diligently planning for BarCamp Yangon 2013 – the best one yet. I’m one of a couple dozen foreigners privileged enough to attend, and, in true BarCamp style, I’m looking as forward to what I’ll learn as what I’ll give. BarCamp Yangon has become deservedly famous in the intervening years, from breaking the world record on BarCamp to Aung San Suu Kyi’s opening address at BarCamp 2012. But the real essence of the event isn’t about breaking world records or speeches by Nobel Peace Prize Winners. The real essence of BarCamp is how thousands of people can come together and collaboratively plan an event in real-time, the skill-sharing that happens, the friendships that are made.

It is an honor and privilege to be here in Yangon for the next few days to finally experience the magic of BarCamp Yangon in person. Follow along via twitter, and let me know what you most want to know from my time here!

Tomorrow’s exhibit is the result of a year-long photo training with students from two Indianapolis high schools – Southport and North Central. Their photos document life in their new country, covering everything from school to home to play.The photographers will be on hand to discuss their images with the public. Don’t miss this special opportunity!

What: Project Einstein photo exhibition

Where: The Indianapolis City Market farmer’s market – 222 E. Market St, Indianapolis

When: Wednesday August 10th from 10:30am to 1:30pm

To learn more, read the press release and check out images from the spring photo exhibition at North Central High School, taken by my mom, Freddi Stevens-Jacobi.

You were born in KweKalu, a place near Mae Sot, Thailand. You live there one year when the Burmese government attacks the poor camp. Your fifty year old grandma carries you to escape, with bombs and fire all around. Thank God, your life is not taken away. When the attack is clear, many people in your village go back, and they can’t find their houses. Instead they find ashes and death.

What is it like to grow up in a civil war? To flee your homeland with your family? To live in a refugee camp? To trade all of the above for a new life in a new country – with the potential for freedom, but only if everything you know is left behind?

These are questions we sought to answer with a recent exhibition of photography by Burmese refugee students in Indianapolis, Indiana. The photographs, taken over the past year as part of Project Einstein Indianapolis, a program focused on telling the stories of refugee youth through photography and digital media.

When I was growing up in Indianapolis, I had never heard of the Southeast Asian nation of Burma/Myanmar. Although there was a small but growing population of Burmese people in nearby Fort Wayne Indiana at the time, I knew nothing about the country, where a military dictatorship has ruled since 1962. If I had, perhaps I would have learned how different my life was from the lives of Burmese people my age. Whereas I grew up in  relative peace, with access to public schools and health services, many of Burma’s 60 million people grow up without either, and in many parts of the country there continues to be active warfare by the Burmese military against ethnic minority groups. More than 3 million people have been displaced by war, political oppression and economic hardship into the neighboring countries of India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia, where they live trapped in refugee camps or illegally as migrant workers.

I didn’t learn about Burma until I went to college, studying at American University which has long supported the democracy movement in Burma. And it wasn’t till I traveled to the Thai-Burma border in 2003 and met Burmese refugees there that I learned about the growing ties between my hometown and people from Burma. By 2007, when Mark and I were learning from Burmese refugees in Thailand as part of a team from the Center for Peace Building International – research that inspired us to found Digital Democracy – there was a growing population of Burmese refugees who had been resettled in Indianapolis. Now, there are more than 5,000, representing primarily the Karen & Chin ethnic groups from Eastern & Western Burma, respectively.

Because of my own personal journey of learning about Burma, it has been humbling to work with the Project Einstein students at Southport & North Central High schools as they have told their own stories through words and text. This past month, both have had the opportunity to showcase some photography and highlight their other talents at events at both schools. At Southport High School, Chin students and other English language learners performed in a concert on April 26, and a few of their framed images were on display in the atrium of the theater. On May 3rd, Karen students at North Central high school debuted their photos to fellow North Central students and the community at large, with a reception that was previewed by the Indianapolis Star.

The reception was an evening of celebration and pride for the Project Einstein North Central students, which included students born in the US and Latin America as well 14 Karen refugees from Eastern Burma and one student from Iraq. They dressed in traditional clothing as they welcomed a crowd of more than 200 to see their images and read their journey stories, which were printed on small cards that viewers read while walking up a ramp representing the journey from the refugee camps in Thailand to their new home in Indianapolis. In the atrium, photos were on display taken by participants of Project Einstein Thailand, depicting life at the Leadership Management Training College in the Mae La Refugee Camp. On the walk up the ramp, scenes of camp life were interspersed with facts about Burma, refugees in Indianapolis, and how to support new refugees through supporting Exodus Refugee services. At the  top of the ramp the framed images were on display, and viewers could speak with the photographers and eat refreshments, including Karen food made by one of the photographer’s family.

The reception was a truly special event, made possible by the work of many volunteers who helped hang the show, set up for the evening and invite viewers to come. Project Einstein Indianapolis is supported by the Clowes Fund, and a grant from the Washington Township Foundation paid for the printing and framing of the images. Most of all, I want to thank the staff and students at both schools who have made this program possible. They embody the idea of Project Einstein – that even though Einstein was a refugee, he could still do great things.

Check out more images from the reception, and stay tuned as we organize a joint show for the students work this spring. Contact info(at)digital-democracy.org if you would like to purchase any of the students’ images.

Photographers Eh Blue and Shar Ka Pru Say greet visitors along with Washington Township Superintendent Dr. Mervilde

Family members walking up the ramp at North Central, representing the journey from "Thailand" to "Indianapolis."

That’s the distance I’ve been driving every day this past week to work with two communities of refugee youth living on opposite sides of town in Indianapolis, Indiana. Many of their experiences – moving to a new country, resettling in the US, adapting to life at an Indianapolis high school – are quite similar, yet they aren’t connected in a way that they are able to talk with and support one another. And many other people in the community aren’t even aware that several thousand refugees from Burma have resettled in Indianapolis, much less do they know about the hopes and dreams of these newcomers.

The distance between the two high schools

We’re working to change that.

Project Einstein Indianapolis is over two years in the making, as we first had the idea to recreate Project Einstein in Indianapolis with Burmese refuges in the summer of 2008. In the meantime I’ve remained in close contact with schools and refugee leaders in Indianapolis, and watched as they’ve struggled with the challenges of adapting to a very different life in the US. This year, thanks to support from the Clowes Fund of Indianapolis, we’ve launched Project Einstein Indy to celebrate the lives of Burmese refuge youth in Indy as well as connect them and their classmates to students in Burmese refugee camps in Southeast Asia

I’ve been working with these youth every day for the past week. It’s been inspiring to watch them draw maps of their communities, learn basic digital photography and work on photo essays about the topics most important to them, including life in Indianapolis, how they get around and their faith and values.

This week, we’re reviewing the photos and creating exhibits to be displayed at their schools for their classmates to see, and then in central locations in the community for folks in Indianapolis to learn just how many refugees from Burma now live here. One exciting aspect of this is that we will be bridging the gap between the refugees on the north  and south sides of Indianapolis, who have been so geographically separated yet have gone through such similar experiences.

Article on DDOS attacks in Myanmar newspaper

The tripʼs goals were to conduct research through data mapping, perform trainings, and create media profiles and organizations. Dd visited Mandalay Division, Rakhine/Arakan State and Yangon/Rangoon Division. Digital Democracy has previously conducted research with Burmese groups in Thailand, Bangladesh India and China, creating a comprehensive study on information in and around the county.

In the lead up to elections in the country, information access is becoming more suspect. Arbor Networks points out that the county once again fell off the Internet. Over the course of the past several days, their main Internet service provider, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication suffered a large, sustained DDoS attack disrupting most network traffic in and out of the country. The other ISP, Redlink is reporting similar data loss.

We’re proud to be launching our report on the state of ICT in the country to help contribute to the often misunderstood reality on the ground. Despite the growing and lively sectors, there are still major limitations and room for improvement. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.

Digital Democracy Burma Report

Since last year’s PE session the students have been working on a lot of their own interesting projects. In addition to their normal coursework the students formed an organization of their own called the Dream of the Future Group. Last spring DFG visited communities of internally displaced people who have fled fighting between the Burmese government and armed Karen groups to distribute school supplies to children. They spoke with the teachers and community leaders struggling to provide education in the desperate conditions of the IDP camps and discussed ways they could support them.

Soccer in Mae La Refugee Camp

Not only did they successfully complete an extremely difficult (not to mention dangerous) project, DFG had the foresight and savvy to record their trip and put together a DVD showcasing their work through photographs and video. The borrowed equipment for filming and editing from friends, neighbors and relatives. And though I can tell you that this DVD exists – I held it in my hand – I sadly cannot tell you what it contains. On my trip to the school I discovered that my laptop’s CD/DVD drive does not work. Something I didn’t know since, in today’s world of YouTube and downloadable music I hardly ever have reason to USE the drive. To add to our collective frustration, the students only had been able to afford one blank DVD and so had only the one copy. Unfortunately, I could not take it from them, and I had to leave it behind.

Despite my disappointment at not being able to see their work, the fact that they had experience shooting digital video was a great encouragement when I introduced the students to the Life in a Day project, which we posted about on our blog in July. My discussion with the students inspired some very interesting conversations about what one can film to give the world a sense of daily life for young people living inside a refugee camp. We also talked about different ways to protect participants’ identities and security, a critical issue when filming people who have fled political and ethnic persecution.

But once again, the many restrictions on people’s lives inside the refugee camp reared their heads. Despite our best efforts, DHL and Thai customs blocked the cameras from reaching me so that I could bring them to the students. While undoubtedly frustrating the experience also had a lot to teach me about the realities of life in the camp. Somehow, the much-vaunted services of the modern parcel delivery service I am so used to could not get the job done. It was as if the rules that we normally operate under did not apply, indeed I often found that was the case in the camp.

Finally, while with the students I took the opportunity to shared Dd’s recent good news. Very soon, we anticipate a Project Einstein to be connecting the students at LMTC to their Karen and American counterparts in Indianapolis where Emily will soon be preparing the US half of the digital penpal link-up.

Personally, I’m really looking forward to watching this exchange. In my time in Mae La I was constantly surprised by the resourcefulness of the people there. Though certainly deprived of many material things and extremely restricted in their ability to communicate with the outside world they found endless ways to reach out and learn about what’s happening beyond the boundaries of the camp.

An example that never failed to amuse me was arriving in camp on certain mornings and being asked by people there “Did you see the match last night?!” They were, of course, referring to the World Cup. From what I gathered they would find a friend or relative that had a TV and satellite hook-up, or perhaps a computer (all technically contraband in the camp) and crowd the set a dozen at a time. And so despite the obstacles they watched the games – watched them live – and were eager to discuss the relative merits of the German and Argentinean offenses or that blown call just before half-time. And while discussing sports may seem a trivial thing I found it extremely significant that people who are restricted to this small, remote corner of the globe find ways to stay connected, on their own terms, to the rest of the world.
There is no doubt in my mind that without technology like cell phones the camp residents’ insatiable interest in the outside world would never have been fulfilled (DHL clearly won’t do it for them). I believe that Project Einstein has the potential to be a transformative new tool for the students at LMTC and, ultimately, for the people of Mae La in general.

I should say, too, that I am excited to see all the things that the students in Mae La have to teach their American counterparts. The students in Indianapolis are in for an education the likes of which they have never imagined. Though as Americans they have access to all the information they could ever want, there is still much of the world they do not know and much they can learn from their fellow students in the refugee camp.

In the end, I left LMTC humbled. If ever I thought my own work was admirable, it seems small compared to the drive and commitment of these young people who, though refugees themselves, didn’t hesitate to face considerable dangers in order to help those less fortunate than they. I am proud to count them among Dd’s partners and I look forward to the day when their American colleagues in Project Einstein get to meet them. And when all of you can hear their stories and get a glimpse into their lives directly from them.

In this episode of DdTv venture back with us to January 2008 to see the origins of Project Einstein. Mark and Emily spend several days working with youth in Kutupalong refugee camp in Southern Bangladesh, home to thousands of Rohingya refugees from Burma. Stateless, the Rohingya, a muslim ethnic group from Western Burma have fled to Bangladesh to escape the human rights violations they’ve suffered in Burma, where they are also denied citizenship.

In the camp, Mark and Emily train a group of youth ages 9-14 in digital photography skills, enabling the kids to explore where in their lives they encounter such universal themes as peace, happiness, the disabled and sadness. See their photographs, listen to them as they reveal their dreams, their hopes for the future, and become the inspiration behind the creation of Project Einstein.

Little Brother - Burmese Cover

When brave people risk their lives for the greater good. When they’re accidentally giving an aggressive military a full roadmap to their extended contacts and friends, it’s unfortunate. Given Facebook’s recent breach of trust, allowing for more private data to leak out than people are comfortable with, there has been a growth in people knowing about their digital rights. This 21st century literacy is crucial.

But in places where data leakage is most risky, I’ve found that it’s also least understood. Cory Doctorow’s “Little Brother” is a compelling book about a teen and his friends who use technology to challenge an authoritarian regime. Using real-life technologies, the book is more than a thrilling story, but it can also become a viral training manual for activists who need to use technology to do their work and can start to do so more securely and effectively.

If you haven’t read the book yourself, I recommend buying a copy or downloading one for free to see what all the fuss is about. Why free? He talks about the benefits of publishing for free online over at the Guardian.

Thanks to all those that supported our Kickstarter campaign, I’m happy to bring to you the first in what will be our serialized release of “Little Brother” in Kachin, Karen and Burmese languages. To our partners at ABITSU for the translation. And thanks to Jonathan P. Berger for his cover design and overall inspiration.

Comments and questions from you are always appreciated. Our question is, when “Big Brother” is watching, who is watching back? This is another step towards answering it.

Little Brother - Kachin Cover

Little Brother - Karen Cover

Niki Jawerth has been working with us since January, and in that time has transformed from an Ushahidi novice to our Human Rights Cartographer in Chief. Focusing on Handheld Human Rights, she has single-handedly entered hundreds of human rights abuses into our Ushahidi map and has helped refine the material we use to train others. In addition to working with us, Niki is a graduate student at the School of International Service at American University. She is seeking a Masters degree in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs with an emphasis on human rights and social justice.  As a Swedish-American, Niki has utilized her international upbringing to her broaden her knowledge of human rights, and she hopes to impact the shaping of the global human rights framework in the future. It was her interest in Burma that brought her to Digital Democracy, and through her work with us she has been able to marry her passion for human rights to her background and excitement in technological innovation. Her internship with Digital Democracy will formally end this summer when she heads to Brussels, and we are excited to see how she will continue to leverage technology to promote international human rights.

Dragana Kaurin also got involved with Digital Democracy in January, responding to our call for help developing Ushahidi to track human rights in Burma. She has since worked on Handheld Human Rights as well as helped with our Haiti work, focusing on researching the status of Haitian women. Originally from Sarajevo, her family came to the US in the mid-90s as refugees. She recently graduated from Ohio State University with degrees in Arabic Language and Cultural Anthropology, and completed an honors thesis on the “The Socio-Cultural Impact of Turkey’s Ban on the Hijab: The Case of Leyla Sahin.” Well-traveled, she has worked and studied in Western Sahara territory, Bosnia and Syria, where she worked closely with Iraqi refugees. Her career has focused on human rights, with specific interests in the MENA region and Central Asia, and in the fields of women’s rights, cultural/structural violence, and refugee rights. She began interning with us following a six-month stint at UN OCHA where she worked at ReliefWeb. Her critical thinking and commitment to human rights have made her a perfect fit with our team, and we’ve particularly appreciated the work she and Niki have put into refining the categories for the Handheld Human Rights map.

In addition to Niki and Dragana, a team of students from an undergraduate course on Digital Media & Global Development at the University of Maryland has been helping log incidents as well as blogging about the experience. Along with Niki and Dragana, these volunteers are really pioneering how human rights information can be placed on a visual map and timeline. We’ve particularly learned from the challenges they have faced along the way, such as shifting through long-reports in search of data, or deciding exactly where to map an incident with often limited information. These lessons will be invaluable as we move forward and expand the scope of Handheld Human Rights.

Finally, we owe our biggest thank yous to our Burmese friends who translated Ushahidi into Burmese, enabling HHR to be fully functional in the language (download the zawgyi font to view Burmese script) and most of all to the incredible coalition of human rights organizations operating around Burma’s borders. On a daily basis human rights workers risk their lives to report on the realities inside Burma’s many states and divisions. By mapping their information on this dynamic map, we work to honor their research by making it more accessible and actionable.

Handheld Human Rights in Burmese

Mark and Emily travel to Mae La refugee camp in Northern Thailand to launch our digital penpal program Project Einstein with Burmese youth. Students from the Leadership Management Training College, never having held a camera before, are taught the fundamentals of digital photography, including composition and editing, and choose themes from their lives to document with the cameras: Internally Displaced People, A day in the life in the camp, youth life and School life.

While giving the training, Mark and Emily stream live for the DdTv audience: a tour of the camp’s facilities, and conversations with the students on topics of technology access in the camp, and how digital photography has the potential to change their lives. Watch this episode of DdTv and see what this refugee camp looks like through the eyes of the youth living there.