“Burma Telling Its Own Story” – The Beginning of a New Fellowship Project

The new year in the U.S. is very much underway, the hustle and bustle of the daily commute, long hours and increasingly long nights do not distinguish 2013 much from previous years. Yet in Myanmar (Burma), this is a very different story. In 2011, the 17 year long peace treaty established to end the nation’s internal conflict was broken and the country was launched into a state of transformation. Ever since, the country has been striving towards implementing a new democratic government and a free press.

With such an historical transformation underway, we see this as the perfect opportunity to extend an open hand towards Myanmar in the hopes of developing a stronger relationship between the people of our two countries. Staying true to our mission of people-to-people diplomacy, we will work in partnership with The GroundTruth Project to conduct a cultural exchange and journalism fellowship project within the country this June.

Already, in December 2012, OHI sponsored six aspiring Myanmar photographers to participate in a photography workshop that focused on visual storytelling as a means to promote freedom of expression.  The workshop entitled “Burma in Transition” was led by Gary Knight,  a Co-Founder of VII Photo Agency, a Program Director at Tufts University, and the Visual Editor for The GroundTruth Project.

In 2011, OHI and GlobalPost brought the world “Covering a Revolution”–a journalism fellowship comprised of 17 American and Egyptian journalists who reported on the Egyptian revolution from the ground. OHI seeks to do the same thing in Myanmar by bringing together aspiring, young journalists to report about the transformational state of Myanmar from the perspective of its people.

The Open Hands Initiative and The GroundTruth Project will soon begin accepting applications for candidates to participate in this fellowship. Stay tuned, we will be bringing you more news shortly.