Charity-Oriented Myanmar

Charity Oriented Myanmar (COM) is a national youth-led civil society organization dedicated to promoting democratic culture and socio-economic development in Myanmar by empowering youth and women, strengthening political institutions, raising political awareness among the public, participating in the peace building process and working for the development of rural and urban communities. COM, although currently doing many projects at the national level with the international links and support, was born as a small team in 2005 by a local youth group with the purpose of working for the community development. We initially started with the activity of “Pyinnyar Darna,”_ Pyinnyar means education and Darna means charity and that’s why it literally means education charity_ as we believed that education is the most fundamental, essential and powerful tool to build a nation. Accordingly, we delivered IT trainings and English classes from basic to advanced levels to those who were in need with very affordable price. In the following year, we geared towards the development of young people and managed to open “Window Library.” Since then, we had continuously been participating in the development of the nation with a firm stance to impart formal and non-formal education using modern techniques and methodologies. In 2008, after Nargis Cyclone hit, we provided humanitarian aids and psychosocial supports to cyclone victims and carried out rehabilitation programs at affected areas for two years. The Nargis work led to awareness amongst our staff members and supporters that we needed to be more proactive in contributing to creating change in the country.