Train Leaders in Asia for Peace and Sustainability

Dear Kind Donors and Supporters,

We would like to express our deepest appreciation for your support over the years. Both your monthly and campaign-day donations keep us moving forward in our work at the School of English for Engaged Social Service (SENS), under the umbrella of INEB Institute. Thank you for believing in our work supporting young adults in Asia to realize their leadership potential, to see the world we live in through a wider and more systemic lens, and to take constructive and healing action.

We are approaching our newly developed 3-month “SENS in Residence in Mae Sot” program, which begins in early September 2026. SENS is by its nature a residential program where face-to-face interactions deepen the human connections and the learning. We are simply making that possibility available in a new environment, a small town on the Thai-Myanmar border. The program has emerged through a lot of support and effort from many of our alumni, colleagues, and friends. We are looking forward to exploring the new possibilities of a flexible program format, with different groups of participants from the Myanmar migrant communities in Mae Sot, Tak, Thailand. 

Below are some updates from our team and our alumni after the SENS 2026 Graduation:

1. Our program director’s visit to Vietnam in July 2026

On July 19, our director, Ted Mayer, visited Hue City, Vietnam, with two main goals. The first was attending the wedding of two SENS 2023 alumni who found each other through the program. One of them is a wonderful English teacher from Vietnam with extensive experience organizing summer English and climate awareness programs for underserved children in remote areas of her province. Her partner, a serious scholar and educator, is from Myanmar. Their union is a beautiful reminder of how love and genuine care can transcend borders and ethnicity.

The second goal was joining the SENS Vietnamese alumni gathering. Trang (nickname), an alumnus from Ha Noi, helped organize a warm and moving gathering by opening up a space and making sure everyone had an equal amount of time to share their life stories — fun memories, challenges, and what they really want to do in life. This was the first in-person gathering of Vietnamese alumni after many online sessions, and it was even more special with the presence of the SENS program director.

       2. Summary of the Mae Sot survey trip and overview of our upcoming Mae Sot program

To live and work in Mae Sot for three months, with the city our extended campus, as it were, we needed to find a place to hold our activities and a place to live. In our search for such spaces, we were overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity of our Myanmar teacher alumni. Two of them offered us the use of their organization's main offices at no charge: a computer room we can use on weekdays, and a classroom at a GED school for weekend classes.

For our work team to live and work in Mae Sot for three months, we found a beautiful and well-cared for wooden house on a forested lot not far from one of our classrooms. We were so moved by the determination and deep sense of responsibility Nway (nickname) showed, dedicating considerable time and effort to make sure we had a place to live in Mae Sot. It was a physically demanding three days, but the trip was also filled with warmth and gratitude.

On the second day of the trip, we met with 8 Myanmar teachers who had gone through our previous trainings. Many others could not attend due to part-time jobs and teaching schedules. At the gathering, we took time to share and listen to each other's current life situations. We also took the chance to ask what topics and classes our teacher alumni would like to participate in. Their responses gave us many valuable insights, which will help tremendously in our preparation for the program, starting in September.

We are exploring what it could look like to make ourselves available as resource persons — with all our strengths and faults — to Myanmar teachers and young adults on an ongoing basis. We were also encouraged by the willingness — even enthusiasm — of our Myanmar teacher participants, who now run their own programs, to share their teaching spaces with us when possible.

      3. Our vision for SENS 2027

This year's climate statistics — record ocean heat, prolonged heatwaves, and forest fires across Europe and beyond — have underscored an urgent need. We believe a true leader must be deeply aware of the crises humanity faces, and the climate crisis stands among the most existential of these threats. In SENS 2027, we hope to encourage and challenge our students to engage with this issue — or rather this cluster of issues, including mass extinctions — in whatever way they can. To that end, we plan to integrate more class series exploring climate change and its relationship to our economic systems and ways of living.

We are also shifting how we present SENS to prospective students — not only in Thailand, but also in Vietnam, and potentially South Korea, Japan, and India. Rather than emphasizing SENS as an innovative English program (which it is), we want to present SENS primarily as a transformational experience: one that draws out participants' leadership qualities and helps them clarify their life direction in a positive and grounded way. To reach these audiences authentically, we believe our materials should be available not only in English but also translated into national or local languages. With our alumni network, we believe we can create materials to effectively communicate the nature of the SENS program to a wider audience. 

These updates — from the first in-person Vietnamese alumni gathering, to securing a home base and classroom space in Mae Sot to support forcibly displaced Myanmar teachers, to deepening our commitment to climate education and expanding our alumni-driven outreach — remind us that SENS has not been just a 3-month program, but a living, expanding community. As we prepare for both SENS in Residence in Mae Sot and SENS 2027, we carry your support with us into every classroom, every gathering, and every new relationship we build. Thank you for continuing to walk this journey with us.

With deep gratitude,
The SENS Work Team