Schooling the System
Insight Myanmar20 Heinä 2025

Schooling the System

Episode #366: Sallo Polak, founder of the Philanthropy Connections Foundation (PCF), has spent decades building a grassroots approach to humanitarian aid in Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Motivated by a lifelong desire to address global inequality—first sparked by a formative journey to India at age 18—Polak established PCF in 2011 to serve under-resourced communities through trust, dignity, and local leadership. “I always wanted to do good, to help people,” he explains, a conviction that continues to guide the foundation’s work.

PCF supports 25 to 30 projects annually, reaching over 15,000 people. Rather than implement projects itself, PCF partners with local groups who understand their community’s needs. “We do not implement any of the projects ourselves,” Polak notes. “We believe in the power of the local communities and local leadership.” The organization avoids formal application processes and instead actively seeks marginalized communities that lack access to other funding sources. Among its standout initiatives is a multilingual education program that helps children from ethnic minority groups transition into Thai-language instruction, enabling greater educational and economic opportunities.

Though PCF operates a diverse fundraising strategy, including embassies, private donors, and corporate partners, financial limitations remain its biggest constraint. “I want to win the lottery,” Polak jokes ruefully. Then he adds, “Maybe it’s not winning the lottery, but if we can, through your podcast, get some more sponsors… that would be awesome!”

Jaksot(506)

The Hidden War

The Hidden War

Episode #484: In Myanmar, landmine contamination has often been attributed to relics of World War 2 or past conflicts. “But in Myanmar today, landmines are not a historical problem,” Nyein Nyein Thant...

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Nothing To Lose But Exploitation

Nothing To Lose But Exploitation

Episode #483: “I particularly look from Marxist feminist perspectives,” says Ma Cheria, a Myanmar-born researcher now living in exile in Chiang Mai. Her work examines how capitalism and patriarchy com...

10 Helmi 1h 17min

Untangling Myth from Memory

Untangling Myth from Memory

Episode #482: “My main mission, so to speak, is to clarify the differences between the many rumors about Myanmar... the myths going on both inside and outside the country, which are all very much rela...

9 Helmi 1h 53min

No End of History

No End of History

Episode #481: Toby Mendel, a lawyer with the Centre for Law and Democracy, has spent over a decade working on freedom of expression and democratic reform in Myanmar. He recalls the Thein Sein years (2...

6 Helmi 1h 16min

Beyond the Robes

Beyond the Robes

Episode #480: Michael Santi Keezing, a former Thai Forest monk, describes himself as both a Buddhist and a “post-Buddhist,” shaped by a lifelong effort to understand the mind, culture, and the limits ...

5 Helmi 2h 4min

No Safe Passage

No Safe Passage

Episode #479: “Thailand is not about people, it's about diversity. People are a very important resource to build a country, no matter where you're from, or who you are, right?” Born in Thailand’s Deep...

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The Space Between

The Space Between

Episode #478: The second episode in a five-part series, these conversations were recorded at the 16th International Burma Studies Conference at Northern Illinois University, where scholars, students, ...

2 Helmi 1h 37min

Welfare State, DIY

Welfare State, DIY

Episode #477: “I found Myanmar a really interesting case study,” says Gerard McCarthy, a political sociologist and author of Outsourcing the Polity. His work explores how deeply divided,impoverished s...

30 Tammi 2h 19min

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