Earth Mission uses a three-step vetting process to select students who are the most capable of and committed to transforming the lives of their people. This process looks like:

1) Nominations from community leaders: Community leaders throughout the regions of Karen State identify and nominate exemplary young adults who want to serve their communities. We typically receive 35-40 nominees.

2) Screening interviews and exams: We invite community leaders and their nominated candidates to our jungle clinic for interviews and exams. Candidates take placement exams in English, writing, and mathematics. Then, we interview them alongside their community leaders to help them identify: if a 5-year medical training program or 3-year engineering training program is right for them; if they have the right expectations, attitude, and fortitude to make it through; and if they are truly interested in serving as a medical or technical professional in the resource-limited areas of southeast Myanmar as their calling and career. Finally, they undergo initial health screenings for clearance to live and serve in the harsh jungle environment. This step typically narrows down our candidate pool to about 20-25 young adults.

3) Boot camp: In the final phase—one which we affectionately call “boot camp”—we help these young men and women seriously consider: “Do I really want to do this?” For 4 weeks, candidates undergo team-based strength and endurance trainings. They complete tasks required of students and staff at our jungle clinic, such as carrying patients, cutting and carrying firewood, building bamboo shelters, fishing, and cooking meals. Through all of this, we look for traits required to effectively serve in the mountainous jungles: mental resilience, physical strength, teamwork skills, work ethic, positivity, patience, and compassion. These are the students we choose to invest in—because these are the leaders who will transform southeast Myanmar. We typically accept 16-20 students into the new Year 1 cohort.

Sponsors commit to sponsoring a student in one-year increments. From start to finish, the Physician Associate program typically takes five years to complete, and the Engineering Technology program takes three. Whether you choose to sponsor a student for one year or five, your investment will have a far-reaching impact on the thousands of people your student will serve for years to come.

A $6,000 sponsorship ensures that your student has everything he or she needs to thrive while working hard to save lives. Direct student costs include housing, food, health and hygiene, education materials, travel, and a personal stipend. Indirect costs include instructor salaries, enrollment and legal costs, and medical and engineering training supplies. Realistically, costs fluctuate based on the ongoing conflict and needs of the students. If the cost of your sponsored student’s education totals to $5,500 in one year, then the extra $500 of your sponsorship will help cover an unsponsored student’s education or be invested in additional ways to strengthen the education program.

Once your donation is paired with a student, you will first receive an introduction packet. After that, you will receive quarterly progress reports. Your sponsored student is living and learning inside of an active warzone. Quarterly updates will highlight the progress of either your student or the overall program, depending on the quality of communication access we have to the field at the time. These reports will include information such as education progress, skills learned, impact data, and inspiring stories of service. In addition, you will receive an Earth Mission Annual Report and a Student Yearbook with additional photos and details about your sponsored student.

Our students have grown up in a volatile environment and are determined to help their people. We have an extensive vetting process to ensure we accept the most resilient, capable young adults of character into our education programs.

In the event that your sponsored student exits the program early due to personal or safety circumstances, the education he or she already gained thanks to your sponsorship will still impact lives. Our team will contact you if your sponsored student chooses to leave the program. Then, you can decide whether you want to discontinue your sponsor status, or transfer your sponsorship to another student in need.

Sponsors have a responsibility to protect their sponsored student. Our students are living and learning in a warzone that is dangerous to their safety. It’s very important for us to closely monitor the communication that leaves our operations. In order to protect our students, at this time we strictly prohibit donors from communicating with our students through social media or other means. Please do not try to contact your sponsored student via social media, even if you see that he or she has an account.

In order to limit the opportunity for them to directly contact you, we do not share your name or contact information with your sponsored student. If you are contacted by your sponsored student outside of our correspondence process (for example: by email, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), please don’t respond, even to say, "I’m sorry but I can’t talk with you in this manner." Please let us know about the contact by calling (479) 524-0776 or sending an email to JIll at earth@earth-mission.org. By letting us know if your sponsored student does contact you, you allow us to work with our students to reinforce our communication policies for their own safety.

We remain hopeful that the conflict in Myanmar will end soon. We are considering future donor communication opportunities for when that time comes. In the meantime, thank you for helping us protect our students. If you have any additional questions, please email earth@earth-mission.org.