Bob Anderson has been visiting villages in the Burma-Thai border region, where families have been forced to flee from the brutal Burmese military regime, for more than 10 years.

He left his job as an English and media studies teacher at Seaham Comprehensive School in 2004 to become a founder member and chairman of the Burma Education Partnership (Bep), set up to provide teachers for children living in refugee camps on the Thai border.

Bob said: "This is an extremely busy period for the charity. We are currently organising a mobile teacher programme which is taking up much of our time."

Three teachers have been inducted to the unit and Bob flew to Thailand this week, to direct the project and prepare for the arrival of the new teachers in September.

He said: "The teachers will work in a number of schools run either by the Burmese Migrant Workers Education Committee or the Karen Education Department."

The Karen area of Burma was devastated when Cyclone Nargis hit the country on May 2 this year, unleashing 120mph winds, torrential rain and flooding that caused a catastrophic trail of destruction.

Bob said: "After a period of observation and teaching to identify key issues and problems they will begin to design and trial supplementary materials to extend the existing curriculum."

The Bep already has its sights on next year's programme, which will include an English language summer school in possibly two refugee camps.

Bob, 59, of Hett Village, County Durham, has been visiting the region for the past 13 years teaching English to the Karen, a large downtrodden ethnic group.

Eight years ago a cloud was cast over his involvement when he suffered a blood clot in his right leg while in Thailand, which resulted in him needing an emergency operation.

The incident put future trips to the Far East in jeopardy, but he made a good recovery and was eventually given clearance to fly out again.