Hi
Friends,
I'm
writing this while it's still fresh in my head. I hope you find it interesting.
The
'Burma Volunteer Program' is based in Thailand (on the border of Burma - also
known as Myanmar), and works collectively with more than a hundred
organizations, assessing their needs and placing volunteers based on their
background and skill set.
New
people are important because they can sometimes see a situation in a fresh
and exciting way that others may have become
accustomed to. So here goes..
In a
nutshell, Burma's military regime has been in power for almost 50 years* and is
responsible for the displacement of thousands of citizens. The National League
for Democracy (NLD) was elected in 1990 but the military prevented it from
convening. Pro-democracy leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was placed
under house arrest for 15 years until her release in 2010. With nationwide
uprisings (in 1988 and 2007) came brutal crackdowns; opposition was stifled and
freedom of expression restricted. Hundreds of people were imprisoned for their
political beliefs.
Human
Rights Watch
and Amnesty International have documented cases upon cases of human
rights violations against political prisoners and pro-democracy activists. The
climate within Burma has not been good. People have been silenced out of
fear and the country suffers from heavily censored media as well as restricted Internet
access. The world has responded to the regime by implementing sanctions which
have arguably hurt more than helped the people of Burma.
Burma went
from being the richest country in South East Asia to one of the poorest. The country is home to over 20 distinct
minority ethnic groups. Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Buddhists all live in
Burma.
The
border of Thailand and Burma has become an important place where organizations
and NGOs have 'set up shop' to work with Burmese political prisoners and
refugees, both educating and empowering them. There are of course concerns
about legitimacy, intervention and crackdown. The Thai government has been
talking about repatriating the people of Burma for some time now and those
living in border towns, such as here in Mae Sot have
been kept on their toes about being interrogated or deported. The town, a mix
of Burmese, Karen, Thai, Chinese all go about their business without wanting to
draw too much attention to themselves or their living situations.
Given the
nature of the work, volunteers come
from a range of different educational backgrounds including law, politics,
journalism, development and human rights. Often they take what they've learned
and share their experiences with people back home, in an effort to spread
awareness and liberate the people of Burma.
Personally,
I've been assigned a 3 month project with a women's group working with staff
and interns to improve their English language and general communication skills
to a) be able to communicate with foreigners and the media b) learn how
important the empowerment of women is on the path to democracy and development
c) fast track their way to higher education, thereby improving the (currently
low) rates of tertiary school attendees.
I'll keep
you posted and hope you continue to read up on this experience.
d.
*The 2010
elections replaced the military with a civilian government (backed by
armed forces). The world has been applauding recent reforms including an upcoming
election allowing the National League for Democracy (NLD) to re-join the
political process
.JPG)
