Burma account of humanitarian work on Thai - Burma border

Burma Week Seven August 22nd 2010
When you think it can’t get much worse than Yangon we arrive in Pathein, the Delta area and the third largest city in Burma and as the guide book states, “Famous for its parasols”. This is the second time we have been here and even though it is difficult to get too I promised I would come back. A big military base around 10,000 military based here. You can feel the oppression with soldiers everywhere.
This is the worst affected area of Cyclone Nargis. ‘Heavy rain expected’ was all the regime’s state owned media reported on 2nd May 2008 as Cyclone Nargis sped towards Burma with wind speeds of 190km an hour and a three metre tidal surge, bringing death and devastation to the Irrawaddy Delta. But the regime did know what was coming, the cyclone had formed offshore days before, monitored by weather agencies, and the Indian government was so concerned at the regime’s lack of preparation that they directly informed them about the cyclone.
To ignore warnings and fail to warn the population of the coming cyclone, or give any advice on how to prepare for when it hit is bad enough, but what followed was even more shocking, though sadly not surprising. As news began to trickle out about the scale of the disaster, the United Nations and aid agencies began to mobilize help, only to be told by the regime that they were not welcome.
In the days after the cyclone, as usual, the regime was blocking news from getting out of the country, and Burma Campaign UK mobilized its underground network in the country to find out the scale of the disaster. They told us that there was barely a house in Yangon that hadn’t been damaged. That people had no electricity and no clean water, and that there was no sign of any government officials or the army to help clear up the damage.
The news from Rangoon was bad, but what worried us more was the lack of any news from the delta region, near Pathein. Most people live in bamboo houses held together by dried grass. The area is low lying, so very vulnerable to flooding, and many people live by the sea or rivers which would have been badly hit by the tidal surge. Using UN satellite imagery we were able see the scale of the flooding, and estimated that 2,000 villages had been flooded.
As the regime continued to refuse shipments of aid, Burmese people in Yangon packed cars and vans with supplies and drove to the delta to help people. They returned with horrific stories of death and devastation, of whole villages empty, or where all the children were gone, having been swept from their parents’ arms by the force of the wind. Bodies were everywhere, rotting in fields and villages. People had little or no food or clean water. No shelter and no medicine. There regime’s response was to send the army to the delta, not to help people, but to set up road blocks to stop people going in to deliver aid, and to stop survivors escaping.
The British, French and American governments were asked to use their Navy ships in the area to go in directly and save lives, but France and the USA refused, and the UK didn’t have the capacity to act.
Two weeks after the cyclone had struck; most survivors still hadn’t received any assistance. At last, UN Secretary General Ban Kid-moon, who had repeatedly refused to go to Burma to try to persuade the generals to allow in aid, left for Burma. He appeared to have negotiated a deal to allow aid workers in, but once again the regime had lied to the UN. They granted more visas, but not nearly enough to deal with a crisis on this scale. In the week after the much-hailed agreement, the regime was still turning down visas for aid workers, access to the delta region was still restricted. Even those aid workers that did get visas arrived in Rangoon only to find there were not allowed to leave the city. 350.000 men women and children died, because aid couldn’t get to them. Back pack medics from Dr Cynthia’s were one of the first on the scene with the religious organizations, but when the junta realized they were getting through they put more complicated road blocks in place. There is a Burmese phrase about how much aid was getting in, “it is like tossing a sesame seed into the mouth of an elephant”.
The effects are still visible and we see hundreds, thousands of orphaned children in Pathein, being housed in big boarding houses without parents and a poor uncertain future.

Monday
The children of Pathein play football in the safety of the cathedral compound in the tropical monsoon rain laughing and joking playing in bare feet, with the football shirts we have donated from Newcastle. They play in the relative safety of the compound.
Outside the compound the streets are dirt tracks with very few cars and trishaws. Streets have open sewers and as I sit and rest I watch a rat scurry up the wall. A man comes out of his house, hits the rat and throws it into the middle of the street. It looks like turn-of-the-century London nothing changed in 100 years. It is densely populated and has had no development for years. Everywhere there is filth and rubbish with noisy people throwing dirty buckets of water out of windows and lots of street traders selling crickets and other suspicious creatures. The people are so friendly and shout out "Minglaba" hello as they don't see any westerners. On an evening while walking home in the dark we are serenaded by young lads singing in perfect harmony with their battered old guitars. Electricity goes off at regular occasions, the hospital has no medicines and children left on the dirty floor on stretchers dying of Dengue fever which is a preventable disease.
During a lunch of Fish paste and Rice the priest asks Declan about young voluntary teachers teaching English in this part of the world. In Mae Sot they often get volunteer unqualified teachers teaching English and practicing western concepts on these vulnerable children. I think it is important to remind ourselves that we don’t want Burmese children to think like westerners, we want them to have a balanced cultural appropriate education. I am aware after spending time just being with these communities that western development workers should not blindly impose modern improvements on ancient cultures but that industrialized countries have lessons to learn from Burmese people, about educating and building sustainable societies.
Fr H an old friend asked Declan if he would come back and teach English. He took a long time to reply, he said slowly. Teaching is a highly specialized skill, teachers in the UK take many years to train, then practice to become proficient. He said I would not want to practice on these communities as they are so vulnerable. He said he would stick to immersing the children in the English language through a vocational subject eg sport, something they enjoy, in addition to learning Burmese.
Tuesday
The priests know how difficult it is for us to stay down here. I have been working from the Cathedral compound with the satellite health workers. I deliver health education to the satellite nurses before they leave Pathein. These nurses are the real heroes. They have been working voluntary for the last six months as there are no funds to pay them. They leave this week to go back to the villages to join the rest of the team including doctors and psychological counselors. They make the very difficult journeys in the monsoon season into the areas most affected by Cyclone Nargis. They travel into this area on the boats delivering aid, medicines and health education. They live and sleep on the boats going from clinic to clinic in the Delta region often seeing 100 patients in one day. They tell me the situation is getting worse in this area. They ask if I can go with them! I reply, I don't think your government will let me! They ask me please let the people of your country know what is happening to us. Please watch VJ Burma a very brave journalist account of post Nargis. I have got copies.
They see very few foreigners in this town and so we stand out,and watvh the spies watching us they are everywhere. Our priest friends live in fear that their underground projects could be closed down at any time on the whim of the SPDC, everything is controlled. Tonight we leave the compound, we are not allowed to stay at anyone's house must be in the guest house and passports numbers handed to local SPDC, our friends said, “it is so difficult for people outside of Burma to understand our needs we are suffering so much because of the psychological oppression”. They say thank you so much for just being with our people and spending the time with us we know it is not easy.
Tonight we visited a tea shop in Pathein. Two sergeants high ranking SPDC decided to pull up chairs and join us. They were practicing their English and were so very polite to us. It was so hard just to sit with them, knowing what they are doing to our friends. As another person in the restaurant decided to join in the conversation the sergeant spoke very harshly and aggressively to this person in Burmese, the look on this persons face was pure fear, he quickly left the tea shop. The owner had a look of fear on her face, I was so scared trying not to say anything too sensitive and worried as to how we were to leave politely as they strongly encouraged us to stay and chat. They asked where we stayed, then our room number!. These soldiers are also a victim of this regime, I was trying so hard to feel sorry for them but just wanted to go back to the room and barricade myself in. Eventually after keeping the conversation safe to football and family we politely said goodbye and left, they shouted “now ma tway may” see you later. We all stayed close together in one room and didn’t sleep. We haven't dared venture far since, after we finish our work and dinner we go straight to our guest house.
Wednesday
Today …… spoke quietly to us and mentioned that someone had come to the Cathedral compound and inquired as to who the foreigners are? And what are they doing in Pathein?. He said ,don’t worry we live with this oppresion all the time it is no problems , but just be careful outside the compound and watch out for the trishaw driver as he is the spy. We notice every morning he sits outside the guest house. As we left this morning for mass at 6 am, we smiled, as we passed him he slept soundly. The mass is in the girls orphanage housing 80 young girls aged 2 years to 15 years old. They are all Cyclone Nargis victims who face a poor and uncertain future. They sing the rosary beautiful in English for our benefit, one of many moving occasions. After mass one young child aged ten speaks holding back her tears, she speaks in perfect English saying thank you for visiting us. My father and mother were washed away in the Cyclone I was left on my own for 3 days holding on to the tree until passing monks rescued me. When you have visited us and seeing you as a family reminds me of my parents this makes me so happy and grateful. Please come back and I will pray for you and your family.
Declan says quietly I Know what mother Teresa felt when she said "love till it hurts".
Thursday
One of the reasons we have travelled so far into the Delta region is that we wanted to see a project Burma link has been funding. We tried to get to it last year but had an accident along the way and had to keep a low profile. At the beginning of the week we spoke to Fr…. on the phone and he asked permission for us to come and stay overnight in his village, but unfortunately because of the forthcoming elections and extra security problems we are not allowed. So we have to do the journey to his village in one day from Pathein. We met this priest ten years ago in Mae Sot and lost contact and only found him again last year. He was asked to leave Mae Sot quickly or he would be deported .Tony, Declan and I were anxious to meet up with him again especially as last year's visit was so difficult, he had the responsibility of sorting out all the security following the accident, not easy when he had to keep a low profile from the authorities…
Monsignior… spoke quietly to me, he expressed his concern about us visiting the village. He said it would be best to set off early to avoid immigration. Even the evening before we were due to leave the trip was still uncertain, in case we would be stopped by the authorities along the way.

Friday
Bethany Mercy Centre
After a difficult 2 hours journey along roads washed away by the Cyclone we arrived into the very poor village the roads are being rebuilt by thousands of people.. As we passed through immigration the priest waved to the soldiers and we were asked to pull the curtains across the window and keep our heads low.
We were here to visit the orphanage (70 children) that BLUK has been supporting but I didn’t expect it to be so poor. This is a step down from Pathein and Yangon!. It is really hard to describe how poor it is. As I looked around the compound I realized it doesn’t get much darker than this. The children slept on dirty floors and had very little to eat. The kitchen was dark small and damp with charcoal fires. I realized very quickly I was seeing some of the poorest village communities in the world. Most of the children are orphans who lost their parents Cyclone Nargis. The children looked clean and dressed in white Karen tops they greeted us with beautiful singing and every child presented us with a single rose. As the children introduced themselves they talked about their ambitions for the future and what they would like to do with their lives and sent thanks that we had made the journey to see them. They had nothing, but yet they had so much love to give. It was a very emotional occasion and whilst the children sang their hearts out, it was too much for Declan who put his head down and broke down, at the same time some of the children looked at him and also started crying.
Over a small lunch of rice and fish paste Fr G told us that that this year had been the most difficult yet, he worries so much for the children. They sometimes only have enough food for two meals a day and go to bed hungry. He has to go to the local farmers and ask to borrow a bag of rice until he gets money from us then he pays them back. He thanked all the people who had sent donations as this had definitely kept the children from starving. He said in Mae Sot if he could not feed the children he would get them into the refugee camp where they got rice and an education here he could not send them back to the Delta area they would starve to death. As we handed out football shirts my heart was breaking at the look of sheer joy on their faces. I looked into the eyes of one 13 year girl, Fr G had found her alone 6 years old wandering in the market left there by her mother. I was saddened to think these children do not deserve this, they are human beings and deserve to be treated like any young person with freedom and opportunities.
The previous evening Fr G had spoken to them about us and said do not be frightened of the foreigner do not run away, stand proud and speak English to them. These children have not seen a foreigner in this village. He said that in Mae Sot we see lots of NGOs but here due to our government we do not get any help.
It dosnt get much darker than down here, but you know in the bleakest area where there is no light, that’s when the stars shine the brightest, and here, the hope, the smiles, the courage and strength of all these children are something that will stay with all of us. As we prepared to leave he asked us, please do not forget about us, change must come soon. On the way back to Pathein, no one spoke, a very emotional day.

Funding or should I say lack of it, is a big issue inside Burma as the government refuses to allow NGOs work visas’ and only allows them to work inside if they pay money to the government. The government, monitors their own CBOs very carefully, making it very difficult for them to do anything without government restrictions, often allowing them to work only when they have given the government their cut. Caritas Thailand is helping to fund the small clinic's and satellite health teams or mobile clinics, but this is not enough.
We thank our kind friends for their hospitality and pray that they will not get the knock on the door from the authorities because of us visiting.! We leave Pathein and travel back to Yangon then to the UK on our slow journey physically and psychologically back to our rich free existence, a complete opposite to this country. I would like to say thank you to all the teams of health workers I have worked with and everyone who is contributed to my safety during the trip even sometimes at great personal risk. I am so grateful to their courage dignity and patience in their 65 years struggle for peace,also thanks to everyone who has sent emails of support from the UK.
During our time in Burma we take our own holidays pay all our own expenses accommodation and travel. We live, sleep and eat with the local Burmese. We travel on foot bike or on local transport. This is so important, not only that all donations go directly to the projects intended without any hidden costs, but also that we show solidarity and respect by being uncomfortable with the Burmese. Because of this we gain credibility and trust.
A lot of people have asked what they can do to help. There are so many more things we can all do. It is so important that we actively campaign for change, ask the question why is this still happening, ? And also speak out about this desperate inhumanity. As Ellie Wiesel states “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”. I see so many NGO’s, driving into refugee camps in Thailand in new four wheeled trucks earning decent salaries making money out of the refugees, this just maintains the status quo and the situation remains the same. We need to help the Burmese become liberated they can't do it themselves.
As a small organization we fund projects most in need and were they are not getting any funds. One project is a fish and pig farm in Karen liberated area inside Burma. This is a small local project that will hopefully be sustainable and develop within one year. This culturally appropriate project is giving local children sustainable food, education and a hand up not a handout.
Other things we can all do;
. Contact the Burma campaign UK or local group Burmalink UK to get information on campaigns and share it with family and friends.
. Contact your local MP’s asking what the government is doing to help release all political prisoners including ASSK. Write letters asking for their release.
. In response to calls from Burma’s democracy movement, the Burma Campaign UK and other campaign groups around the world have been pressuring companies to sever business ties with Burma.
Please contact one or more of the companies on the Dirty List, see Burma Campaign ask them to cut their ties with Burma’s military government. If appropriate, tell them you will not purchase their products as long as they continue to support the regime in Burma.
. Before we left Fr G orphanage he mentioned that Barclays Bank had been investing with Burmese general’s money for 20 years. We have got very little info on this as all websites are blocked here. Please boycott Barclays Bank, if you have accounts or investments write to them and close accounts.
. Total oil continues to be one of the main investors inside Burma. “Total has become one of the main supporters of the military regime” Aung San Suu Kyi. Boycott Total oil.
. Get your Union link going or get involved with existing international union links.
. I have attached a flyer with regard to the Orphans of Cyclone Nargis from Pathein who are by far the most in need of funds. All Cheques made payable to: Burmalink UK. 51 Woodbine Road Gosforth Newcastle NE3 1DE England. 01912859820
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

“Martin Luther King”