Hi everyone! Hope you’re enjoying spring back in the States. It’s been a busy, busy past few weeks. And most notably, it’s been HOT. I didn’t realize that the “hot” season was so much worse than other seasons in Thailand. It’s been over 100 degrees every day, and cools down to a whopping 85 degrees by 10 pm, which basically means I haven’t stopped sweating in days-- but I’ve been making frequent fruit-shake and air-conditioned coffee shop stops to try to compensate.
Here’s what I’ve been up to:
I recently traveled to Suan Phung, Thailand, about 8 hours south of Mae Sot on the border. Here, I trained the Trauma medics from the southern part of Karen State (known as Mergue/Tavoy) in Training of Trainers (TOT) methods. Eh Kalu, KDHW director in Mae Sot, was very adamant that we hold a TOT workshop for these medics, who will go back to the field and train others in first aid. More violence is expected surrounding the upcoming elections in Burma in late 2010, and Eh Kalu has stressed the importance of training as many villagers as possible. And with a large grant from the IRC (International Rescue Committee), the Trauma Management Program is poised to do it.
Eh Kalu invited to be the lead TOT trainer, and I happily obliged, although I quickly realized how difficult it is to plan, teach and keep people interested for two days. (much less a whole term!) But I think (and hope!) that the trainees took home some valuable skills. We learned about and practiced role plays, case studies, checklists (for surgical procedures), brainstorming, feedback, and lesson plans.
Throughout the training, I continued to learn more Karen, and even picked up on some key differences between the northern and southern dialects. I talked to the medics through Eh Kalu as an interpreter, and also to some who knew more English. About half of the medics were women—which was not the case in the north, where the whole group of trauma medics was male. It turns out that gender roles are different in southern Karen State as well—as it was explained to me, more women are interested in branching out of house-keeping roles, and the health-in-charges are more willing to offer them jobs. And they were quite a lively bunch! Compared to the Karen women who I work with in the Mae Sot office, these women were much more outgoing---always volunteering to speak and share their opinions. During lunch they told me a local story about Mergue/Tavoy: if you travel to Mergue/Tavoy and eat a kilo of shrimp paste (the region’s specialty), you will “lose your footprints.” Meaning, you will get married and stay there. This led to a roomful of laughter when one of the female medics put a bowl of shrimp paste in front of Eh Kalu’s son during lunch.
I was continually addressed as “Tharamu” throughout my two days as a trainer, which is a respectful Karen title literally meaning “teacher.” For instance, I don’t address Eh Kalu by his name; instead, I call him “Thara” (the male equivalent to Tharamu). It’s a word with a lot of history and meaning behind it—teachers are one of the most respected positions in Karen society. At the past two trainings I’ve attended, I’ve been called “Tharamu,” but never felt like I deserved the title. After all, I mainly served as a training coordinator and assistant to the main trainers, and a lot of “gullowah” (Karen word for foreigner) are addressed with the respectful title only because they are “gullowah.” But for the first time, I felt I deserved the title, and I was proud of it. And the trainees even gave me a Karen shirt at the end of training—which was more than I expected for a two-day training, so I was quite honored (see pictures below).
Medics create their own case study for first aid trainees
Medics present their prepared lesson plans
Two of the female trauma medics
Tharamu Sam
Having my new Karen shirt properly adjusted
Group training photo
During downtime at the training, I also talked to a few medics about Karen State and the upcoming election in Burma. I’ve also been doing this while working at Backpack in Mae Sot (I’m writing their 10 year report): asking medics for stories from the field and while I’m at it, their opinions on the election. Here are a few of the responses.
Me: “Do you think the upcoming elections will change what’s happening in Burma?”
Medic #1: “No. I have seen what happened before, when leaders of ethnic groups were voted into position, and the government did not give it to them. I think the same thing will happen this time. I don’t think there will be change.”
Medic #2: “No. There have been elections before with many parties, but they didn’t have any chance to gain power. This election has been planned by the government and there will be no change.”
Medic #3: “I’m not sure, but I know that the Karen people need to fight so that we won’t be slaves to the SPDC. We need peace. Something big needs to happen this year.”
If you’re not familiar with the politics surrounding these elections, here’s a brief overview:
The last multi-party elections in Burma were held in 1990, during SPDC rule. The National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, won 80% of the parliamentary seats. However, the government’s response was to change the rules of the election, claiming that these were not elections for a new government, but rather for a committee that would draft a new constitution.
A new constitution was drafted by the National Convention in the next 14 years, but none of the victors from the 1990 elections were involved. The National Convention was made up of members hand-picked by the military regime, allowing no democratic input in the formation of the constitution. In 2008, the SPDC announced a national referendum for the acceptance of the new constitution. However, the voting process was hardly sound. The SPDC charged money for drafts of the constitution, barring poor voters from becoming informed. Any information not in support of the constitution was silenced. Many citizens turned up at polling stations to find that their votes had already been cast. Some voters were given ballots pre-marked with “yes” votes and told to place them in the ballot box. Other voters were watched by government agents while they voted.
The Constitution itself is clear in its purpose to prolong and legitimize military rule in Burma. It ensures that 25% of the seats in each house will go to unelected, appointed members of the military. So, even if these upcoming elections in October 2010 are fairly democratic, the constitution itself ensures that the military will have a disproportionate influence within the new government regardless of the outcome.
Meanwhile, the NLD has officially announced that it will boycott the upcoming elections and not participate. They say that recognizing these elections would signal that the NLD agrees to forgo its 1990 victory, which they are not prepared to do. Still, the NLD remains the main opposition party, and without its involvement in these elections, something much bigger will need to happen for significant change to take place.
Check out a New York Times article about the NLD’s boycott here.
Also, check out this statement from the KNU (Karen National Union) regarding the upcoming election:
Karen National Union Statement on 2010 Elections
1. Defying the requests of the United Nations and democratic forces in
2. Internal repression is at an all time high.
· Burmese Army attacks against ethnic civilians continue.
· There are more political prisoners than at any time for 20 years.
· All media is censored.
· There is no right of freedom of assembly.
· There is no right of freedom of speech.
· Political parties cannot be formed without permission from the SPDC.
· Existing political parties supporting human rights and democracy are severely restricted, and members who are not in jail face regular harassment.
· Other political parties, especially ethnic political parties, such as the Karen National Union, are banned.
· Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
· There is no election law.
In these circumstances, it is impossible for elections to be free and fair.
3. Even if free and fair elections could be held, the elections would not bring about any change in
4. The principles of the constitution were written by delegates that were not representative of the people of
5. The constitution was approved by a rigged referendum. Aside from any “vote no” campaign being banned, abuses included denying aid to our Karen people in the Delta after cyclone Nargis, unless they agreed to vote “yes”, forcing people to sign the forms without voting, and forcing people to vote “yes” against their will.
6. The constitution would go against all democratic norms, including:
· The Head of State must be from the military
· The Army is not answerable to the government or Parliament.
· The Army has veto power over all laws passed by the Parliament.
· No basic rights are guaranteed by the constitution.
· All existing repressive laws will remain in place. There will be no freedom of speech, no freedom of assembly, no free media, and no open democratic debate. No prisoners will be released.
7. The constitution grants no ethnic rights, no autonomy, and provides no protection or promotion of
8. It is incorrect to state this could be a step on a path to reform. No change of the constitution can be made without 75 percent approval of parliament. As the SPDC will have a minimum of 25 percent of seats in Parliament, they can block any reform. Even if Parliament did vote for change, the army can veto the change on grounds of national security.
9. There will be no democratic space opened up by having a Parliament. The military parties and their allies will dominate the Parliament, and the military parties will decide the agenda of the Parliament. Media remains censored so there will not be any open political debate in media. Those naive enough to argue that there will be political space in the Parliament should look at the National Convention, which will no doubt be used as model by the SPDC. At the National Convention no free debate or discussion was allowed. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in
10. Regardless of the Parliament, the civil service and economy of
11. Attacks against ethnic people will continue. There is no reason to think that the current military attacks against ethnic people in
12. It is clear that the elections and constitution will not bring about peace, democracy, human rights and stability to
13. In fact, by not addressing demands for freedom, democracy, or granting any ethnic rights, resistance will continue, destabilising the country as long as dictatorship, in whatever guise, exists. Further, the failure to grant any ethnic rights, and pressure on some ethnic ceasefire organisations to disarm, could lead to division within them, and some may split or return to armed struggle.
14. Only true democracy, basic human rights, including equality for ethnic people, will bring peace and stability to
15. We are disappointed that Gambari appears to have endorsed the SPDC’s 2010 elections and constitution, even offering UN assistance with the organisation and monitoring of the elections. He is advocating a path promoted by the regime, rather than acting as an impartial facilitator for tri-partite dialogue, which is his mandate.
16. We call on SPDC to follow the demands of the United Nations General Assembly, United Nations Security Council,
17. We call on governments around the world not to endorse the 2010 elections and instead redouble efforts to persuade the SPDC to enter into genuine tri-partite dialogue.
18. The Karen National Union is a democratic organisation, committed to human rights and democracy in
The Executive Committee
Karen National Union
So the SPDC wants to hold “elections” in October 2010? We’ll see what actually happens. It will be a big year either way.
On a completely unrelated note, I also took a vacation for a few days down south—my first time to the Thai beaches! I went diving in the Similan Islands—famous for its abundance of marine life. We saw a large variety of corals, fish, sea snails, eels, sea snakes, rays, starfish, turtles, even a couple of leopard sharks and a 4 meter manta ray! I rented an underwater camera, so I even got some photos. See below.
View from the bow of our boat--with Buddhist shrine and Thai flag
Sunrise in the Similan Islands
Dining area of the boat
Me and my fellow divers--so excited to have just seen a manta ray!
me, checking my air/depth gauge underwater
In the midst of a school of fish
A reminder of the tsunami--this beach town (Khao Lak) was almost completely wiped out in 2004
Sunset from the Khao Lak beach
Western clownfish--also known as NEMO!!
Angelfish
Triggerfish
Tons of fish during our sunset dive
Manta ray! (4 meters!)
Cool corals
Turtle!!
me and the turtle!
School of barracuda
More updates:
-Allison Kay came up from Bangkok to visit me in Mae Sot! I would have never predicted when I left the US that I would get a visitor here. Woohoo! We explored Mae Sot, ate Burmese food, even sang some karaoke. We even went to see the local Mae Ka Sa hot springs, which turned out to be a major disappointment, since you couldn’t even swim, and the hot spring itself was contained in a pool 5 feet wide. Ah, well. What can you do.
-We had a Passover seder in Mae Sot! Who would have guessed. Replete with homemade matzah and matzah ball soup, and of course, three boxes of wine.
-Several of the GHAP fellows, myself included, were recruited to play for one of our partners, the Burmese Medical Association (BMA) in a local soccer (football!) tournament. My soccer skills are still a little rusty, but it’s been really fun to play with these women. I'll put up some pics in my next post.
Until next time!
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