11/2/2007
We have an early morning start for the airport…no straggling allowed since our flight leaves when it leaves and we are headed for the sprawling city of
Bangkok. While I am not much of a group traveler and am partial to loose schedules and playing it by ear when it comes to my travels, I do appreciate that everything is done for us from the time our bags are loaded on the bus until we arrive in
Bangkok. We just walk onto the plane and have no worries about anything. It is a short 1 hour flight and we are in
Bangkok.
Bangkok is big, congested, busy and full of energy. The traffic is intense and you have many cars, busses, taxis, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, and people on the streets. It takes time to travel even short distances. For Americans, the Asian cities offer quite a contrast to those at home. (My
New York friends may disagree since NYC and a few other large American cities are an exception). There are people, lots of people outside and on the streets. There is energy and the cities are alive. My wife Richie, when she first arrived in
America, made this observation. “Where are all the people?”
America looks like a lonely place. Without a car, it’s difficult to get around in America, but here, you have only to step out your door and you have numerous options of getting around…ride on the back of a motorcycle, take a tuk-tuk, mass transit, taxi, and my favorite…walking. At the airport, we have a bus waiting and we board and travel to today’s partner visit. We meet with AJWS grantee BURMA ISSUES (BI).
BURMA ISSUES was founded in 1990 and although it is based in Thailand, BI concentrates its work on the empowerment of marginalized ethnic communities living in
Burma’s war zones. BI’s philosophy is that by engaging these communities in peacemaking and conflict transformation they can better build a lasting and just peace. BI is a grassroots organization that works directly to develop and work with and develop grassroots efforts and organizations inside of
Burma on economic, social, and political issues.
BI also works with the international community to advocate using 3 strategies:
- Grassroots education – deals with human rights education and teaching people to document events and their own stories from inside
Burma. This documentation is used in publications and media.
- Literacy and education – teaching the teachers who will go back into
Burma. The subjects are Burmese, Karen, social studies, geography, ethics and self confidence. They are also coached in making impromptu speeches and how to make spot computations and generally how to develop new schools, village education, evaluation methods and progress reports.
- Children’s education project – deals with building and developing good community members, cultural pride and awareness through collection of stories and folk tales. They have published a children’s storybook. They are also building school libraries with books brought in from the outside.
IDP’s generally do not have schooling and educational opportunities. The number 1 priority is FOOD so schooling is discouraged by parents who need their children’s help in the fields. Even if they go to school, it is a necessity to help in the fields after school. There is a general shortage of educational materials and teaching skills and BI provides these to the IDP’s.
There are 10 ethnic groups in
Burma. The Central military junta discourages ethnic identity. BI produces materials and encourages ethnic pride. The Karen ethnic group which comprises about 7% of the population lives both in the lowlands and in the hill areas. They are either Buddhist or Christian. There is a difference between the lowland and hill people ethnic people in how they look at education. The hill tribes generally are concerned with survival while the lowland people have been more integrated into Burmese society. The NGO’s such as BI are creating greater awareness of the importance of education. The Karen’s have been relocated since 1975 because of the military junta’s policy of divide and conquer. There was another mass relocation after the 1988 uprisings and with the building of the UNOCAL gas pipelines. These and other events have created IDP’s who flee to the jungles looking for freedom…they hide, they live, and are in a constant search for FOOD. They have little or no access to healthcare and education as books and materials are unavailable and expensive. I keep coming back to the meaning of happiness…
Burma Issues was yet another example of the drive, motivation and commitment of these grassroots leaders. The problems here have been ongoing for decades and generations and change is soooo slow, yet these leaders continue and expand their work building a long sought after society through non-violent change. ALL people have dreams and desires…
We check into our hotel that afternoon and have lunch to rejuvenate ourselves for the rest of the afternoon off. Short initial explorations of
Bangkok and readying for Shabbat dinner. Our Shabbat dinner was lovely. We used a thoughtful service developed by AJWS and which helped bring focus to what we had experienced thus far. We were provided with great tasting challah courtesy of the Bangkok Chabad. The Jewish population of
Thailand is 300 so it seems they get everywhere. We were joined for dinner by Karen and Ott, 2 leaders of the Thai AIDS treatment Action Group (TTAG), with who we would meet with after our Shabbat day off on Sunday.