Last December, I had a chance to visit Myanmar for the first time in my life, and it was an unforgettable experience. I planned to stayed in Myanmar for five days, and I visited four cities: Mandalay, Bagan, Inle, and Yangon.
When I arrived at Mandalay International Airport, I was greeted with a Myanmar tour guide; he was wearing a traditional longyi like everyone in the airport. Throughout the first three days, I visited multiple temples and national parks. I did not get a chance to really see the local life in the country. On my third day, our group traveled from Mandalay to Bagan, and I got a chance to see the local villages for the first time. While we were driving through the rocky highway, our tour guide stopped the van and bring two women on to the van. He told us that they are school teachers and that their school are around one hour away from their houses. Normally, these school teachers would need to walk to their school, but on a fortunate day some drivers would pick them up. After hearing the story, I offered the seat next to me to the school teacher, the I saw the flipflop she was wearing. It's an old flip flop, which was covered with dust and sand. I realized that what I saw during our first three days was just the appearance that the government wants tourists to see, but these school teachers are the reality. After sending the teachers off at their school, we continued on our journey to Bagan. When we got closer to the city, there is a group of people standing in front of the street, and they are holding the red flag, then our tour guide stop the engine and paid some red bills to the local people. At first I didn't know what was going on, so I asked my tour guide. He told he that in Myanmar you need to pay money to pass a local road. he also said that if we don't pay, then there would be a fight. At Bagan, there are many local checkpoints that we need to pay money to go through; our tour guide said that even the Myanmar people need to pay to get into some temples. On the next day, I traveled to Inle by the country local airline called Air KBZ, which has the same owner with one of Myanmar biggest bank. When I arrived at Inle, I met with my dad colleague from college. He worked as an accountant for one of the muslim tribe that lived there. He took us to the mountain where he lived. The village is very peaceful and beautiful. I asked him if there had been conflict going on or not, and he told me that "normally there's not a lot of conflict, and people just live their normal life if the government doesn't send people here." On my last day, I flew into Yangon, which used to be Myanmar capital city. I was greeted with a totally different custom and dynamics. The city is full of vibrant light and skyscraper. Even though there are many tall buildings, but if you look closer you can see that the buildings are really old. The buildings had not be renovated, and this might be bacause the city is not the capital anymore. (the government and military only stay in the capital)
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On July 11, I got a chance to visit Tum Hin Displaced People Camp in Ratchaburi, Thailand. The camp located around three hours away from Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. When I arrived at the camp, I was greeted by the UNHCR and TBC staffs who are there to sort out all the problems that had been going on in the camp. They told me that there were around 4,270 people in the camp at the moment. Most of the people left Myanmar since 1997 when there was a battle between the Myanmar military and the minority groups. Most of the people in the camp are Karen because their home are close to the Thai's East border. I was not allow to talk to any of the displaced people, but I had a chance to talk to one of the Thai soldier who has been working in the camp for most of his life time. He learnt how to speak Karen because it is one of the best way to develop trust with the people in the camp. He got really close to some of the family, and it helps him to understand their needs and problems while living in the camp. He told me that Tum Hin camp is very peaceful compares to the other eight camps, since there are only one minority group in the camp. Most of the people in the camp have the same perspective on the on-going issues in their country. I asked him why doesn't he leave the camp and go work with the Thai army somewhere else because living in a camp is not that convenient. His reply just got me very shook, he said " I don't want to leave people who seem to be part of my family after what we had been through together." He believed that displaced people are not people who we should look down to, but rather look up to them with respect. Before I leave, I asked him if I could share some of his quote on my blog, and he told me that he is more than happy for me to spread the word out. He wanted the world that helping other world citizens does not depend on your money or social ran, but it is about your heart. *Some of the words and quote are translated from Thai, so they might not provide the exact meaning In this picture, I am talking to the Thai soldier in front of a ruined house. (no one lives in the house)
:Many people are curious about why they need to donate to organization like UNHCR, UNICEF, American Red Cross and many more. In this post, I will be talking about the benefit of your donations both money and daily necessities.
These organization had been dealing with refugee and displaced persons crisis since World War II. They worked closely with the country government and the displaced persons, so they could provide the best solution to the issues. These day, there are more and more people that need to move out of their homeland without choices to choose from. This is a humanitarian issue, and everyone of us need to try our best to help others. Last June, I had a chance to visit the UNHCR headquarter in Thailand, and I also get a chance to shadow the staffs to the displaced persons camp. We got out of the car at seven in the morning, then we walked around the camp to check in with everyone. The staffs worked the whole day without sitting down. They didn't get a chance to eat any lunch or dinner. Everyone is very dedicated to their jobs. I asked one of the staff when she finished distributing food, if she feels tired at all. She looked at me with a gigantic smile and said "not matter how tired I am; I need to help these people because they had been through worst than me." She explained that every time when she thinks that she wants to give up and stop working, she will think of the displaced persons in the camp who are waiting for her to come back. She also told me that the smiles' of people in the camp is the most valuable thing she had ever gotten. After my experiences with the staffs, I learn that people who in non profit organizations like UNHCR, do their work not because of the money they get at the end of the month, but because of their heart. They want to help others who are in need and make the world a better place. The money you donate to these organization would directly help upgrade the condition in camps too. (I will talk about the condition of the camps in another blog post.) Lastly, I hope you decide to donate to organizations that help refugees and displaced persons because it will not only help raise their living condition, but it will bring joy to all of us. Link to Donation: |
AuthorPrim B. Archives
January 2018
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