Learning About Burma...

A lot has happened in the last few days. On Sunday morning I checked into the hotel for the AJWS Orientation. There are 10 volunteers in total - five going to Phnom Phen, four of us in Chiang Mai, and one going to Mae Sot, Thailand. Normally I am not one to be enthusiastic and enjoying myself during orienation-like activities (icebreakers and "get to know you" games...)however I am finding this orientation to be very thought-provoking and well-prepared. My fellow volunteers and the AJWS leaders are all very interesting people with some incredible stories. There is one retired couple from Vancouver, BC (I will have my Canadian relatives know that I sought them out and introduced myself immediately upon reading their names and hometown on the volunteer list!) They have participated in AJWS Volunteer Corps on several placements in Africa for the past seven years. Another retired lady served in the Peace Corps in Africa and again in the West Indies. The younger volunteers (all older than myself) are incredibly smart, ambitious and friendly. It feels odd to say this, but I have already learned a lot from these people.

Yesterday we visited one of AJWS's grantees - a sustainable farm and school that brings young students across the border from Burma and teaches them about traditional, sustainable farming practices (and also a little bit of English). The students then return to Burma with the goal of creating their own small, sustainable farms to feed and empower their communities. They have a sort of alumni network within Burma, although it's hard for them to transfer information long distances, such as back to Thailand because of the dangers of the jungle, the SPDC and some of th armies of the ethnic groups. Within the country of Burma there are many smaller ethni minorities who are not Burmese but rather Karen, Karenni, Shan, etc (there are many, many groups!) Ethnic Burmese, or Burman, live mainly in the center planes and the vast majority of high SPDC leadership is Burman. The ethnic minorities live in an upside-down U-shape in the mountains surrounding the planes and are widely opposed to the SPDC (although exercising varying degrees of armed resistance.

One of the aspects of this particular NGO that I really liked was that they create a multi-ethnic experience for these young students, many of whom have never met a person from another ethnicity. It was so unbelievable to sit in their classroom and imagine them sneaking through the jungle and across the Thai/Burma border to come participate in this program. The more I'm learning about the conflict in Burma and particularily as it relates to Thailand and the relationship between Thailand and Burma the more interesting it becomes. Of course it's in the best interest of Thailand to not have to accommodate people fleeing across the border, however, they do not express strong opposition to the SPDC...a lot of blind eyes are turned I think.

To get back to my orienation, this evening we had dinner with representatives from the NGOs that we will be working with. Most people's NGOs sent one rep, mine sent three! It was a relief to meet some of the young women I'll be spending the next year with because they were so friendly and spoke incredible English. I am absolutely amazed by the amount of credibility and experience my NGO has, in fact I feel very under qualified to work there. The women live and breathe this work; it is literally their life. I believe it goes without saying that they don't make any money doing this work. Their passion is both inspiring and quite frankly, intimidating. That being said, I am very much looking forward to beginning my work and learning more about all things Burma!