| |
Action card briefing - July 2008
Paw Kaw lives in Burma, in the Karen State and represents
many thousands of people who are land mine victims in Burma. Eight years ago
Paw Kaw lost an arm and an eye and needed help to do simple things like eating
and dressing. He was given help to leave Burma so that he could receive medical
help in the border area between Burma and Thailand. Now that he has received
help he has very bravely returned to Burma to be with his people in their
suffering and help look after others who are disabled by the land-mines.
Burma has been ruled by this repressive
military junta since 1958 when during a caretaker government led by
General Ne Win, first the Anglo-Burmese community were victimised by the
FRC (Foreigners Registration Certificate) having to pay an annual fine
for living in the country of their birth in order to obtain this
document, the banning of teaching of English at schools for their
children, and changing from European to Burmese names. Then in 1962 Ne
Win took over by military coup and the Burmese people themselves started
to suffer; all businesses were nationalised and English study was
banned. They have since turned from one of the wealthiest countries in
Asia to one of the poorest nations on earth.
With one of the largest armies (400,000), the
largest amount of child soldiers in the world (70,000) and with no
external enemies, they have continued to fight a war against the seven
main ethnic minorities (and many sub-divisions) and sold off most of the
natural resources to neighbouring countries, leaving 200,000 citizens
living in gulag-type camps in Thailand and neighbouring countries, and
over one million internally displaced people, using rape as a weapon.
The recent cyclone only adds to a litany of suffering and sadness for
the Burmese people.
Paw Kaw was helped in the Mae Tao clinic where
Dr. Cynthia works. The clinic has been in existence since 1989, firstly
dealing with those who fled into Thailand after the 1988 public attempt
to ask for democracy, and now deals with the Burmese population in
Thailand and with displaced people, migrant workers and their families.
Because of the paucity of Burmese healthcare facilities, many thousands
come over the border for various aspects of care, including those
trained and subsequently displaced in healthcare. Backpack health
workers go back into Burma to give aid to villagers at huge risk to
themselves. Health education is taught to people, family planning, help
with malaria assistance programmes and other aspects not available in
the country. Many doctors and final year medical students return to the
clinic to give their time for free from all parts of the world.
His new hand, seen on the photograph, came
from England and was taken to the clinic by Jeremy Fowler, who regularly
goes out to the border areas to help land-mine victims. The hand is
operated by a cable and shoulder movements; the new arm made in the Mae
Tao clinic.
Send cards of support to the people in the
border clinic via Jeremy Fowler at
2 Chapel Close
Leavesden
Hertfordshire
WD25 7AR.
Jeremy will travel to the border areas this
year, as he does every year, and will take all cards he receives with
him to share with the patients in the clinic
top
|
|
|
Links:
Home
Action Card Index
The United Reformed Church
is not responsible for the content of external websites
|
