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weekend market aisle
moon bounce! (mae sot is such a strange place.)
if you know me well, you know my thoughts on watering the ground. apparently this phenomenon crosses cultures.
curry in a bag anyone?
shopping
girl selling flowers
burmese people hanging out behind the market
public health school calls for investigation into burma's handling of cyclone recovery
"A report led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine has called for a United Nations investigation into Burma's handling of aid and assistance to cyclone hit regions last year, accusing the military government of crimes against humanity. Relief groups are calling on Asian countries and the international community to press Burma's military government towards greater transparency and accountability in receiving assistance.
The report, a joint project of aid workers from the Thai-Burma border and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, charges Burma's military government with abuse and corruption in its handling of aid and recovery to the devastated Irrawaddy Delta region hit by last year's cyclone Nargis."
on a similar note to the previous post, i learned about a burmese band from ohnmar's students called iron cross who are one of the most popular bands in burma. we listened to a song about orphans, and as she was translating the lyrics for me, we ended up quite puzzled. the song was basically ripe with blatant anti-government overtones, and while we obviously thought that was pretty brilliant, the fact that they're allowed into the mainstream is a bit confusing...
i found a npr segment on them that explains it a bit, and is worth listening to. their music is actualy really pretty, you should listen if you have a chance:
iron cross battles burmese repression with song
yes, you read that right. i co-hosted karaoke night at my apartment. but wait it gets better.
so like all good southeast asians, the burmese also enjoy their fair share of, you guessed it, karaoke. it's a big deal to have any of our students over as it's very difficult for them to move about freely since they can be stopped by the police at any time.
it's also a big deal for them because it's one of those rare times that people of all genders aren't segregated and can hang out together. (read: huge opportunity for rare flirting.)
what did our play list include you ask? in no particular order:
on the very left is my roommate, ohnmar. she's burmese, though she mainly grew up in the states, and prior to coming here, we actually lived down the street from each other in boston. she's pictured here with her students to whom she teaches english.
one of these things is not like the others... blonde! glasses!
Read more...
prayer flag and moon
pagoda in mae sot with the moon
monks sit near a constructed temple
constructed buddhist temple
i think it may be in honor of this man
women praying
today, training in martus data storage:
Martus is a secure information management tool that allows you to create a searchable and encrypted database and back this data up remotely to your choice of publicly available servers. The Martus software is used by organizations around the world to protect sensitive information and shield the identity of victims or witnesses who provide testimony on human rights abuses. Martus is the Greek word for witness.
timely as one of the organizations i work with is likely getting raided by the police today. they've backed up their data, hidden all sensitive material, including themselves, and their leaders going into hiding for a few days as a precaution. they were tipped off by an informant in the thai police and it's most likely nothing to worry too much about, but still...
very interesting article. full text: http://aje.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/28/4/493?ijkey=JsGA3J72L7l3I&keytype=ref&siteid=spaje
Horizontal evaluation is a type of participatory evaluation, following the definition of Cousins and Whitmore (1998) as one in which “researchers, facilitators, or professional evaluators collaborate in some way with individuals, groups, or communities who have a decided stake in the program, development project, or other entity being evaluated” (p. 5). Horizontal evaluation involves the key principles of participatory evaluation as outlined by Burke (1998, pp. 44-45), the evaluation methodology respects and uses the knowledge and experience of the key stakeholders, the evaluation favors collective methods of knowledge generation, the evaluator (facilitator) shares power with the stakeholders, and the participatory evaluator continuously and critically examines his or her own attitudes, ideas, and behavior.
As Cousins and Whitmore (1998) note, the term participatory evaluation covers two rather different types of evaluation: practical participatory evaluation, which aims to support program or organizational decision making and problem solving through the use of evaluation; and transformative participatory evaluation, which is concerned with emancipation and social justice and in reallocating power in the production of knowledge and promoting social change. In terms of this framework, horizontal evaluation falls within the first type, as it aims primarily to support decision making and problem solving within the Papa Andina network.
so we're thinking the whole 73% lf prevalence thing (that was initially really shocking) is likely due to user error in the rdt's. the problem however, since no one collects this kind of data or provides health care in these regions of burma, it's not a number that's wholly out of the question. we're hoping its due to the testing though...
the backpack field-in-charge meeting is now over and at the closing ceremony, i had two firsts:
1. sky wine cooler. quite popular here and quite nasty. (je ma ko dowt da sky ma jite bu. = i don't like to drink sky. i think...)
2. personal contact with my closest coworker there. oh that's right, we high fived. it was purposeful touching across genders. i feel like our relationship's on a whole other level now.
tee hee.
by Min Lwin
February 19, 2009
Burmese spies actively gather information on Burmese ethnic groups and the exiled community along the Thai border, opposition leaders have long contended.
Such claims appear to be substantiated by a confidential Burmese military intelligence report obtained by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
The 42-page report was compiled by the Burmese Southeast Regional Military Command based in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, and sent to three key army departments: the Bureau of Special Operation (BSO 4); the operation department of the Burmese army; and the military security affairs department, also known as the War Office, in Naypyidaw.
The report outlines details of the KNU’s 14th Congress in October 2008, includes information on its new leaders and speculates about anticipated KNLA military activities, in addition to outlining information about exiled dissident groups in Mae Sot and along the Thai-Burmese border.
The report sketched activities of numerous groups, including the All Burma Students Democratic Front, the Womens’ League of Burma, the Democratic Party for a New Society, the Democratic Alliance for Burma, the Karen Youth Organization, the Mon National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) and other groups.
Several nongovernmental organizations are mentioned including the Burma Media Organization in Thailand, the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, whose headquarters is in Chiang Mai, and the Thailand Burma Border Consortium in Thailand
In addition, the report mentioned information about specific Thai military intelligence officers and also included accounts of the protests by the Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy in Bangkok in October 2008.
The report, while not containing any information of immediate strategic value, was judged to be a valuable overview of the reformed KNU and activities among exiled groups along the border.
Exiled dissident and ethnic groups have always maintained that the Burmese government uses spies, informers and police agents to keep track of what goes on inside exiled dissident groups and uses military intelligence communication units to intercept military radio transmissions and other communication of ethnic groups and exiled groups inside and outside the country.
(the article continues at: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15149.)
question:
how do you get every burmese person you know to tell you you look pretty?
answer:
wear a traditional longyi*.
seriously, every single one noticed and commented. it was great. especially since they'll also point out the things they find less than attractive as well. (this is apparently not a big deal for them.) s'up, different cultural norms?
*caveat: you probably don't want said traditional longyi to fall off whilst wearing it. i suggest tethering it to yourself with a belt.
i was really glad to get this in my email since the only one i got was in burmese.... here's to it not being needed for another 20.
health worker by day, boy band member by night? i feel like i know someone famous.
this girl is doing a beautiful traditional mon dance. it is very hot in mon state so the dance was very slow. i'm impressed they can dance at all in this heat.
this is one of my students participating in an improv game. i have no idea what he said, but people laughed, so i think it went well for him. eat your heart out drew carey.
guess who was woken up this lovely sunday morning at 7:30am by her absentee data friend who, on the day data analysis finally came due, was magically "free"? oh, it was me. lucky for him, he's really adorable and sweet so i couldn't be angry.
recently every time i've gone to the office, he's been at "the playground." mae tao clinic's 20th anniversary is this thursday and there's going to be a large party and a sports tournament. past year's trophies line the backpack office, so i guess it's serious business for them. i'm in favor of any form of stress relief they can get, just maybe not when we have meetings to finish program analysis before the field medics disappear back inside burma for another six months. again refer to adorable comment.
he's really shy to speak english and we've developed an entire system of nonverbal communication involving nondescript noises and hand gestures. it must look ridiculous. the phone conversation this morning was really strange since it underminded the framework our entire system of interaction is based on.
must to learn burmese now, jenn.
now, if only my lesson for tomorrow would magically plan itself...
myawaddy, in burma
okay cool, you go first.
the entrance point into burma from mae sot
how do you make a room full of burmese migrants laugh?
answer:
mr. bean.
conveniently, this works for me as well.
the other day i said something in burmese and my students joked that my hair was starting to turn black.
student: "teacher, is your hair turning black?"
me: "no, it's getting lighter actually, from the sun."
student: "no, it really looks like it's starting to turn black..."
me: "wait, is there something in my hair? is it dirty?"
student: "no, teacher! we think you are starting to turn into burmese!"
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka — The ravages of Sri Lanka’s civil war were on full display on Thursday in the crowded wards of the municipal hospital in this eastern port city, 40 miles from the front line. Catholic nuns with bullet and shrapnel wounds, infants as young as a week old, and men with amputated legs were arrayed on beds or lay on the floor. Thomas Fuller/I.H.T.
The names of the wounded were listed in Trincomalee.
A total of 368 injured civilians were being treated in the hospital, and more were on the way. A boatload of 160 patients chartered by the Red Cross was scheduled to dock here late on Thursday.
“We don’t know what happened to our family,” said Mohan Raj, 22, whose arm was shattered by shelling on Feb. 8. “I don’t know who attacked us,” he said. His mother and two siblings disappeared after a loud explosion, he said. His father stood at his bedside on the verge of tears.
The Sri Lankan government has barred reporters and most foreigners from the conflict zone, so the accounts of the injured here in government-controlled territory provided a rare glimpse into the predicament of at least 100,000 civilians trapped behind the front lines.
After intense fighting over the past several weeks, government troops have cornered separatist rebels from the minority Tamil ethnic group on a narrow strip of land in the northeastern corner of the country.
S. G. Muhunthan, chairman of the Trincomalee municipal council, estimated that as many as 350,000 civilians could be trapped in the war zone. “They have been squeezed by both sides,” he said. Human rights organizations put the number at around 200,000; the government says the figure is half that.
Mr. Muhunthan is bracing for an influx of wounded civilians.
“A lot more people are expected to come,” he said. “We can’t say how many. But a lot.”
Crossing over to government-controlled territory exposes civilians to gunfire and shelling. The jungles are mined in many areas; on Monday, at least eight civilians seeking to reach the government side were killed when a woman exploded her bomb-laden vest at a checkpoint.
Patients said the Tamil Tigers, who are formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, tried to bar civilians from leaving the war zone. That is consistent with United Nations accusations that the Tamil Tigers have refused to let some of its staff members leave the conflict area.
People here appeared to have wounds inflicted by both the government and the Tigers...
Full text:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/world/asia/13lanka.html?ref=asia
more data analysis today - lf prevalence in less stable regions of eastern burma is almost 75%? i've spent the last few hours making sure i calculated the indicator correctly. i'm pretty sure i did... this is a disease that, literally, should not exist.
Read more...tonight i ate real cheese atop pasta cooked by real italians.
eh da sar kaun ket dae! (that's burmese for it was delicious. i think. i'm still working out the past tense.)
there were lots of really lovely people there from around the world and inside burma including one of the top-ranking knu general's sons. unfortunately for me, i got to sit next to his less than charming driver who in addition to hitting on me the entire night, made a plethora of racist anti-burmese remarks and kept telling me that he shot at and killed the spdc when i asked him if he spoke burmese (almost all the karen people here speaks burmese, i think him included). miming was involved.
sheesh.
was it worth it for the cheese? hells yes.
below is a selection of commonly used english phrases of amusement i've been privy to:
a man painting in the street near the night bazaar
two women working at a juice bar - such pretty colors!
mannequins in thialand are really strange.
a woman at a roadside grocery store.
after a heated debate with one of the backpack medics about whether or not it was possible for a field medic to prescribe an incorrect malarial treatment plan that ended in a consultation with the original paper form, it turns out that a medic in one western state was giving out three days of artesunate/doxy combination therapy rather than the seven days that were needed.
if that doesn't make you really excited about data, i don't know what would.
it took me a long time to get across in english the idea that it could be a mistake in the field rather than in the database. because the medic i was working with knew what the treatment should be, it just didn't make sense to him why someone wouldn't give the correct dosage.
when he understood what i was getting at, there was this really intense flash of recognition tinged with horror that came over his face (not finishing malarial meds breeds resistance.) that i will never forget.
yay, monitoring and evaluation!
the backpack health worker team, by the way, is a group of medics that provide primary health care in ethnic armed areas of burma where healthcare is otherwise unavailable. they carry in medical supplies purchased in thailand and provide a range of care, health education and prevention services, maternal and child health services and human rights documentation to idp's in burma. oftentimes, they find people as they're fleeing their villages as the spdc is burning them down and help them to reach safety.
everyday i'm there i sit in total awe of them.
Cholera statistics rise again as new malaria fears grow
| Thursday, 05 February 2009 | |
| The number of cholera cases reported in the country has once again jumped by more than 1000 cases, and according to the World Health Organisation the official figures now stand at more than 65 000 infections since August last year. On Tuesday the UN agency announced the infection rate had risen to 64 701, a jump of more than 2000 cases since the last official figures released on Monday. On Wednesday, the number had risen to 65 739 with 28 new reported deaths, bringing the official death toll to 3 323. The unreported figures have been impossible to quantify as there is no way of knowing how many people are dying in their homes. The critical lack of functioning medical centres means untold thousands are not accessing health services and being treated, and the cholera death toll alone is feared to be significantly higher than what is being reported. The collapsed health system means thousands more people are at risk from illnesses usually treatable in a functioning society, and there are new fears that malaria will now start making an impact on an already suffering nation. Matthew Cochrane from the International Red Cross has been travelling across Zimbabwe to assess the effects of the epidemic, and on Wednesday explained that malaria fears are growing. “Understandably the focus has been on cholera and the food shortage,” Cochrane explained. “But with the persistent rains, malaria is really starting to raise its head too.” Malaria is an endemic problem in the country, but with no medicines, medical facilities or even means to feed the sick, it is yet another disease threatening the lives of thousands. The Red Cross meanwhile has warned it will need to stop its cholera relief efforts in the country in the coming weeks because of funding problems, a move that will be a huge blow to the fight against the disease in the coming months. The devastation as a result of the epidemic has caught the attention of an international Women’s Empowerment NGO, WICO, which is starting a fundraising drive to help those affected by cholera. The group’s founding President, based in Israel, Dr Dalia Steiner, told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that she is concerned that ‘people don’t seem too concerned by what is happening, and we need to take more action against the epidemic.’ She explained that the Israeli government is planning to take ‘urgent steps’ by raising money to provide medicines and clean water in crisis stricken Zimbabwe, and said she hoped there would be results as soon as possible. “We want these goods to arrive within the next week because people cannot wait anymore for help,” Steiner said. |
report about the insecurity in the region surrounding noe pow camp.
http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/
also, dkba soldiers burn down huts, detain villagers and loot property in thailand.
you wouldn't believe how quietly this stuff can happen. it manifests only as whispers on the streets and then i have to go research it on the internet. very concerning.
this is my friend maw maw. 
she's waiting to be resettled in the states. she is incredibly kind, resilient and gentle. she told me the story of her childhood and the difficulties she had escaping from her abusive family and government the first time we met in a burmese tea shop in mae sot.
i visit her once or twice a week. she teaches me burmese and i work with her on her english.
the other day we went to see the sunset in a huge soy bean field near her house.
she laughs all the time an
d loves cats more than i thought possible. all of the neighborhood cats visit her and follow her around the small rooms of her house.
she's desperate to continue her education. even though she completed university in burma, she estimates that her education is equivalent to middle or high school by western standards.
she has a friend in oklahoma city and is requesting that unhcr send her there. if you happen to know anyone in that part of the country, please do let me know. she's lovely and i'm worried for her.
it would be really wonderful if someone could check in on her from time to time...
glitteriest.
as in "hope is glitteriest and sparkling."
student: "teacher is that correct?"
me: *it is not possible for me to correct that* "well, i like it a lot."
i am a terrible teacher.
p.s. hope also "sounds like micheal jackson's song and sometimes like lion's roar."
tell the supreme court to invalidate prop 8, reject ken starr's case, and let loving, committed couples marry. deadline: valentine's day
"to acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life"
- one of my favorite students
i'll be going to find him some books today.
an older woman selling brooms
a roadside snack cart
a man sitting at the pagoda
assignment: tell me five things you would do if the world were to end in two days. the sky's the limit, and it can be anything at all that you want.
*pause to explain to one student that i am not serious and the world is not in fact ending*
there's a student in my class who is a former buddhist nun. this was her response:
1. i want to fly without wind and without pain.
2. i'll be kill u than shwe for freedom of all human in burma and to influence the right judicial system.
3. i'll allow all people in the wold to do as they like. if they make the bad, they'll be reach to the hell. if they make the good things, they'll be reach to the heaven happily. so, they get a choice for conclusion of life.
4. i want to destroy the hate between all human.
5. i pass the conclusion of my life with my friends and family by praying my buddha believefully to meet in the next life. i believe buddha speak that if i do the good, i must feel the good result.
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