spdc hrv

one of my friends just told me this crazy story today.

last week she went to myawaddy to see a friend of hers. they stayed with her friend's sister whose husband is in the army. they are very poor and live on a base in the forest.

everyday there is an announcement over a loudspeaker that calls all of the soldier's wives to get up very early in the morning and report to the office. the recording tells them that if they are late, they will be in serious trouble. all day the women must do manual labor. sometimes they must look after highranking officer's wives if they are sick and tend their children. a few times a week they are forced to attend military training where they learn combat skills. earlier this month they made the women compete in compulsary games against other battalion's wives.

the women are not allowed to leave the base, and their husbands are not allowed to leave the army after their original contracted term of duty; they are now told they must serve until they are 60 years old. they all have an agreement that they will not leave, because they've been told the entire base will be punished.

the women are scared they will be forced to fight, which seems like a pretty reasonable fear. why else would they spend time and resources training them? they are also scared since the new rumors are that they will start training the children next. they feel stuck and afraid and voiceless, even though they want to speak out.

my friend is also afraid to make a report about what she saw. i told her that since she saw these things first-hand, she could tell people who document human rights abuses. she will be resettled sometime in the near future, and i asked her to consider doing it a few days before she leaves.

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mae sot espionage

i had a busy work week this week filled with analyzing a lot of program data for donor reports, spending three hours teaching one person what a percent was, building a database for a new program we have to feed malnourished children, and getting pumped for information by a spy.

(please note: if you're related to me, no need to worry. it was interesting more than anything else.)

"spies" are known to be pretty common in mae sot (junta's spies active among ethnic, exiled groups) and i think most people who stay here long enough eventually run into them. they're not scary and they're not interested in hurting you. what typically happens is that the spdc will put out bounties on certain information, causing people who otherwise have nothing to do with the government to become interested in the information too.

spies come in two main flavors, the first being actual spies. their english is typically very good, they often operate alone (which is very abnormal in burmese culture - people typically don't do social things, like hang out in a restaurant by themselves), and they typically probe you for information, which is not very subtle. the other group of people, often desperate for money and food, fall more under the category of "informers." these people are just normal, everyday people who "overhear" information and report it to earn a few extra dollars.

i'm pretty sure the guy that i ran into was a spy, though there's really no way to prove it. i was meeting with a coworker at a cafe by my house when a guy who spoke english really well came over and started asking us a ton of questions about what we were doing in mae sot, who we worked for, and if his "friend" could intern with us. in other words, it was sketchy. my friend was really standoffish, but proceeded to give him her phone number. (???) i on the other hand thought it was better to be friendly, and smiled a lot, but gave him no information.

we both immediately thought he was a spy. true to form he called my friend several times from different numbers. classic spy behavior. i learned two things, the first being that i need to be more careful about where i'm discussing things. the second is to have a tailor made story to give out. i'm thinking of saying i'm doing mission work and that my church sent me here. seems pretty benign to me.

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march madness

while i missed out on college basketball this year, march was still a pretty crazy month filled with a vast amount of both work and travel.

work last month centered on ebrms: the eastern burma retrospective mortality survey. before i got here, surveyors were trained to go to villages inside eastern burma and administer a survey that asked people about their family's health and any human rights violations they may have endured.

this is not an easy task! surveyors had to use random sampling techniques within villages, code each question correctly, and follow specific protocols when traveling to preselected villages was deemed unsafe. obviously, problems arose and will need to be sorted out in the data.

i've been working with the burma medical association to develop systems to both clean and enter the data into access so that we can analyze it. this is otherwise known as "fun" for a nerdy person who loves organization. after much training, system and form development, flowcharts, and illustrative examples, the data has been processed. the best part is yet to come - the analysis! all i can say is stay tuned.

adding to the craziness that was march, i also spent a week in vietnam. i visited hanoi and halong bay in addition to doing some work and picking up some supplies for our malaria programs. after that, cathy came from dc for a visit and we traveled around thailand together. sweet! we visited bangkok, koh chang, chiang mai, mae sot, and sukhothai. it was amazing.

pictures to follow.

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some burma related headlines

burma offers rohingya return deal
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7916254.stm

"The Burmese government has said it will take back ethnic Rohingyas who have fled to neighbouring countries. But it will only do so if they identify themselves as Bengalis, as it refuses to recognise the Rohingyas as one of its official minorities. "

mae sot net raids about 500 migrant workers
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15194

"About 500 Burmese migrant workers and their children were taken into custody in Mae Sot after Thai authorities raided their homes on Thursday, says a Burmese migrant rights group."

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send the spdc to the icc

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."

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iron cross

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

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witnesses

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...

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Junta’s Spies Active among Ethnic, Exiled Groups
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.)

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more burma pictures

myawaddy, in burma

okay cool, you go first.

the entrance point into burma from mae sot

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lf update

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.

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burmese-isms

below is a selection of commonly used english phrases of amusement i've been privy to:

• must to go now, please

• from this, we can get the good smell

• i thought i would be die
  

• she is ever making the jokes

• they will make the drunken fool

• i worry you

priceless.

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m&e to the rescue

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.

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refugee camp under threat

http://www.abitsu.org/?p=3755

report about the insecurity in the region surrounding noe pow camp.

http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/khrg09b1.html

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.

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eliminate lymphatic filariasis

http://www.filariasis.org/index.htm
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/

lymphatic filariasis is a disease that afflicts over 120 million people worldwide. it attacks the lymphatic system and kidneys, and while most people will never experience outward symptoms, over 40 million people suffer from severe lymphoedema (swelling of the limbs and breasts), hydrocele (swelling of the genitals), or elephantiasis. it's a disease that effects the poorest of the poor, wrecking havoc not only on individuals' physical, but also their mental health, causing social isolation and reducing productivity rates.

lf rates in burma are unknown (there are official "reports" but they're gross understatements) due to the fact that no data is collected in many parts of the country, including large areas of karen and shan states.

recently i've been working with several health groups to analyze data recently collected on a pilot lf program inside karen state. using random sampling techniques, it turns out that over 40% of the population in karen state is infected with the disease.

lf is transmitted through mosquito bites and, fortunately, can fairly easily be controlled. lf programs have typically have two main goals:

• interrupt transmission of the infection, and
• alleviate and prevent suffering caused by the disease.

the interrupt transmission bit involves mass drug administration of a drug yearly for about five years. the drugs are really inexpensive, costing less than $1 per person per year, and prevent the disease from being able to transmit from person to person.

the one problem is that the drugs have some slightly nasty side effects that can last for up to a week. the pilot program in karen state started off really well, but ran into an unfortunate roadblock. it seems news of the side effects moved quicker than the medics, and by the third village they visited, very very few people would take the drug.

the lf program coordinator, who is insatiably good humored and always laughing, told me many people even hid in the jungle when they saw the medics coming. "more education is needed," he concluded, a rare seriousness in his voice.

as only about 40% of the population took the drugs, the program as a result was not deemed effective and there will be not be extra funds to expand it this coming year...

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sunset

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 and 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...

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books

"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.

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some pictures of my trip to burma

an older woman selling brooms

a roadside snack cart

a man sitting at the pagoda

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five things

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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happiness realized

happiness

happiness sometimes has a blue color but not always,
it sounds noisy like dancing at a party,
it tastes sweeter than everything,
it smells good like a flower,
it feels smooth soft and comfortable.
actually happiness is a dream.

-- written by my class of burmese migrants living in thailand and studying to rebuild their country --

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