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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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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this is funny:

how to build an h-bomb

"Making and owning an H-bomb is the kind of challenge
real Americans seek. Who wants to be a passive victim
of nuclear war when, with a little effort, you can be
an active participant? Bomb shelters are for losers.
Who wants to huddle together underground eating canned
Spam? Winners want to push the button themselves.
Making your own H-bomb is a big step in nuclear
assertiveness training -- it's called Taking Charge.
We're sure you'll enjoy the risks and the heady thrill
of playing nuclear chicken."

the best part is this:

"First transform the gas into a liquid by subjecting it
to pressure. You can use a bicycle pump for this. Then
make a simple home centrifuge. Fill a standard-size
bucket one-quarter full of liquid uranium hexafluoride.
Attach a six-foot rope to the bucket handle. Now swing
the rope (and attached bucket) around your head as fast
as possible. Keep this up for about 45 minutes. Slow
down gradually, and very gently put the bucket on the
floor. The U-235, which is lighter, will have risen to
the top, where it can be skimmed off like cream. Repeat
this step until you have the required 10 pounds of
uranium. (Safety note: Don't put all your enriched
uranium hexafluoride in one bucket. Use at least two or
three buckets and keep them in separate corners of the
room. This will prevent the premature build-up of a
critical mass.)"

this, not so funny:

my unwitting role in acts of terror

"Our 1979 satire was not subtle. Yet Mohamed's life was destroyed, it seems, for having read it."

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www.ilovemountains.org

a letter to presidents obama from bo webb:

Dear Mr. President,

As I write this letter, I brace myself for another round of nerve-wracking explosives being detonated above my home in the mountains of West Virginia. Outside my door, pulverized rock dust, laden with diesel fuel and ammonium nitrate explosives hovers in the air, along with the residual of heavy metals that once lay dormant underground.

The mountain above me, once a thriving forest, has been blasted into a pile of rock and mud rubble. Two years ago, it was covered with rich black topsoil and abounded with hardwood trees, rhododendrons, ferns and flowers. The understory thrived with herbs such as ginseng, black cohosh, yellow root and many other medicinal plants. Black bears, deer, wild turkey, hawks, owls and thousands of [other] birds lived here. The mountain contained sparkling streams teeming with aquatic life and fish.

Now it is all gone. It is all dead. I live at the bottom of a mountain-top-removal coal-mining operation in the Peachtree community.

Mr. President Obama, I am writing you because we have simply run out of options.

keep reading at: http://www.alternet.org/story/127877/american_citizens_in_appalachia_are_living_in_a_state_of_terror/

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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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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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trash dump community

human beings the world over need freedom and security that they may be able to realize their full potential.
aung san suu kyi

i heard some really intense stories come out of this community of illegal migrants who can no longer live where they've been working and raising their families - the trash dump. this is information i can't post on the internet, but i left with the thought that i don't think i could ever truly know what it means to entirely lose my security and freedom.

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sri lanka war zone update

Near Sri Lanka's War Zone, Wounded Civilians Struggle to Cope

Associated Press

By THOMAS FULLER

Published: February 12, 2009

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

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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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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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zimbabwe: cholera statistics rise again as new malaria fears grow

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.

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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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courage campaign

tell the supreme court to invalidate prop 8, reject ken starr's case, and let loving, committed couples marry. deadline: valentine's day

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce

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