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From Tiffany Schauer, June 30, 2008

“I have just traveled to Mae Sot, Thailand to visit the Burmese Refugee Camps and outlying projects serving the refugee communities. My guide for my visit was Ka Hsaw Wa, Co-founder and Co-Director of Earthrights International, and Karen ethnic member of the Burmese nationality. Ka Hsaw Wa was the recipient of the 1999 Goldman Envionmental Prize, the 1999 Reebok Human Rights Award, and the 2004 Sting and Trudie Styler Award for Human Rights and the Environment. To me, Ka Hsaw Wa is our modern day Ghandi. Ka Hsaw Wa and his wife, Katie, are the subject of a recent documentary, Total Denial, about their human rights work in Burma. (Read a NY Times review.)

On our road trip from Chiang Mai to Mae Sot, I was also accompanied by Ka Hsaw Wa’s fellow Karen tribe members, Trayla and China. The drive is approximately four hours. There is opportunity on the drive to visit some interesting sites including the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre and the Thung Kwian Market. The market has an excellent fried bug section. Back in the car, Trayla was chomping on the biggest bug I ever saw :). I did eat a small worm to feel part of the pack. Apparently, you can also fly from Bangkok to Mae Sot via flights available twice a week. The drive is an adventure and worth the effort.

Slightly beyond Mae Sot, I also made a quick visit to the Highland Farm and Gibbon Sanctuary. www.highland-farm.org. Also refugees, the gibbons and monkeys at this sanctuary have been rescued from deforestation, hunters, abusive lives in captivity, including zoos, and pet owner abandonment. You can not only visit this site, but you can stay for three days to several months as a volunteer learning about these exquisite animals and helping to provide their daily care and feeding. The sanctuary is in constant need of financial support—you can make a difference by donating at the website. I think visiting this site with a child would be profound.

Thailand-based Burmese Refugee Medical Clinic:

Upon arriving at Mae Sot, we headed to the Mae Tao Medical Clinic. We were met by guide and Earthrights International worker, Khunhtee. Khunhtee is a human rights worker, who provides psychological support to the refugees and staff at the clinic. The clinic was founded and is directed by Dr. Cynthia Maung. Dr. Cynthia’s work has received international attention for her Herculean efforts to provide medical care to the ever growing tidal wave of thousands of Burmese refugees arriving in Thailand. The number of patients has increased 40% for the last couple of years and shows signs of only growing.

While a solution for the political problems of this region remains elusive, Dr. Cynthia works tirelessly to appease human suffering. The needs of the clinic are staggering but Dr. Cynthia and her team are undaunted by the shortfall—persevering relentlessly. You can provide divinely directed relief by donating at the website: www.maetaoclinic.org. While funds are absolutely needed now, there is also a need for volunteer visiting doctors. There are unique medical specialties always needed, but also general practitioners on six-month rotations, psychological professionals, and dentists.

Cyclone Update:

The recent cyclone taxed the clinic beyond its regular day-to-day operations. With that said, the clinic was one of the more effective organizations delivering aid to the cyclone victims across the border. The clinic oversaw eleven team coordinators in a deep networking effort to distribute aid immediately following the catastrophe. The network emerged via out-posted relief works, teachers, farmers, and individuals. In other words, people found a way to overcome the seemingly insurmountable barriers to delivering aid to those suffering. There is an online report at the clinic website summarizing the miraculous teamwork emerging from this tragedy. There is a current need to continue to support the cyclone victims. Again, donate through the clinic site.

Thailand based Burmese Orphanages:

After visiting the clinic, Khunhtee and our traveling team visited a series of Burmese refugee orphanages near the Mae Tao clinic. These sites house children that have lost their parents or their parents are part of the internally displaced people that not allowed in Burma or Thailand and exist in a “nowhere” state of wandering in the jungle. Dr. Cynthia is mostly responsible for supporting these humanitarian efforts to feed, board, and provide basic necessities for these orphans across the border from their country. The orphanages are also called schools—please view my photos so you can suspend your beliefs as to what a “school” can be. The Pynendaw School was our fist stop. This group is comprised of 159 students up to the age of grade 7 and nine teachers. The kids sleep one next to another in a hut on mats fifty to a hut. They needed a pipe for water transfer and rice. Food to survive has become a critical priority due to the drastically increased price of rice. You can earmark funds for these kids through donations to the Mae Tao clinic website. Mention my name and that you want to contribute. The second “school” is the Naw Bo Deh school. This group is comprised of 59 students up to those in grade 3 and three teachers. This orphanage is deep in the jungle. Thayla smashed up the truck careening between trees to gain access the site. No worries—our contacts had it fixed in a day. Meanwhile, these kids need food. Again you can donate through the clinic. You can see from my photos that children are by far the most resilient spirits among us. I can’t write this without tearing up thinking of how they made me smile—instead of the other way around. You cannot see something like this and be the same. I’m not. Tomorrow I will write about the refugee camps.”