Gypsies

The Morken (mor-gan) community is a small neighbourhood of about 300. There are only three different last names, meaning that incest has been practiced throughout the last few generations. Half the population is under the age of 18. Alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, lack of education, poverty and unemployment are the top injustices (whether self-inflicted or otherwise) within this tiny community. Historically, the Morkens have been residence of the coasts of southern Thailand living a nomadic "gypsy" lifestyle for the past hundred years or more, but because of their nomadic cultural practices they have not received Thai identification until recently (last 20 years or so). As you may have read in my previous posts about Burmese refugees in Thailand, obtaining status or privilege in this country without a Thai ID is next to impossible.

And so, the marginalization of the Morken community has been happening for generations, perhaps centuries, and it continues today. They have Thai identification but they are still not considered to be true Thai people by the majority of society. They are poor. They are dirty. They are uneducated. They are broken.

Similar to the community of The Mustard Seed that I belong to in Edmonton, this people group displays characteristics of deeply honest community - but it is still an unhealthy community.

The day that I spent there I taught worship songs to children, played games with tofu pudding, and encouraged them in the importance of keeping their neighbourhood clean. Other people on our team taught about checking for and treating head lice. They also taught some people how to make their own hand soap. Imagine Thailand is involved within the Morken community as part of the health & wellness initiative, but we are hoping to create and sustain healthy relationship here to further our involvement. The last thing we want is to just be another organization, another NGO acting out of well intentioned compassion but not displaying willingness to stick it out with these people.

In my opinion, the only way that real change will happen among the Morken is through incarnational ministry. Someone who loves Jesus needs to move into their neighbourhood, live with them and like them, and be willing to serve them no matter what. A ten year commitment... That's how we will see transformation.

Am I the person for the job? Maybe. It's not beyond the realm of consideration for my post-grad plans. But it will be a hope, a prayer, and a dream for the Morken people that I will always carry with me.

It's been far too long...

This is my first post in what feels like 10 years due to two things: #1. It has been quite long compared with the frequency with which I had been updating, and #2. I have experienced so much since March 8th. Just so everyone can catch up with me, here's a quick timeline of what I've been up to since then...

1. I drove to Bangkok from Mae Sot with my friends Li-Mei and Brian. Ok, so I didn't drive, but I pumped the road trip tunes in the truck the whole way. That counts for something.
2. Two days later I boarded the night bus from BKK to Takua Pa, a city in the south of Thailand, with Li-Mei and Courtney, the eldest Hanson daughter.
3. I visited one of the schools that Imagine Thailand has been heavily involved with since the tsunami ripped through this southern community in 2004. It was through the relationships that were built out of the need that was presented following the tsunami that IT was founded.
4. I spent an evening in Phuket, one of the hottest spots for tourism in Thailand. We saw The Adjustment Bureau and ate pizza. This was the only place I've seen more foreigners than Thai people.
5. I laid on the quiet beaches of Takua Pa for a day. I got a sunburn but it was so worth it.
6. I went with Conny Hermelink (the health & wellness coordinator of IT), Li-Mei, Brian, and Lek (the Thai leadership of the IT south team) to help with hygiene and cleanliness awareness in the Morken community just outside Takua Pa. The Morken community is, historically, a nomadic "gypsie" people group who has resided along the coasts of Thailand for over a hundred years. Because of their nomadic nature they are not respected among Thais, and have actually just been able to receive Thai IDs within the last 20 years. I'll write more about this experience next - stay tuned.
7. I flew from Phuket back to BKK.
8. I was administrative assistant to the IT BKK staff for a few days helping with the planning and scheduling of the upcoming teams heading to the south with IT (IBEX & Vanguard!).
9. I ate at a restaurant that serves only toast and milk. It's been open since 1964. Go figure.
10. I met our short term team from Kelowna at the BKK airport.
11. I rode a bicycle through Ancient Siam, a park shaped like the country of Thailand with scaled down versions of important historical landmarks. 
12. I took the bus from BKK to Mae Sot with the Kelowna team. The trip wasn't great, but I love each person in this group of 30 making it more than bearable.

I've been back in Mae Sot for 28 hours now, and I can already tell that this busy week is going to fly by. I'm going to post as much as I can these next couple weeks - who knows how much internet access I'll get once I'm in China, but I'll do my best. Hard to believe that I only have 17 days left in this country... I don't know if I'll be ready to leave.

What to pray for...
The team here from Emmanuel Church in Westbank, BC. They are 12-19 and for most this is their first missions experience.
The Life Camps that we are starting tomorrow. These are VBS camps to help create documentation for stateless migrant children living in Mae Sot.
For the relationships I've built here to be sustained despite distance.
That I would finish my internship well, with excellence.
That I would begin to be prepared to lead the teams in China next month.

Research Notes on Burma

I've been doing research on the current political situation of Burma for an assignment my internship supervisors. These are the notes that have ensued. I've learned so much in the last few days compiling these notes, and I thought some of you might be interested in reading the fruits of my labours.

Feel free to gorge yourselves on the unbelievable history of this broken nation.

Burma

Officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (named as part of the 2008 Constitution, only one of many renaming events in the history of Burma)

Introduction

·         Diversity in ethnicities have defined politics, religion, history, and characterize much of the struggle still today

·         In 1962, General Ne Win led a coup to overthrow the government of U Nu

·         Despite the human rights defying nature of the current government, Burma is a member of the United Nations (UN)

·         Burma is led by a military junta; the majority of ministry and cabinet posts are held by military officers, with the exceptions being the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of National Planning & Economic Development

·         Military reign has been in power and led by General Than Shwe since 1992, who is still in power today

·         In 1990 the People’s Assembly election formed the NCGUB (National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma), a government in exile with the mission of restoring democracy based in Rockville, Maryland, USA

Etymology

·         The name of the country refers to the majority of Burmese people within the population

·         The renaming of the country to Myanmar represents the power of the military being exercised to name cities, towns, and areas after ethnicities (primarily the Burmese) rather than the place itself

·         There is division among other nations and organizations about the validity of the name change

Political History – Colonization of Burma

·         The first Anglo-Burmese war was from 1824 to 1826

·         This was the first of three wars fought between British & Burmese Empires over the control of northeastern India

·         The British Empire won, requiring that Burma pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling (roughly 18.5 to 48 million US dollars in 2006) and sign a commercial treaty

·         This was the longest and most expensive war in British Indian history and the beginning of the end of the independence of Burma

·         This first war weakened the economy and entire nation of Burma, when the British Empire declared war upon Burma twice more, giving control of Burma to the British in 1885

·         Burma was known as a province of British India until 1937

·         During the colonial era, there was much disrespect for Burmese culture by the British “invaders” creating violent riots, often paralyzing Yangon, until the 1930s

·         The vote for keeping Burma within India divided the populace, setting the scene for future insurgencies

From Democracy to Military Empowerment

·         Democratic rule ended in 1962 with a coup d’etat led by General Ne Win

·         Democracy, as well as the NCGUB, has been outlawed by the military government

·         There are currently over 2,000 political prisoners in Burma

·         Ne Win ruled for 26 years leading the nation under the Burmese Way to Socialism

·         Every aspect of society came under government control during this time

·         To consolidate power, Ne Win and other top military generals resigned from the military taking civilian positions

·         They started the one-party election system in 1974 (Burma Socialist Programme Party – the only party from 1964-1988)

·         During this time Burma became one of the world’s most impoverished countries

·         Ne Win’s rise to power included his persecution of “resident aliens,” immigrants living in Burma who were not recognized as citizens of Burma (including but not exclusively Indian Burmese and Indo-European people groups)

·         From the beginning there were protests and demonstrations held by students across the nation, and were almost always broken up violently by the military rule

·         In 1988, martial law was imposed when the military opened fire on demonstrators in what is known as the 8888 Uprising

·         In their first election in nearly 30 years (in 1990), the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won over 60% of the vote and 80% of the parliamentary seats

·         The military-backed National Unity Party won only 2%

·         Although the NLD won the election, the military refused to step down, falsifying the election

·         In response to her democratic politics, she has been under house arrest for 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010, until November 13, 2010 when she was finally released

Government & Military Corruption

·         Along with Afghanistan, Burma ranks 176^th of 180 nations on the Corruption Perceptions Index

·         There is international consensus that the military regime of Burma is one of the world’s most repressive and abusive regimes

·         There is national internet restriction, similar to the Great Fire Wall in China

·         Forced labor, human trafficking, and child labor are common practices

·         The military is known for using dishonest propaganda and advertising techniques to convince new generations to view the Burmese soldiers as heroes

·         Unlike the KNU, who appeals only to their own Karen people, the Burmese army is happy to accept anyone regardless of their ethnicity

·         Young boys being forced to serve and fight with the Burmese army, regardless of their ethnic background, is common

·         It has been argued that Burma has the highest number of child soldiers in the world

·         The military is also known for using sexual violence as a means of control, even taking sex slaves along as porters

·         There is absolutely no freedom of speech, assembly or association

·         The government has placed a restriction on the humanitarian aid and work of international organizations, including restrictions on the work and movement of international staff within Burma

·         The work and philosophies of these organizations must always “enhance and safeguard national interest”

·         The UN has declared these restrictions to be unacceptable

Economy

·         Burma spends the least percentage of its GDP on healthcare than any other nation in the world

·         In 2007, Doctors Without Borders reported there were 25,000 deaths due to AIDS in Burma, which could have been prevented with Anti Retroviral Treatment drugs and treatment

·         The Burmese military receives most of its weapons from Russia, Ukraine, China & India, all nations of which still trade with and economically support Burma despite the military regime

·         Burma is a corner of the Golden Triangle of opium production

·         The Golden Triangle is currently second in global opium production to Afghanistan

·         Under British administration, Burma was the second wealthiest nation of Southeast Asia, second only to Philippines

·         Currently, Burma is one of the poorest nations of the world, with an economy suffering from decades of stagnation, mismanagement, and isolation

·         In 1987 Burma admitted to the UN given status of the Least Developed Country (but not before dropping their literacy rate from 78.6% to 18.7% to qualify for debt relief from the UN), highlighting their economic bankruptcy

·         The economy of Burma is rated the second Least Free Economy of Asia, one down from North Korea

The Karen People & Current Situation

The History of a Cultural Genocide

·         There are 135 recognized ethnic groups in Burma, with at least 108 ethno-linguistic people groups

·         The Karen make up 7% of the approximate 50 million people of Burma – the second largest ethnic group next to Burmese

·         1950 the Karen became the largest people group to stand against the military government, leading to their persecution by the Burmese army

·         Tensions between the Karen and the Burmese had long existed prior to the open fighting that happened in WWII

·         Burmese army has been accused of “ethnic cleansing,” also known as cultural genocide, but has not been recognized by the international community as the targeting of the Karen has been more subtle and indirect than the killings in places like Rwanda

·         Up to 200,000 Karen people have been forced out of their homes and villages, with an additional 120,000 refugees living on the Thai-Burma border in camps

·         More than 2 million people have fled Burma to Thailand as a result of this ongoing war

Political & Military History

·         In 1917, the KNA (Karen National Associations, founded in 1881) argued that Burma was not yet in a state fit for self governance

·         In 1938, the British colonial administration recognized Karen New Year as a public holiday

·         The Karen desired to have the areas where they were the majority ethnic group formed into a subdivision or state but in 1946 the British did not encourage any separatist movements by the Karen people

·         Political meetings with the British government in the late 1940s almost always excluded the ethnic minority groups, giving precedence to the needs and demands of the Burmese

·         The British made promises to further examine the situation of the Karen following the war, but the Karen people group was not acknowledged again until the British left Burma

·         The Karen were not represented in the drawing of the Constitution in 1947 because of their boycott of the elections to the Constituent Assembly

·         The formation of the Karen National Union (KNU) was formed a month following this event

·         The initial goal of the KNU was to gain independence, but since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State

·         When independence was granted to Burma after the war in 1948, the Karen attempted to live peacefully with the Burmese

·         Karen people held high positions in both government and military

·         In the fall of 1948 the Burmese government of U Nu began raising and arming irregular political militias known as the Sitwundan, which were under the command of General Ne Win, a fanatic Burmese nationalist and the future leader of the military regime in Burma

·         In January 1949 some of these militias went on a rampage through some Karen communities

·         Following this event the Army Chief of Staff, General Smith Dun, a Karen, was removed from office and imprisoned, and was replaced by Ne Win

·         The Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO, formed in 1947) then rose up in an insurgency against the government

·         Later, the Karen were the largest of 20 people groups participating in an insurgency against the military dictatorship in Rangoon

·         In the 1980s, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA, which is the armed wing of the KNU) was fighting with a force of about 20,000, but by 2006 they were fighting with less 4,000 opposite a 400,000 strong Burmese army

·         In 1994, 5 dissenters from the Buddhist minority of the KNLA created a split group against the KNU known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and joined to the side of the military junta, which is believed to have led to the fall of the KNU headquarters in 1995

I would forfeit my privilege for you.

Yesterday afternoon I had one of those shocking-never-forget-it kind of experiences.

I was invited to go to the Mae Sot city dump with Compasio, an NGO whose office is directly across the road from ours. The dump is one of the regular locations of their weekly ministries, giving simple medical attention where needed, building relationship with the 50+ families living there, and playing with the kids among the heaps of garbage they call home.

As we drove towards the mountains of waste and evidence of over consumption, it took everything in me not to burst into tears or throw up with disgust. On the way we stopped to pick up barefoot kids with greasy hair, dirty mismatched clothes, and hands and feet blackened from playing in decomposing trash. They were thrilled to sit with us on mats to colour pages torn out of colouring books with crayons that were melting in the nearing 40C weather.

After only spending about an hour here my throat and lungs stung from the stench. This is a life that many children here were born into. They have never known what clean air tastes like.

One of the migrant schools that Imagine Thailand is building a relationship with is located a few minutes walk from this neighbourhood (if you can even call it that) that consists of Burmese migrant people. It seems that after fleeing their home country they immediately settled in the dump, some families having lived there for nearly 10 years now, perhaps longer. I learned that these families have no desire to move despite the dirty water they drink, despite the sickness that plagues their children from rolling around in garbage all day long, despite the clothing and food that they live without. Their reasoning? They are safe there. The dump, being a dirty out-of-sight-out-of-mind place, is not somewhere that Thai police spend their efforts. This means the illegal immigrants living there are safe from the potential of being arrested unlike other Burmese refugees living illegally throughout this city. The dump people will never have to bribe an officer with money they do not have in exchange for the safety of their families. They will never have to continue in the running from oppression that is known as the lifestyle of migration.

But just because they are content to live in the waste of other people (and their own), doesn't mean that we, as the Church, should be content with their contentment. God is not content with this. He has not settled in hopelessness for His children like they have; like we have. There is more beyond the confines of mountain high (literally) piles of garbage for these people. There is hope. There is justice. There is freedom.

The question is how can we as believers walk with them towards these things? towards life?

There is more.

What to pray for...
Consistent healthcare for these families.
Access to clean water.
Hope to penetrate this impossible situation.
Jesus to be shown and seen among these people.