Eyes to Burma » Gareth visits the dump

October 18, 2009 – 12:28 pm | One Comment

I visited the garbage dump many times over the course of several months in 2008-2009 while filming for my documentary.
Fred and I had the idea to create a movie to get some awareness to raise some money for supplies for the inhabitants of the dump.

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Illegal Immigrants

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Burma Crisis

Gareth visits the dump

Submitted by Pieter-Henk on July 13, 2009 – 8:14 pmNo Comment

Gareth is a medical student of Australia, he’s currently following a 6-week internship at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot.

The people on the dump are afraid to walk to the clinic, they can be arrested on the way to it, because they‘re illegal immigrants. That’s why we have to go to dump to bring medicines and medical aid.

Gareth was kind enough to go with us to check upon the people of the dump. When he was done helping the people from the dump, he went with Fred back to the Mao Tao clinic. He explained how Fred could treat and spot medical issues which he will be likely to spot on the dump site.

Gareth is not the only medical student who visits the dump. There are a lot of medical volunteers in the Mae Tao clinic.
Besides working in the Mae Tao clinic there are also a lot of other options to volunteer in Mae Sot. Like in the refugee camp digging water holes or teaching English.

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Political Imprisonment »

Political Imprisonment – Khin Cho Myint

Interview with Khin Cho Myint, a former political prisoner:

Khin Cho Myint was detained for five years and nine months, because of her activity in a democratic student union.

I didn’t hope for 10 years. At the time the military intelligence asked me if I could guess my sentence. I told them about six months. They where laughing.

Where you treated different as a political prisoner?

Yes, we where kept separated from the other prisoners. We couldn’t see our family, when other prisoners could. Other prisoners could also possess stuff like food. They could buy it from the prison staff. We couldn’t buy food. We didn’t have anything.

Projects & Experiences »

I call her ‘Song’

As I earn the refugees’ trust, they invite me into their huts. I went into one shack near the dump that houses a family of eight. There was a little girl who was crouched down on the bare floor. She was beautiful but sad. Her mother called her over and I noticed her thins arms and legs. She was 13 years old, but she was like a skeleton. Her mother touched her head and she let me touch her head to feel her fever. I picked her up and the heat from her body made me sweat.

Refugees »

Mae La refugee camp

(Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC.org) 2009)

Mae La is also known as ‘Beh Klaw’ in Karen, which means ‘cotton field’ due to the agricultural activities for which Karen leaders first negotiated permission for refugees to cross into the area in 1984.
History:
The camp was originally established following the fall of the KNU base at the Thai village of Mae La on the border in 1984 with a population of 1,100. Shortly afterwards, due to security concerns, it was moved to the site where Zone C currently lies. After the fall of Manerplaw in January 1995, a number of camps were attacked in cross-border raids and the Thai authorities began to consolidate camps to improve security; Mae La was designated as the main consolidation camp in the area.