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.
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.
How was your life when you where younger in Burma?
I was the youngest in my family. We had a big family. I had two elder brothers and two elder sisters. As the youngest I got all the attention of my parents, this increased when I turned out to be good at school after I was twelve.
In 1990 I passed the mathematics exam at the same time I was involved in the 1988 uprising democracy movement(*1).
After I passed the exam I had to wait three years to join the university. The military closed all universities to prevent student movements. In those years I worked as a private tutor for second-degree students while I was waiting to attend the university.
In 1993 I was attending Yangon University as a physics major student and in ‘94/ ‘95 I was attending as a honors student. In 1996 I got my honors degree, but at that time I was still secretly involved in the 8888 uprising movement. Secretly, because we where not allowed to organize or start a students union.
When I look back upon my youth in Burma under the ruling of the Burmese military, my life was sometimes rich and exiting because of my involvement in the student uprising. I was happy. Even dough I’ve lost some friends.
On September 26th, 1998 when I was attending my master’s degree I was arrested. They sentenced me for 10 years. I was detained in prison for 5 years and 9 months. Read the full story »
Popularity: 5%
Go Play is an organization that builds playgrounds in developing countries. In Thailand they have built a lot of playgrounds for schools and orphanages. When you have some spare time you can volunteer to build playgrounds and make a lot of children happy.
For Robert, a volunteer, I’ve created this short movie so you can see what they’re exactly doing.
A short trailer/teaser of the experiences of Eh Kaw Hto Wah animated by Sander Hegeman for Eyes to Burma, www.eyesto.org
In Karen State is a constant fighting between the government and insurgents for over 60 years. This causes thousands of refugees and internally displaced people every year.
Currently there are over 125.000 people in hiding for the Burmese militairy or otherwise driven from their homes by the conflict in Karen State.
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.
First impression of the people who are living on the garbage dump.
In Mae Sot there are living around 200-300 people on the garbage dump. They have fled form their home country Burma to build up a live here in Thailand.
Read more on Illegal Immigrants on the garbage dump…
Popularity: 20%
Interview with Aung Kgaw: Aung Kgaw has spent 14 years in prison, because he was a member of a democratic party in Burma.
AAPPB (2006) Eight Seconds of Silence:
The Burmese government, like most dictatorships, does it best to hide the crimes it commits against its people. Perhaps on some level it knows that what it does is shameful. But more likely, it views secrecy as another means to torment its persecuted opponents. It tells them: “Not only will we harm you physically, but no one in the world will know we did this to you. No one will know that you suffered. No one will know that you even excisted. And if they do not know, they will not care.”
Read more on Political Imprisonment – Aung Kgaw…
Popularity: 33%
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.
Read more on I call her ‘Song’…
Popularity: 7%
(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.
Read more on Mae La refugee camp…
Popularity: 36%
