Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Karen take the New Year season quite seriously and whether Christian or Buddhist or Animists, they are happy - Hta thi Kli – to sing the praise of the Divine Being. Around the same time of year is Liberation Day when they celebrate who they are and their ‘Done’ – their ‘togetherness,’ which is expressed in the Traditional Done dance; the performance of which still sends shivers down my back every time I see it. All our students at Kaw Tha Blay are very much a part of this. A group of 45 of them trained very hard with their teacher, and became quite famous, competing with 8 other Dance Groups this year in Mae Lah camp. You are not allowed to say who won or lost, but they received 3000 Baht in what we might call – ‘a prize of appreciation.’ This money they are contributing to the budget for the Graduation Ceremony. They were invited to dance as well in a Thai-Karen village known well to Kshakalu, and in another village run partly by a Jesuit Mission, and also by the local group of Thai Forest Rangers. They danced for our family too and for some visitors from Orillia. Now it is all over and the colourful finery has been washed and packed away until next year.Graduation 2007 First Graduating Class 2007, Karen State

We now have 75 and more people living in an area of about 2 acres and the buildings have been going up over the last 5 years in Kaw Tha Blay as they were needed and we could afford them. There are no inspectors here and no building codes. We do have electricity, and some lighting, but daylight is more predictable. We have computers and through a satellite dish, the internet that we believe will change the world, and which we want to promote. Our young people are working very hard and making great strides and this year we have been very fortunate with our volunteer teachers, but we have lagged behind with waste management and finally this has now caught up with us. The ‘Honey Wagon’ needed to come far too often and as anyone who is not on mains drainage knows this can add up. The problem we found was the collecting tanks had been built with no spill over or tile drainage. They were just large concrete tanks with nowhere for anything to go. It took a lot of drawing on whiteboards, convincing our own as well as the next door farmer where we needed to dig, that we would be improving his land rather than harming it, before we could get down to digging and drying and drilling holes in the bottom of the concrete tanks and surrounding them with river stones making a sort of tile bed. Now it is done and hopefully will be the answer. We should not be too critical. Thomas Crapper did not come to London until the nineteenth century and before that the chamber pots were just emptied out of the upstairs windows into the gutters below. Walking to work in the morning may have been a bit tricky.

Because of increase in available land for farming, Ksakalu has been able to harvest and store enough lentils and rice to last us until next November. At present we are suffering from a water shortage and are badly in need of rain, not really due until May. We have a recently acquired pig which just gave birth to nine piglets and several goats that have been very kindly donated to us by friends from Kingston and the neighbouring town of Bath. One of each will be gone as food at the coming graduation. Some people may feel that the gowns and mortar boards the students wear are a bit of an extravagance. I should explain the same gowns are used each year and were made very cheaply in Mae La camp for the first graduation. It is just a once a year thing and there is very little wear and tear.

One of our visitors from Orillia arrived with a cast on her arm from a previous fracture, which was now due to come off. I was clearly the one to deal with this. I talked to Law Kwa the senior Medic and good friend in Trauma. “ Absolutely,” he said, “ We can deal with that”, which surprised me a bit as I know that they have been having trouble with the plaster saw they have there. So it turned out that the three ladies from Orillia started out their tour of the Mae Tao Clinic with a very necessary appointment in Trauma. When I was sick, I had to spend two nights in the local Thai Hospital. The same Law Kwa came each night and slept in my room on a makeshift sofa to be certain I would be alright. This gives you some idea of what sort of people they are. We intend to get them a new plaster saw and shears as well as a new dermatome, for taking skin grafts. To help them maintain a particular and much needed form of surgery in which they have become expert, and have been able to provide a very much needed service.

Kaw Tha Blay, this ‘land without Evil,’ is facing a changing world and for the present no one can predict what is going to happen across the border, that will have such profound consequence on the thousands of Karen on this side as well. We do know how important it is to educate and keep in health as many of these young people as we can. We are so grateful for your continued caring and interest and support. Because of you, these young people have a future and are learning that they too belong to the rest of the world. They really understand the value of freedom. ” Freedom is the most valuable thing that you can have. Unfortunately, something only really understood by those who have had to live without it.”

Thank you again – and for listening.

David for PUB.

Going on, I would like to draw your attention to the Carlton University videotape of their Skype interview with Aung San Suu Kyi. You can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIqaOIrE_dA . It is very inspiring and gives you the feeling that perhaps the world can change!