Free Burma: My Burma Story

My first experience in Asia was Christmas 2003. Asia was my Africa; by that I mean that I would have been fine living and dying without ever having been to Asia. But an opportunity came up for me to spend two weeks on a missions trip at an orphanage in northern Thailand over Christmas, and I took it.

I was not disappointed.

The people were fantastic, the scenery breathtaking, the culture fascinating. Each day was a new adventure with new sights, smells, tastes, and experiences. I definitely learned more from the Thai than I'm sure they learned from me.

One day our group was offered the opportunity to spend a couple of hours in Burma while our hosts ran some "errands". (We were intentionally kept out of the loop for our own safety.) I will never forget those hours.

For starters, we had to leave our passports on the Thai side of the border with the Thai officials so that they wouldn't be stolen - that was nerve-wracking enough. The instant I walked through the gates into Burma I was bombarded with offers: porn, tours, cigarettes, more porn, trinkets... There was a market right there that everyone was doing their shopping in, but it was pretty dirty and sad-looking - my heart was in my throat the whole time I was walking around. I was struck by the contrast at the border and really noticed it when I returned from my wander through the market. In order to get back into Thailand you had to walk over a bridge. I stopped in the middle of the bridge and gazed down at the river below, and this is what I saw: on the Burmese side of the river was a tall fence with barbed wire at the top. Garbage was strewn all over the place, blown up against the fence; crumbed old buildings and paths worn through the rubble were visible.

On the Thai side of the border it was a different story. It definitely wasn't the Garden of Eden, but there was no fence, the bank of the river was not littered with garbage, and the buildings looked much newer and cleaner. It was a very clear picture to me of what a military dictatorship will do a people and a country... a sad day indeed.

This is what today is all about: raising awareness of the plight of the Burmese people and helping give them a voice. Do you have a Burma story? Please share - let's get the word out!

Comments

[Carla]

Thanks for sharing, Jeremy.