REPORT FROM ABROAD: Sitkan Lends a Hand at Myanmar Border

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Created on Tuesday, 15 October 2024 14:30

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Following is the first in an occasional series by a longtime Sitka resident, reporting now from Myanmar. Over his years in Sitka Mark Gorman has worked for the  U.S. Forest Service, as an executive officer at SEARHC, and as administrator of  the Sitka City and Borough. In the meantime Gorman and his wife Nancy have taken assignments in international humanitarian relief work in war-torn areas of the world.

The Bamboo Bridge
By Mark Gorman
    Thai/Myanmar Border, October 10 – The monsoon rains have swollen the stream into a turgid, rushing flow. Spanning it is a bridge with a footpath made of three large but slippery bamboo poles and an unsteady handrail of the same material. On the other side is Myanmar. I am accompanied by two local Karen men and two 100-pound bags of rice. The three of us head for the bridge, leaving Thailand and the rice behind.
***
    I am currently on the Thai-Myanmar Border. I am working on a five-year strategic plan for a migrant school that is situated just inside Thailand.  This is the straightforward part. Trying to succinctly explain 75 years of ethnic conflict and civil war that have led to the need for a strategic plan is a far greater challenge.

A bamboo bridge is pictured over a monsoon-swollen stream on the Myanmar border. (Photo by Mark Gorman)

    The Karen are an ethnic group native to Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. For over 75 years, the Karen have engaged in an armed struggle against the Myanmar government. During World War II, when Burma was a British colony, the Karen fought with Great Britain against the Japanese occupation. The British assured the Karen an independent state after the war.  However, in 1948, when Britain gave Burma its independence it reneged on this commitment. Burma’s broader civil war began in 1949 when the Karen National Union took up arms, demanding an independent state. To this day, the conflict continues. It is said to be the longest-lasting civil war in modern history.
    This simmering civil war was adrenalized in February 2021 when Myanmar’s democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, was overthrown in a military coup. In April of the same year, a coalition of ethnic groups and armies formed The National Unity Government to fight the military junta. This coalition has been formidable, now controlling 60% of Myanmar. But with this success has come a fresh flow of noncombatants into Thailand.
    The school for which I am developing the strategic plan looks across the Moei River valley at the Twa Nor Mountain Range of Myanmar. Last year students could see and hear the Myanmar Air Force jets strafing their home villages. The school was started twenty years ago to support the growing migrant exodus. Today, it has over 3,000 students in all grade levels. The population jumped by 50% in the last 12 months due to the intensity of the civil war.
    The campus is nestled in hilly terrain and resembles a shanty town populated by polite children in school uniforms. Classrooms range in style from plastic-sheeted walls with corrugated roofs to more substantial structures reminiscent of something you would find in Sitka. These latter buildings have been constructed through the generosity of donors and nonprofit organizations.
Scattered among these buildings are the student dormitories. These basic single-story facilities are often made from bamboo, with latrines and washing facilities nearby. The dormitories have open floor plans with an aisle down the middle separating the two sides. There are about 50 students per dorm. As you walk the dirt-packed paths between the structures, you dodge lines of drying student laundry.
     “When I teach, I feel so happy. It is not for self. It is for others” 25-year-old Eh Lar Paw (Love Moon Flower) told me. Eh Lar graduated from the school three years ago. She now teaches English to 250, tenth graders.  Her words and demeanor capture the essence of the Karen people and the students you encounter. This is nicely reflected in the school’s motto, “Be Good. Be Kind. Be a Peacemaker”.
    The challenge ahead is immense. The faculty is comprised of 100 teachers and three administrators, who also teach. A teacher earns $180 a month. Students pay $150 a year in tuition, which covers less than 80% of the school’s operating budget. Filling the gap is a constant struggle. This, combined with the political uncertainty, underscores the potency of the collective attitude among students and staff, marked by grace and optimism.
***
    We cross the bamboo bridge. Two Karen men are sent back to fetch the rice. We have arrived in Karen National Liberation Army-occupied Myanmar.  The Karen National flag flies from a post. My two companions are eager to introduce me to a setting different from the school where I am developing the strategic plan.
    On the hillside sits a collection of austere bamboo structures: the temporary home and school for 70 students. Some are war orphans. Others have been sent by their parents to get beyond the reach of the Myanmar Military. For reasons not entirely clear, this vulnerable group of children has not been permitted entry into Thailand. Despite the poverty of their surroundings as I walk through the teak leaf-roofed, bamboo classrooms, I watch children actively engaged in their learning.  I am greeted by warmth and smiles from all: Love Moon Flower’s words are very much on display.