Freedom From Fear...

We're almost halfway done with our time here in Thailand, although I have the pleasure of staying a bit longer and introducing my parents to the wonderful things I've found here. Between a life-changing week with elephants, meditation retreats, and inspiring lectures about peace, religion, and culture, I have found space to breath and feel at home. I haven't felt the pressure of our hectic schedule, despite the huge number of activities.

Love makes time fly. As do comfort, relaxation, health, and general happiness.

We had our last lecture series on Wednesday about Burmese politics and the situation of Burmese refugees in Thailand, which was particularly meaningful to me. Since I first learned about the dire situation in Burma sometime earlier this year, I've felt particularly connected to the country. I've followed the news about Aung San Suu Kyi and the U.S. relations with Burma, from both Western and Burmese perspectives.

A Burmese man who called himself a former student activist in Burma talked to us about the history of post-colonial Burma. He had a brilliant light in his eyes, and when his passion for the issues took over him, he talked faster than I could follow. He was a beacon of the Burmese struggle for democracy. And although he was inspirational, his message made me feel hopeless. We asked if he thought that that National League for Democracy (the party following the legacy of Aung San Suu Kyi while she is under house arrest), had a chance of winning the upcoming 2010 elections. He immediately answered "No" and said that it will take a huge force for any significant change to happen in Burma.

Meanwhile, the ethnic minorities in Burma are being displaced from their homes, forced to flee across landmine-ridden fields in hope of a better life in Thailand. Of those who make it over the border alive, only a lucky few make it further than a refugee camp, where their movement is dictated by the Thai government. Often, people in camps can only legally leave their community during daylight hours, and even then, they have to get permission. They have to live in these conditions for as long as 10 years before the Thai government gives them an ID card which permits them to travel further than their village, but often only within their province. Refugees in camps and in cities risk being sent back to their conflict-stricken country of origin if they are caught at any time without proper identification.

The issue is huge (as so many are), too big for one blog post. And it makes my heart ache just thinking about it.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the democracy movement in Burma who has been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years, says in her essay "Freedom from Fear", "The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation's development." The Burmese people I have interacted with all have that spirit. They are just like me, like you, like us. They, too, know when they are oppressed and seek a better life for themselves. The bravest among them remain and fight for rights of their people. The spirit is there, burning as big as it's allowed to shine.

Hoping, despite my pessimism,
B(ee)