This is Mark again. I guess I should preface that since Karman has been the prolific blogger thus far. I mean to do it, so we can let everyone know what is going on and so we don't forget ourselves, but the days go by so fast that by the end of the day, I have no energy to write. That, plus these first two weeks are focused on our service work in that we are doing trainings, having lots of meetings with organizations, doing tours of their projects, etc. For these, I've needed to prepare for with background research, creating curriculums, documenting ideas, sending follow-up emails, etc.
It has been quite the whirlwind and the days have been flying by, but they have all been amazing. I'm hoping to do some catch up on the blogging when we get to Phuket (pronounced poo-ket) for the last leg of our trip, which is focused solely on some R&R and fun (and some blogging, too).
We have now done one two-day training, and met with about 8 NGOs (non-gov't orgs) that have been inspiring and a pleasure from which to learn. It is incredibly eye-opening to see first-hand what is happening in other areas around the world that we are either unaware of, or we forget that we have heard about previously. From labor-trafficking (essentially slavery), exploitation, extreme poverty, hunger, sex-trafficking, an epidemic of street animals that are routinely poisoned as a form of control, lack of health care access, lack of education access, suppression by military (Burma) that burn villages, lack of electricityplumbing/etc. that we take for granted, lack of economic opportunities, lack of communication/language skills, etc. The list could go on and on - and that is just in this one area that we are staying right now along the Thai-Burma border. By the way - Burma was renamed Myanmar about 20 years ago, but for the locals, it never stuck and they refer to themselves as Burmese. That confused me for awhile.
It is quite daunting to think about all these issues in their totality. However, it is wonderful to see all the great works of the many NGOs that have targeted these issues in ways that really address the root of the issues as best they can - education, gaining productive skills, access to healthcare, etc. - that go well beyond hand-outs and charity, but rather empower these people to improve their lives and their communities in the long-term. They are really good people (with some bad apples, like anywhere) that want to work hard and create a good lives for their families, but they are just part of a system that is broken in so many ways. They can't leave (not allowed to, or the alternative is going back to a violent situation), and they have few options to get an education or job, so they are stuck. The NGOs here are their best hope and are making some good progress, and it is wonderful to be a part of it, even in a very small way.
I'll share more about what we've learned and our plans for Wildfire's role going forward in my upcoming blogs.
Best to you all!
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment