Visit to Women and Children Safe House in Mon controlled Myanmar

Friday, 1 November 2013

I am crossing into Burma with Fa’s sister and Malies. Malies is a www.BaanUnrak.org volunteer from Belgium who will help to provide Physiotherapy treatments to 2 kids in the Children and Women Safe House. Fa’s sister works for this informal organization.  Malies just completed her PhD from Edinburgh University and is helping out while looking for jobs.

This will be my second crossing into Burma informally or illegally. The first was from Daluo （打洛in China Yunnan XiShuangBanna 西双版纳 (SipSongPaNa inThai). DaLuo was a crossing for locals using border passes and NOT an international immigration crossing then (not sure if it is now) and our friends paid to get into Burma to take a look and return. 

The hired SongTeow (I believe the word comes from TeowChew Dialect meaning 双条 (double rows) where the passengers are sat in 2 rows) pickup costing THB400 took national road 323 towards Three Pagoda Pass International Immigration Crossing Checkpoint (Myanmar Government has recently open up 3 International Border Crossings). Before the Immigration Checkpoint, we steer left into a mud road and drive into a Mon village that is under the control of Mon Military. There were no army checkpoints along the mud road although there is a physical barrier.

The Safe House houses mothers and children who were neglected by or lost their husbands / fathers due to poverty or otherwise or were the victims of human trafficking. Most mothers are teenagers. The safe is not a permanent place to stay but a half way house to rehabitate the mothers so that she can fence for herself and children after gaining some basic trainings and living skills. There is a process to accept, orientate, train and discharge the mothers.

The house sits on a piece of land owned by a Buddhist temple that is situated on hilltop about 1 KM away. No matter how poor a village or its people, the temple always look good. The house is very basic and no furniture and we have to sit on floor and mates. There is entertainment like TV to keep the inhabitant occupied since the intention is not to allow them for long stay.

Fa’s sister had meetings and discussions with the staff and occupants while Malies could not do help as the problem kids were NOT around due to some miscommunications. Thai True Mobile still cover this area with 3G data. I played with the kids. I will share some photos of the kids here. To protect the mothers' privacy, I was told not to expose their faces in social media. There is a social stigma against neglected women. 

Malies the Physiotherapist

 

We left at around 4:30PM using the same transport that was waiting throughout. 

Food for thoughts:

Future is bleak for the people here as there are little economic opportunities. Agriculture is the mainstay. Although we the city folks mostly think that education is the way up the social ladders but without economic investment and activities, development will not happen.

My friend Kenny put it rightly, it is NOT how smart you are but where you are born that matters most.