MMN Mar 2022 Mag - online - Flipbook - Page 21
“You are doing
exactly
what we are
unable to do.”
of transport, food and accommodation for the students, who came
from clinics inside Burma. This
pattern continued for nearly five
years and it became an annual
event for a small number of close
friends. The leader of KDHW was
called Eh Kalu and he had dedicated his whole life to serving the
health needs of the Karen people.
The government did not provide
any healthcare or education for
minority tribes who had not
‘surrendered’.
Eh Kalu persuaded me to fund
a
three-month
‘Community
Health-Worker’ programme, which
was being held in Noe Poe refugee
camp (five hours drive south from
Mae Sot). As ‘donor’ I was invited to
present the certificates at the end
of the course. I, of course, wanted
to help and offer support so made
the very long trip. It was there that
a small miracle happened. The
hospitals in all the refugee camps
were run by an organisation called
Aide Medicine Internationale (AMI
is a French NGO) and the director was sitting in the ceremony.
He saw each student receiving
their certificate, singing national
songs and then making an oath
to serve their people. He was very
impressed and asked to speak to me
at the end. He said “You are doing
exactly what we are unable to do.”
The funding for the camp
hospitals (three in total) came
from the EU and the ‘contract’
included not working cross-border
into Burma. He could clearly see
that we were doing exactly that.
Those in refugee camps had their
20
