water flows

summer vids

For entertainment purposes only:  Some snippets from Jen and Johan's trip up to the Gaspe in early August.

the return

I recently returned to Afghanistan after a 2 1/2 year hiatus. The trip was fantastic, emotional, joyful, frustrating and saddening.  I saw old friends (and their beautiful new babies) and visited families as much as possible.  I laid the ground for my fieldwork beginning in mid-September 2008 and garnered a good level of support for my research from ministerial offices and key aid/development actors in Kabul as well as in Maymana.  I am fortunate to have such diverse support resources, and it is having access to these valuable supports that reminds me that if anyone can carry out this research project, I can. 

My first fieldwork trip will take place in Faryab province--a relatively comfortable and familiar place to get warmed up to practicing independent research in rural settlements.  I hope to have six solid weeks to spend in up to three settlements, each in a different district.

I've received enough pressure from friends to decide to keep this blog active throughout my year of fieldwork, which, after Faryab, will take me to Kunduz and Badakhshan provinces into mid-2009 . 

So, stay tuned!

water also ebbs

thus far during my time in london i have been repeatedly struck by my vast amount of good fortune.  this is not to say that i have not worked to get where i am, as i certainly feel that i have earned this situation, but the luxuries that comprise my current life certainly have not gone unnoticed and unappreciated.  i am surrounded by friends and colleagues with whom i am able to share thoughts, experiences and feelings.  i suppose this luxury is difficult to appreciate unless you have been without it for longer periods of time.  i can now call family on a whim, i have internet 24 hours a day (if i so wish), i can communicate with  anyone i wish and i am now just a regular person, not a spectacle or the subject of relentless staring, whispering and joking.  i am incredibly fortunate to reside in a lovely home with heat and free of vermin and other pests.  i even have quite a nice view (though i doubt i will ever have such a view as was mine in mindat).  good conversation, an endless variety of food and drink, and transport to anywhere in the world are all at my doorstep.  i can buy good chocolate.  i can eat a fresh salad every day.  i can ride my bike anywhere i like without telling anyone.  i can go anywhere i like without telling anyone (though with CCTV i can still be assured that my movements are recorded).  quality books, art, theatre and music are making a reappearance in my life.  i am myself again. 

but i do miss myanmar.  i miss my friends and colleagues who taught me what it is to be strong and what reality often means under the surface.  i miss the fresh air and the stifling humidity.  i miss the values that permeate everyday lives that seem to be so far from everyday life here in london.  life just 'is' in myanmar.  it's not simple or easy, but it is life and everyone is in touch with what that means.   i know that i have experienced a myanmar that is rarely seen or heard, and this is the side of it that i miss the most.   

i am grateful to be enjoying my current incarnation here in london and look forward to reconnecting with the golden land soon enough.  i know that myanmar will remain a part of my personal and academic life though all the ebbs and flows that are to come my way.

Re-posted: Chin State Infrastructure

An Introduction to Chin State

Chin state is in northwestern Myanmar. It is the most sparsely populated of Myanmar’s 14 States and Divisions. The state is broken into North and South, with Southern Chin comprising 4 Townships (Matupi, Pawetla, Kanpetlet and Mindat). These 4 Townships are among the poorest in all of Myanmar. Northern Chin tends to be in a better socio-economic situation, due mainly to cross-border trade and development with India.

My experiences of Southern Chin are mostly of Mindat Township, though I have some connections to Kanpetlet Township as well. The project I coordinated took place entirely in Mindat Township. This township comprises 197 villages and a population of just over 29,000 individuals in approximately 5300 households. Our project targeted roughly 1/5 of the township, including 35 villages, 1190 households, 5979 individuals.

Water and Sanitation:
Mindat Township is situated in a mountainous region, with elevations ranging from 500 to 2500 meters. Most villages are situated on steep hillsides, meaning water sources can be difficult to come by. Our preliminary surveys revealed that most people had to travel between 15 minutes and ½ day to fetch water at the spring sources. There are few to no roads in Southern Chin, and as people do not have money to own vehicles (with the average locally-produced jeep costing USD5,000-8,000 and monetary incomes ranging from non-existent to USD200 per year per family), all water collection is done on foot, almost exclusively by women and children.

Because the water fetching comes at such a high cost (time, effort), quantities collected are generally too little to allow for proper sanitation practices such as personal hygiene or environmental sanitation. This has resulted in diarrhoea becoming the leading cause of death in Southern Chin. It is important to understand that the people of Southern Chin still live mainly traditional lifestyles involving traditional medicinal practices and animistic rituals (often combined with Buddhist or Christian practices). So, even if higher quantities of water were available at the household level, people would not have the knowledge or desire to use the water for preventing or treating diarrhoea. For example, traditional methods of treating diarrhoea include consuming red millet wine mixed with dog faeces, swallowing live insects or eating the meat or brain of a black dog. Traditional beliefs state that diarrhoea or malaria come from spirits (or ‘nats’) as punishment for bad behaviour. Thus it is clear that education on personal hygiene and water hygiene are crucial elements in reducing mortality rates and improving the quality of life in Southern Chin. In this context, provision of water alone will not save lives.

Health Infrastructure:
The public health system has many levels, with the lowest level being the Sub-Rural Health Centres are supposed to be located in rural villages and employ a Midwife or Assistant Midwife (the degree of formal training varying between 2-6 months) to provide basic health care to those in remote areas. Rural Health Centres (RHCs) are supposed to located in small towns in rural areas and offer services by Health Assistants and/or Midwives. Township and District Health Centres (or Hospitals) are found in larger towns such as Mindat or Kanpetlet and will have a handful of qualified physicians and Health Assistants.
The main problem in remote villages in Mindat Township is that the Sub-Rural Health Centres do not really exist. Not only are there virtually no dedicated buildings for health centres, but Midwives who are responsible for providing basic health assistance to clusters of 5-7 villages are most often from Mindat town and do not spend enough (or barely any) time outside of Mindat. When you combine the distance of the villages from Mindat (some take 1-2 days of walking and 5-6 hours of driving) with the extreme poverty in the villages, then it becomes clear that most villagers are unable to find the time or financial resources to reach the nearest Rural Health Centre or Hospital for necessary medicines or medical attention. They simply cannot reach Mindat on their own. Also, without the regular presence of educated health providers, the levels of health and hygiene knowledge in the villages and individual households are dangerously low, leading to frequent deaths from excruciatingly simple illnesses such as diarrhoea.

Next blog entry:
Traditional music and handcrafts

war criminals

i think it is time for the international community and the UN to seek justice for the people of Myanmar. the key actors in the military junta need to face prosecution under the International Criminal Court for the war crimes against humanity they have committed over the past 45 years and continue to commit today.

economic sanctions will not have the desired effect. they will instead tightening the strangled economy and further empoverish the country's traders and, subsequently, wider public.

i can't help but feel the time for diplomacy has passed. legal action must be taken before some superpower decides, in mainly its own interests, it will overstep the UN Security Council's authority and violently invade Myanmar.

some links:
http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/ (with direct news from Yangon)
http://bbwob.blogspot.com/
http://www.cfob.org (Canadian Friends of Burma website with crucial info on how Canadian companies are operating and investing in Burmese natural resources side-by-side with the junta)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070927.MAYANMARJUNTA27/TPStory/International
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=18203329336&ref=mf (regarding london march on Sunday, September 30th)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=7418515238&ref=mf (for marches in Ottawa)
http://www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.globeandmail.com

questions about the impact of this 'saffron revolution'

of course, i am enthralled with all the media coverage of the ongoing protests in myanmar. i am hoping to travel to yangon at the end of the week in order to see about some research. also, i am very eager to speak with my friends and feel the tension, excitement, frustration and determination for myself.

with some luck and fruitful discussions today and tomorrow, i am hopeful that i will have some support from one or two media organizations for my trip.

i would like to gather data from individuals not directly involved with the protests in order to examine their perceived impact from the current events. my intention is to examine how these current events are impacting people's lives in different ways, including their perceived role in the state. that is, have the protests led people to be more engaged with politics or do the more basic needs of their daily lives (ie., survival, food for children, money to pay rent, etc.) temper any will to participate politically?

so, I may go to speak with people I know who are not directly involved either in the city or outside in a smaller community. given the travel restrictions for foreigners entering on business visas (as i would be), i do not think i will be able to travel very far outside of Yangon. i would not ask people directly about participatory governance, of course, as this concept is very far removed from Burmese society. my approach is to ask more basic questions which would help me to form an interpretation addressing my own working definition of participatory governance.

also, if it seems that any type of interviews or discussions are much too risky, i will simply observe as much as i can and not press forward with any potentially dangerous research. Lives are at stake when any sort of political discussion takes place. i am aware of the limitations and risks of this research and will work within reasonable boundaries.

Also, i would like to strive to provide the Canadian public with a different perspective on the ongoing events. i would like to give audiences a different, more in-depth view of what the protests mean for those who are not directly involved. thus my interest in garnering some media attention. of course, if there are other angles which your paper would be interested in investigating, i am more than happy to consider them as well. i think i would lend a relevant and interesting perspective to any story given my privilege of having lived in rural Burma for several months--an opportunity afforded only a small handful of foreigners.

so, in summary, i can offer a story with a unique and dynamic perspective (i am willing to explore different formats for this information, as the paper would see fit) and i can also do my best with some photography. if some of my contacts come through, i am hoping to have access to certain locations not granted to other foreigners.

water flows: reflections on human rights

As you may know, I am now back in Canada.  My 're-entry' transition is taking more time than anticipated, as is so often the case.  However, as the days pass I find myself more and more inclined to follow up on my intentions to pursue some awareness-raising activities here in this country.  As I speak with friends and family, I realize that precious few people are aware of the challenges facing the people of Myanmar.  Unfortunately, there is an array of possible issues that could be raised with regard to challenges in Myanmar.  To simplify, I will discuss a few issues based on my experiences in Mindat and Yangon from November 2006 to June 2007.

The first issue I will address is human rights.

As a brief introduction, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and sets forth a 'standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations' with regard to, among other things, recognizing the 'inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.'  The declaration comprises 30 articles.

United Nations member states, of which Myanmar has been one since just before the declaration's adoption in 1948, are, in theory, expected to promote these rights and freedoms. 

So, what I will do is select the articles which, according to my experience in Myanmar and opinion, are being expressly ignored and trodden over in the course of daily life in Myanmar.  I forewarn that the below information will make you angry and incredulous.  I just hope it makes you angry enough to learn more, pass on the information and ask me about good, responsible ways to take action.

-all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights

-everyone is entitled to the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration

-everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person:  The thousands of families who are displaced by internal conflict do not enjoy these rights.   

-no one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment:  Political prisoners, being held without trial, are subject to crual and degrading treatment.  There is video evidence of degrading treatment to Myanmar citizens by military personnel.  Rape, water torture, forced displacement and ethnic persecution are among the degrading and inhuman treatment experienced.  Amnesty International states, "Torture has become an institution" in Burma (see website:  http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/aboutburma/humanrights.html).  Many people I met consider their continuous poverty to be degrading and inhuman given the riches of the government.

-all are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection against discrimination in violation of this declaration:  No Myanmar citizens are protected against discrimination.  Government actors do as they wish and are not accountable to any regulatory body.

-no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile:  Many citizens (all those I have met, at least) live in fear of arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.  Friends of a contact were deported after participating in an anti-government demonstration.  Most citizens do not speak of the government at all for fear of being overheard by government agents and subsequently punished.  Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (whose name you cannot speak of in Myanmar) has been under house arrest since 1989 with but a few brief releases.  Many former political prisoners choose to live in exile to avoid the continued mistreatment on the part of the government.

-everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal:  As far as I know, political prisoners are sentenced under 'extrajudicial' processes or by military tribunals.  See AAPPB's website for more interesting and compelling data on the past and current prisoners (currently totalling over 1,100):  http://www.aappb.org/aboutaapp.html

-no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour or reputation: Private communication and correspondence is almost non-existent in Myanmar. Emails and phone calls are all monitored for anything about the problems in the country (IDPs, conflict, poverty, etc., etc., or the military regime itself). Conversations in public places are listened in on and can be reported if any questionable subjects are breached.  

-everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, this includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas in any media and regardless of frontiers: I have not met one Myanmar citizen who would claim they have this freedom. There is no freedom of expression as all media outlets, publications and broadcasts are controlled by the military regime. Any anti-government statements or ideas are censored or omitted. Seeking, recieving and imparting information and ideas is very difficult as communication to people inside and outside of the country is monitored. A slip of the tongue during a telephone conversation results in the phone line being cut.

-everyone has the right to peaceful assembly and association: Public assemblies are prohibited in all of Myanmar.

-everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country: No elected representatives form part of the current government. No elections have been held since 1990. The government selects and appoints representatives in each province, division, district, township and village tract.

-the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage: The last elections were held in 1990. The citizens of Myanmar voted overwhelmingly for the National League for Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi being the part leader (see http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/b/burma/burma1990.txt for election details). However, the military took over as the State Peace and Development Council and has since maintained control. The will of the people is definitely not the basis of the authority of the military regime.

-everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection:

-everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family

-everyone has the right to education

For each of the above points, please think about your own experiences of human rights and how your life is affected by this declaration.  If you can, try to imagine for just a few seconds what it would be like not to have these rights observed and protected.  This will give you a tiny glimpse of the constant fear and discrimination experienced by all citizens Myanmar. 

Removed!

You will notice that I have removed my last post regarding water and sanitation in Southern Chin State. I have made the decision to remove the text after being reminded by a colleague about the potential and largely unforeseen risks/consequences of revealing actual living conditions in certain regions of this country. Though I have tried to be non-political so as not to draw attention to myself or our staff, it is inevitable that the posts could be misconstrued by the wrong people at the wrong time. The consequences for my friends here and CARE's interventions and our beneficiaries in Chin State are too much to risk. I have decided to keep my blog postings purely personal and will follow up on other writings after departing Myanmar. I hope you can continue to visit and enjoy this blog. I will keep it as blithely entertaining and informative as possible. And so, in this misanthropic spirit, I'll post some silly and inconsequential photos.