Jesuit Refugee Service - UK
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Jesuit Refugee Service - UK |
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Reflection
on 2 Years with JRS on the Thai-Burma Border As I
queued up with some of the 500,000 UK tourists who fly to Thailand each
year, there was certainly a sense of unreality about the challenge ahead. I
wasn't in a holiday mood nor was I wearing a palm tree pattered shirt, but
I was thinking about a different sort of adventure in the Thai
jungle. Over 500 miles north-west of Bangkok the dense jungle along the
Burma border conceals a little known secret. The ethnic groups in Burma
experience forced relocation and conscription into the half million strong
Burmese army, and suffer human rights abuses by the military government of
Burma, the SPDC (State Peace and Reconciliation Committee). Hence the
existence of a dozen or so refugee camps on Thai soil and numerous other
refugees living precariously as unregistered aliens. Those
reach the haven of the camps past landmines, SPDC patrols and the hazards of
the dense mountainous jungle at least can receive medical help, schooling
and enjoy a degree of security that has long since gone in their homeland. The
JRS Education Project in two of the camps helps support nearly 7,000
students and 420 teachers in 20 schools. Some of the teachers have received
little more than Primary education and very few have been trained. Most of
the JRS staff being part of the ethnic Karenni group, are confined to Camp.
The JRS Program is divided into KG and Primary, Middle and High School and a
Teacher Training College where an intensive one year course provides some
preparation for up to 40 student teachers a year. The
schools are basic bamboo structures with teak leaves for roofing, skillfully
balanced on the steep slopes of the humid jungle built by parents, students
and staff. Health and Safety officials would have a field day observing
small kids with big machetes chopping roof beams from trees way up in the
jungle canopy, to say nothing of the dangers of the occasional snake,
scorpion and hungry mosquito. Any
flat land is snapped up quickly for the soccer and volleyball pitches
providing a great place to let off steam for energetic school kids and the
many young males with little work and much time on their hands. If
you thought French was a challenge at school you may think again when you
hear the seemingly incomprehensible ethnic languages spoken in camp, though
Burmese is the main language used in meetings and in schools. The
Karenni are a mixture (sometimes literally) of animist, buddhist, baptist
and catholic faiths who all share a healthy respect for each other, joining
in with their respective religious celebrations. In fact barely a month goes
by without some festival and the ensuing rituals, dances, sports
competitions and obligatory (except for the Baptists) consumption of local
brew, followed by hangover. Our
main task in JRS (apart from the aforementioned duty) is to work with the
Karenni Education Department (KnED) in subject training, lesson planning and
teaching methods, classroom management, head teacher leadership skills and
vocational training. This last topic has been my main focus in the last year
as preparation for life in a remote jungle homeland is rather different from
skills required in the average city with supermarkets and 24 hour internet
access. The courses include first aid, carpentry, sewing/weaving,
agriculture and mechanics taught mainly by local trainers from camp. JRS
staff regularly visit the schools with resources, observing lessons and
giving suggestions, providing 'exemplar' lessons and generally helping to
motivate staff and students alike. Being
the JRS coordinator for the Middle/ High Schools, I am invited to 'say a few
words' at countless Opening
Ceremonies, Closing Ceremonies, Prize Giving Days, 'Unveiling of Notice
Board Days', Sports Days, (all followed by a hearty lunch - with rice wine),
various staff meetings, monthly (very long) head teacher meetings and end of
intensive in-service training sessions. Hence my purchase of 'Quote for all
Seasons' and subscription to 'Anecdote
Weekly' seem a shrewd investment. Visits to classes are a delight for any
teacher and the students' enthusiasm, respect and gratefulness make up for
the puddles on the floor, invasions of chickens and the oven like
temperatures of summer. There
are of course many stories of tragedy and courage amongst the 20,000
refugees. As a young child, one
girl now in Standard 5, had seen nine family members lined up and shot in her village. Students find solace in
sketching pictures in art lessons depicting blazing villages torched by
rampaging SPDC troops. Many children were forced to be child soldiers or
porters for the army, some showing bullet wounds and scars to prove it. My
colleague at JRS, Sebastian Day Paw, fled for his life after the Junta
crackdown on political dissidents, leaving his elderly parents behind. He
now has three young children of his own who will never see their
grandparents unless there is a change of government in Burma. A constant appeal from the students is for us to remember
them and their story, to tell the outside world why they are forced to flee
their country. Many of the younger children have never been out of the camp
except to the local jungle to gather bamboo shoots, mushrooms and vegetables
to supplement their NGO rations of rice and yellow beans. As I
contemplate my two amazing years here in the jungle camps with the JRS
Education Program far from the beaches of Krabi and the bright lights of
Bangkok, I recall, despite the frustrations, just how much I have received
from the witness of the refugees. Apart from the countless smiles, warm
friendships and stories of courage, other highlights for me are of crazy
soccer matches on lunar like pitches and the JRS
'Discovery Zone' on
World Refugee day, when we brought 'exotic'
sea fish, crabs and fruits never seen in Camp as well as sheep from a Thai
farm and a shop dummy. We then cooked and served "traditional English
pancakes” to dazed onlookers. The showing of 'Toy Story 2' and 'Crocodile
Dundee' accompanied by "Goals of World Cup 2002” on a large LCD
screen was truly the culture clash of the giants and opened up a whole new
(and rather odd) world outside the confines of the camp. Well, don't they
say that 'education broadens the mind ?' Many
thanks to everybody who has been a part of this adventure in the jungle. Our
hope is that peace will return to Burma and that the Karenni and other
ethnic groups can return to their homeland soon. Rob
Fenlon JRS, |
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