Life in Eastern Burma
A story of one family and the Back Pack Health Worker Team
It is hard to imagine life in Burma under the military regime of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The generals have extensive systems for controlling the content and flow of information into or out of this beleaguered nation. Inter Pares has been working with community-based organizations from Burma since 1991. Through the eyes of colleagues in these organizations we get a unique perspective on life in Burma – here, we provide a rare glimpse of the reality of life under this cruel regime.
The current regime has been in power since 1988, but Burma has been under military rule since a coup led by General Ne Win in 1962. Burma has been labelled a “Least Developed Nation” by the United Nations, and their official health system has been ranked second-worst in the world (outperforming Sierra Leone). Much of the nation is in a state of armed conflict in which the SPDC troops target civilians. Several million people have fled into neighbouring countries of Thailand, India, Bangladesh, China, and Malaysia, and there are an estimated half a million internally displaced people living in eastern Burma alone. The full scope of the regime’s atrocities has only recently been internationally recognized, as evidenced by its violent repression of the Saffron Revolution in September of 2007 and soon followed by the generals’ paranoid negligence and inaction in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May of 2008.
With 76 teams of health workers, BPHWT provided health services to a target population of over 160,000 in 2007. PHOTO: BPHWT
In 1998, with the support of Inter Pares, doctors and health workers from the Karen, Karenni, and Mon states in Burma established the Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT). The team provides primary health care in armed conflict and rural areas where access to healthcare is otherwise unavailable. They offer medical assistance, community health education, preventative healthcare and maternal and child health services to internally displaced persons in Burma. The BPHWT aims to equip people with the skills and knowledge necessary to manage and address their own health problems, while working towards long-term sustainable development.
On a regular visit to Mae Sot, Thailand, on the border with Burma, Inter Pares staff Rebecca Wolsak met with a member of the Back Pack Health Worker Team. Thra Thoo Lei was in Mae Sot on a routine visit to pick up health supplies, report back to the team’s administration, receive training to upgrade his skills as a health worker and share information with fellow team members. Thra Thoo Lei told Rebecca about a patient of his from Karen State, and this story is detailed below.
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| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
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