Ah Lay and Thra Thoo Lei’s Story
Karen villages set on fire by SPDC troops. PHOTO: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG).
Ah Lay was a thirty-year-old farmer who lived and worked with his wife, Mu Ray, in Karen State. They lived in an area of frequent military offensives and therefore were forced to move often. There were twelve villages in the region, each of which had been burned down by the SPDC at various times in recent years. Because they were forced to flee so often, every planting season Ah Lay’s village began a fresh search for land to cultivate rice, betel nut and fruit.
One day, Ah Lay and a dozen of his neighbours were about an hour’s walk from their new home, searching for land to plant, when Ah Lay stepped on a landmine and severely damaged his right foot.
According to the BPHWT report Chronic Emergency, almost 33% of households experienced forced labour, almost 10% forced displacement and 25% had food confiscated or destroyed by the SPDC. PHOTO: KHRG.
Villagers in this area are accustomed to landmines, which the SPDC have laid thickly in the area over the years. As soon as anyone hears the echo of an exploded mine they start talking to each other to learn where it happened and who may have been hurt. Those who have access to walkie-talkies relay the details. Health workers in the region are able to learn about injuries fairly quickly this way. This useful form of communication is, however, also accessible to the SPDC, who can intercept and listen in on messages.
Hammocks or sarongs are often used to create make-shift stretchers. PHOTO: KHRG.
Some of Ah Lay’s friends had taken basic health courses taught by the BPHWT. They bandaged his ankle and made a stretcher from bamboo. They then headed in the direction of Thra Thoo Lei, a backpack health worker, who was by now making his way towards them. Half-way there, they came across a traditional healer, who stopped the bleeding with tobacco and lime. They then continued to walk towards the medic, using walkie-talkies to determine a safe passage and a secure place to meet.
At 7pm, approximately six hours after Ah Lay had stepped on the land mine, the group met Thra Thoo Lei. By this time, Ah Lay was unconscious. Thra inserted an IV in order to prevent Ah Lay from going into shock, completely stopped the bleeding and cleaned the wound as best he could. He performed a fasciotomy (a procedure used to save limbs during extreme swelling). When Ah Lay became conscious, Thra was able to give him a strong dose of antibiotics and instructions and supplies for changing his dressing twice a day.
Entire villages are regularly burned down by SPDC troops. PHOTO: BPHWT.
News of Ah Lay’s injuries reached his wife, Mu Ray, who was seven months pregnant. She went into shock and eclampsia (a convulsive condition rendering her unconscious), which induced a premature delivery of their baby. Another backpack health worker was able to assist her with this delivery but due to a lack of oxygen at birth, the child was born with cerebral palsy.
The couple were unable to be united over the next few days, as the military offensive was too close. Late on the first night, Ah Lay was moved to another village, and two days later he needed to be moved again. During this time, despite careful cleaning of the wound, a serious infection developed, and Thra Thoo Lei soon realized he would need to amputate. On the sixth day after the injury, Ah Lay was moved for a third time. He was now sufficiently stable and the location was secure enough for surgery, but Ah Lay was distraught with the news of the amputation. Despite Thra’s strong advice that they needed to amputate just above the knee, Ah Lay insisted that they remove only up to the knee.
BPHWT health workers live and work within their own communities, serving several neighbouring villages, which are often living in hiding from SPDC troops. PHOTO: BPHWT.
Ee Thu Hta and its adjacent sister settlement of Oo Kwe Hta were established as “temporary” settlements in 2006 and 2007. The camps continue to grow as residents are unable to safely return home. PHOTO: KHRG.
Ah Lay was finally reunited with his wife and able to meet his new-born daughter for the first time. Thra visited him regularly to clean the wound, and provide Ah Lay with physiotherapy. Because the amputation had not eliminated all of the infection, the wound took two months to heal. Just as his leg started to develop some healthy tissue, there was another major military offensive in the area, and the family was forced to move again. This time they travelled to the Thai border.
The family arrived at Ee Thu Hta, a temporary settlement on the Salween River, on Burma’s side of the border with Thailand. There are nearly 4,000 displaced people living in this camp who have been blocked by the Thai army from seeking refuge in Thailand. The BPHWT regularly visits this camp and members of the team brought Ah Lay from the camp to Mae Sot, to be treated at the Mae Tao Clinic.
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The Mae Tao Clinic is a health service provider and training centre, established to contribute and promote accessible quality health care among displaced Burmese and ethnic people along the Thai-Burmese border. |
At the clinic, Ah Lay was fitted with a prosthetic. Over the next three months, with the help of physiotherapy, he was taught to walk again.
In 2007, 11,975 people attended BPHWT village health workshops. PHOTO: BPHWT.
While Ah Lay was learning how to walk again, his wife Mu Ray was learning basic health care. She had regained her strength and health and had enrolled in training with the BPHWT. By the time Ah Lay was returned to his wife and daughter, Mu Ray was teaching in Ee Thu Hta’s temporary primary school and had become a village health volunteer. While they still do not live safely or securely, the family is grateful for the health services they received and the vital skills that they, and their community, have gained through the BPHWT.
| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
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