For us—the women of Burma—we know that we are not alone. The messages of solidarity from the international community keep us going. They keep us working together, believing that one day there will be change in Burma.
I was born in the conflict areas in Shan State where the Burmese military still continues to ruthlessly attack people. When I was young, my parents, recognizing the danger, sent me to the Thai-Burma border for safety. I was put on a donkey and sent to the border with our neighbors. I consider myself to be very lucky. I grew up in an orphanage house where I could go to school, learn, and have at least a nine-year basic education. Being separated from my family was not unique; there were many children at the school who were orphaned as well.
Growing up on the border, we heard many stories about the regime killing people, confiscating land, raping women, among other terrible tales. In 1998, when I was sixteen, I knew I had to do something, anything—I wanted to hear the voices of the people, most of who have lived in fear for more than fifty years. I joined the Shan Human Rights Foundation because I wanted to learn about the lives of other women, as well as the lives of the migrant workers and refugees who fled their homelands.
Educating for Change
In 1999, together with forty other women along the Thai-Burma border, we founded the Shan Women Action Network (SWAN). Through community-based actions, research, and advocacy, we work for gender equality and justice for women in the struggle for social and political change.
Shan are not recognized as refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and therefore cannot officially access basic support such as food, shelter, education, and health. And yet, refugees continue to cross the border everyday. One border on the Shan State in Northern Thailand reportedly has 1,000 people crossing every month. In the months that there is heavy fighting and persecution, even more refugees flee into the border areas.
Many of these refugees are children. Without papers, they cannot go to school and they usually end up as migrant workers. Through SWAN, we run about sixteen schools for more than 2,000 children. We teach these children basic literacy, provide community health education, and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and reproductive health among displaced people along the Thai-Burma border.
