Stories From Volunteers: Notes from a Volunteer
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Planet Care
801 Cedar Street
Suite 200
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-594-4027
info@planetcare.org
SMILES
Smiles are one of the regular joys of my life as a volunteer at Mae Tao Clinic. As I make my way to the office, I pass through the waiting crowd of mums and dads with their sick and often malnourished children. Even in their despair, parents smile when you stop to admire their children.
Children who live at the Clinic smile at my now familiar face as we meet. One special young man, a favorite of many, is an orphan. We have a strong economic relationship. When he sees me, he grins, grabs my hand and takes me to the shop. At the shop he knows I am happy to buy him milk or yogurt drinks. Sometimes he decides that he would prefer soft drink. Only once did I stop and consider the nutritional impact of soft drink. He holds the power in our relationship, as he is living with a deadly disease.
CELEBRATION
After Yvonne's visit, the Burmese refugees in Mae Sot started a program
to give birth certificates to stateless children. These children show
off their new certificates. Though they remain illegal in Thailand, this
initiative prepares optimistically for a more peaceful future. There
is something very exciting happening when you arrive at work and the greeting
is 'You must follow me now.' Obediently I follow the Office Manager out
along the road, turning left and right until we come to a small house.
We take off our shoes and he bids me to enter. Sitting in the small room
is a group of twenty people -- men, women and children. The seating is
grass matting on the concrete floor. In the middle of the matting is bowls
of cold, yellow noodles and steaming dishes of fish, vegetables and nuts.
I join the others sitting cross-legged on the floor and accept the bowl
of food and cup of water. I smile at the honored guest. He is thirty-days
old and this is his welcoming party. He is nestled in his mother’s arms,
chubby and contented. His proud father, one of my colleagues, attends
to the needs of their guests. However, I cannot put aside the reality
that I know exists. Though today there is a celebration I know there is
also suffering. The parents are Karen and have fled from the oppressive
military regime of Burma and now face the risk of being arrested. Their
son has been born in Thailand at Mae Tao Clinic but he is born stateless,
as his birth is not registered in Thailand or Burma. I can't help but
wonder what the future holds for this chubby baby and his smiling parents.
LUNCH
Having lunch with my work colleagues is always exciting. Over noodles, rice, pork, fish or vegetables we share events in our lives, discuss our work and families. One day, two of us were discussing the reality of delivering health care in Karen State. I was trying to understand the dangers that people faced, as landmines and armed soldiers had not been part of my life.
My colleague smiled at me, then looked away and told me about one of his trips. Medics were trekking over the steep mountains, carrying medical supplies to the isolated villages. The medics had an armed escort because if caught by Burmese soldiers they would be shot. The man in the lead stood on a landmine and fell to the ground. Medics unloaded their back-packs to get the emergency medical supplies. The man in the lead called out 'Stay where you are.' He took out his gun and shot himself in front of them all. They could do nothing, but they understood. My colleague looked at me and said 'Life in the jungle with two legs is very hard, with one it is impossible.'
-- Yvonne Sutherland
Copyright Planet Care
