Karen Medical Care
General FBC Missions, Karen Project Team 2008 February 5th, 2008 by Elizabeththe following is a letter from Brett;
I left you last time telling you we would be visiting a clinic in Mae Sot and the leaders of the Back Pack Medic teams, another eye opening day. For some perspective…
Karen who have medical needs in the Karen State in Burma only have 3 options for treatment. First, if they are living in the jungle in hiding as over 1/2 million are, they must wait for a back pack medic to reach them… if they can get word to the medics. If they are close to one of the bamboo hut clinics scattered through out the State they can walk to the clinic, zig zagging between Burmese army outposts. If the medics or the clinics cannot be of help, their last option is to walk out of Burma to Thailand, sneak into Mae Sot and find the Mae Tao Clinic.
The Clinic is best described as a large slum treating about 100,000 Karen people a year. The treatment is done by “trained medics” and a handful of doctors, most on 6 month volunteer rotations from the West. It is hard to describe how grim it looked, felt and sounded. But the amazing thing was the resolve in the faces of the Karen people and those serving them. Since the clinic is located in Thailand, all the Karen are illegals, but the government turns their head and allows the work to continue. Next year will be it’s 20th year of service.
(photo below; Team visits an In-patient ward at the Mae Tao Clinic. Notice the bare feet; shoes are not worn indoors)
NGO’s are everywhere in Mae Sot, and lots of Westerners in town serving in these international organizations. They are able to address needs in Thailand, but it is “illegal” for most of them to fund or resource any needs in Burma. That is the tragedy, very few are willing to help the people of Burma.
We met with a courageous group of men and women who comprise the Back Pack Medics. Most are young Karen men who come from their villages in Burma to receive basic first aid training. We were able to meet with the leader of this group and watch a training session in progress. The session was led by an ER doc from California, a team of ex military medics from Australia and an Indian dentist from California.
The young trainees will walk back into Burma and serve from a bamboo clinic for months at a time, some of the “walks” take up to 8 weeks! They pack rice on their backs and forage in the jungle for the rest. The new recruits are paid 500 Baht a month ($15) and the senior members are rewarded with 1,200 Baht. For reference… our dinner for 7 last night cost 1,200 Baht! These young men (and a few women) will be faced with land mines, gun fire and ongoing hunger. They will be asked to amputate legs, and carry people back to Thailand. I am overwhelmed with their courage and compassion.
All that was yesterday, today we ventured into Burma and visited two IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) camps and a military outpost. More on that later.
I could not ask for better traveling companions, no complaints and willing to venture out. We have each been struck with the overwhelming nature of the dilemma and how little money it takes to make a HUGE difference. The medical clinic the church built is not made of bamboo, but instead of Teak… get this hauled by elephants over the mountains of Burma to the river and then floated to Thailand. It is a substantial building that will stand the test of time… this clinic cost $3,500 US Dollars!
Listen, I need to quit and meet the guys for dinner. I will jump on again tomorrow and tell you about the camps in Burma and more.
In Christ,
Brett, for Steve, Todd and Bill