Ok, so its cliched, but I couldn't help it. It was just that. We had been in Rangoon attending a seminar and doing our own programmes, and then we were bound for Mandalay to meet with journalists there for our very own brand of Town Hall Meetings (which I must say I am proud to have introduced as an approach for understanding the needs of the media).
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| The sign for the town hall meeting, in Rangoon |
Just in the last one year, the changes have been drastic. Things are moving fast, maybe too fast for some. Anyway, we took overnight an overnight bus from Rangoon to Mandalay (super VIP coaches, for Malaysian references) for a journey that took about 9 hours, and with more than decent stops (some with free wifi:)) The bus stations themselves are nothing to shout about but I am pretty sure these will change in due time.
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| The boat ride up the Ayeyawaddy to Sagain, was an eperience in itself. One knows why there is this rush to dam the river but cannot believe they would do it. Its not a river to be messed with. |
Careful not to rush in to fix things inside, as the temptation is and with so many groups doing just that, I thought about the work I used to do with the Burmese refugees in Malaysia a few years ago. Thanks to some introductions by a friend, who chooses to use her journalism skills to highlight the challenges faced by Burmese refugees, I conducted several journalism workshops with different groups in the Klang Valley. Some went on to start their own blogs, one a publication I hear is doing pretty okay (though the focus is on not overtly political) while the luckier ones got resettled to a third country and the unlucky ones, actually in the detention centres:(
One of the luckier ones ended up in the island of Bornholm in Denmark. Soeren's first question was, why there? It is nothing more than a fishing colony, with some remarkable historical sites and churches. But really nothing much there for a Burmese (or anyone else actually:)) - and I was supposed to get in touch with him on my second trip to Denmark 6 years ago. I didn't and I don't know if he is still there, but I'm sure he is watching the developments in the country very closely.
Asking them to discuss potential stories to write about was always a bad idea - they were heart-breaking. But these were stories that needed to be told. Unfortunately the audience was limited. As a sceptic, I know the repertoires stil continue till today, so the struggle still goes on. I wonder if some of them be able to use what they learnt and try their journalistic skills in the new environment? I do know that the experience of working with them taught me a lot, so I shall always be grateful for that.
I know of so many people around the world, Burmese and others, who play such an important role in keeping the torch of freedom alive and without them, there is no hope. I would like to believe that I have a tiny, minute contribution, even if just with a handful of people, to overcome the challenges they faced and the new ones they will see in the years to come.
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| Sunset, but things have only just begun |
I can only begin to understand the emotions running through the thousands of Burmese inside and outside the country, in realising that freedom from a brutal regime, is close at hand. We remain sceptical of course, but the inevitable will happen. The genie is out of the bottle and the regime knows too well it will have to concede some of the controls, in its own time and style.
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| In Rangoon, we happened to stay at a hotel near the infamous Press Registration and Scrutiny Board, now devoid of a job since pre-publication censorship was lifted. For now. |
But the greatest lesson of all is that the peoples of Burma will shape their destiny and we, the outsiders should be ready to support in their endeavours, and not shape their future in our mould. They wouldn't let you anyway:) We may have the manuals, but if we don't connect with their souls, we will fail.
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| Apart from the might river Ayeyawaddy, the Shwedagon is an important source of identity |
