justice for health issue
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Friends Without Borders Magazine No.16TRANSCRIPT
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Editorial Team
Pim Koetsawang
Supattra Choklarp
Wantanee Maneedang
English Editors
Sabrina Gyorvary
Jackie Imamura
Contributors
Phatteka Ratta, Shine Shan,
Ekkapob Dust and other friends
Art Editor
Wantanee Maneedang
Distribution and Member
Supattra Choklarp
Printer Wanida Press
4 ÁÕà¸Í¨Ö§Áթѹ You are Therefore I am 6 ·ÑèÇ·ÇÕ» Across the Continents 7 àÃ×èͧàÅ‹Ò¨Ò¡¢Íºá´¹ From the Edge of the Margins10 ˌͧÃѺᢡ Living Room12 ¤Ó¹Ñé¹ Those Words14 ×èÁªÒ Teashop17 áÅÐÍ×è¹ æ Etc.18 ¡ÃÐ Ô¡ËÒ§ Wag My Tail!21 à¤ÒлÃÐμ Ù¤ÃÑÇ Knocking on the (Kitchen) Door!22 ªÑèÇ¢³Ð¹ÔÃѹ´Ã � Magic Moments
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Friends Without Borders is a Thai non-governmental organization working to promote all human
rights for all and the network between the Thais and the displaced people from Burma in
Thailand. With a small team and big groups of friends, the work started from a small scale, with
a hope to expand to wider and more diverse groups of people in Thai society.
Our main activities are :
1. Public education/information via various types of media including books, booklets, magazines,
website, exhibition, and audio-visual media.
2. Human rights education and civil society programs which include workshops, training, and
exchange forums with local communities along the borders,
3. Capacity building and consultancy for local groups on media production
We are happy to receive comments, suggestions, and articlesfrom all of you. Please contact, FRIENDS WITHOUT BORDERSP.O.Box 180, Chiang Mai University P.O., Chiang Mai 50202 ThailandPhone & Fax : 053-336298 E-mail : [email protected]
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A classic notion preached by those (who think they are) in power regarding human rights education goes something like this: 'If you talk about rights, you must teach them duty because if people know too much about rights, then they will be out of control.'
I fully agree, actually. However, I may interpret the word 'duty' differently. Instead of a 'good citizen's duty' to follow whatever the state says without hesitation, in my understanding, each of us has a duty to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of ourselves and of others. To have a right doesn't mean we should just sit complaining and let anyone do whatever they want to us, or wait for heaven to come down. We are obliged to walk towards our rights. Moreover, we have a duty not to abuse others, to protect and to pave ways towards the rights for one another.
In mid-August, the Network for People Living with HIV in Thailand was selected as one of the five recipients of the Red Ribbon Award at the world AIDS conference in Canada. The people's organization is special not only because it stands up to take care of one another's lives on their own, but also because they have performed their obligations towards the fulfillment of human rights. Their fight for justice and for the right to health of themselves and many others has become an inspiration for groups around the world.
Due to the network's campaign, the Thai government turned its attention to the inaccessibility of anti-viral drugs due to high prices that have resulted from unjust drug patents obtained by transnational drug companies. The group joined with other HIV/AIDS related NGOs and succeeded in bringing the state's Pharmaceutical Organization to jointly sue a drug company in the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court. After a long fight, the company withdrew its patent. Today, anti-viral drugs and healthcare for people living with HIV and AIDS patients are included in the 30 baht health scheme.
There is increasing evidence that sicknesses suffered by many are not only 'natural' events. Due to political and economical advantage taking, facts necessary for disease prevention are concealed, food is polluted, and there is discrimination in health policies. In addition, many people have died not because sicknesses couldn't be cured, but because the society and powerful political and economic interests believed, or made us believe, that the sickness or disease is natural and therefore there is no need for any change.
Friends Without Borders' magazine dedicates pages in its 'Justice for Health' issue to everyone and every group that strongly performs their duties towards human rights, including the Network for People Living with HIV that is still continuing the fight against the Combid drug patent.
We believe that if people see that health problems are not able to be solved only by compassion and charity but also need a change for justice in society, and that we are all obliged to fight for that change, the world could be much healthier.
As I said, I agreed with the notion above. Instead of worrying, I'm quite glad to hear that some recognize the benefit of human rights education, that if one knows more about rights, he or she will not be easily controlled by the powerful - either local or global, politically or economically - any longer.
Isn't that our hope?
With respect in human dignity,Pim Koetsawang
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Every Time You Go AwayThe wound stayed though you had left. Please think about what you left here in my heart.
The shouting phrase of this song echoed in my mind. I tried to feel the deepest pain a human being could feel. The rain curtained the scene outside the bamboo hut I was sitting in. The environment and the movements around me seemed familiar, as if I had been here forever. I didn't know whether time had stopped or whether it was me who stopped my moment.
So familiar were the sweet scent of wet bamboo huts, the cool breeze, the fresh spray of rain in the surrounding green forest, and the conversations in languages I could not understand. It may have been a scene in the Mae Lama Luang forest, Umpiem Valley, Pang Kwai, Mae La, Tham Hin, or the Moei riverbank in Mae La Oon. It may have been in the sheltering camps of either Karen or Karenni refugees, somewhere at the edge of the map of Thailand.
Although the dates of visiting weren't recorded, the moment of being there could be deeply felt. There - where I was and bid farewell, with the wish to return. Where my thoughts flew freely and where the sun touched the stream, I saw the people's smiles and hopeful faces. But when my mind was darkened by the darkest night, I saw their painful eyes and felt the endless cold. Tragic and beautiful scenes returned to my mind both in my sleep and while awake.
Hla Htoo and his daughter woke me from my dreamlike thoughts. The Karen man in his late 30's was carrying his nine-month old baby to see the doctor. They had an appointment. There was a long queue of patients, but the number of intern doctors and Karen medics in this refugee camp's hospital were too few. During the rainy season, mosquitoes multiplied, bringing malaria and dengue fever to the camp. The damp and changing weather brought many cases of respiratory diseases. Heavy rains kept the people in their small houses, and the viruses didn't have to travel far from one person to another.
While I was waiting for Hla Htoo to finish regular medical check-ups, I looked at the faces around me. People were suffering from fever or wounds. Some came to share the pain of their loved ones. I saw the worried faces of mothers carrying sick babies, and the caring faces of those men standing beside them. The medicines may help bodies to fight the diseases, but pain from sickness needs another kind of remedy as well.
At their once peaceful home in Karen State, there were green forests that were filled with food and herbal resources. In the refugee camp, where life is restricted, the refugees only depend on modern medical services. Crowded housing, insufficient nutrition and unclean water often result in sickness. Yet the camp residents can get access to international medical- humanitarian support, while those who are still hiding from Burmese government troops in the forests of Karen State have none. Loss of lives is undeniable. Outside care can rarely reach them.
Hla Htoo looked a lot thinner than before. However, his eyes reflected his strength to fight against the deadly disease. He affirmed to me that he would make the rest of his days on earth valuable for the future of his precious daughter. Hla Htoo used to live hopelessly after he realized the truth of his sickness and then lost his wife in delivering this baby. However, moral support from doctors and medics in this hospital encouraged him to overcome his pain and he became strong enough to protect another vulnerable life. I admire him a lot, but can't help but wonder who will heal the little girl's heart if her father has to leave this world too soon.
Today is the last day of my work in this refugee camp. While the car was driving away on the muddy road, I turned back to look at the scene I left behind. Faces of those who I met and befriended appeared. I left without saying goodbye. Maybe I was certain we would meet again one day, or maybe I was uncertain whether I could bare the heavy feeling of bidding farewell.
The last blink of the moment of departure was painfully beautiful. No words, but I have left. The movements behind the curtain of the rain became blurred and smaller. Again, the shouting phrase of the song echoed in my head.
Gone, how could I go on?Gone so far with my heart. I couldn't go on.You left me and took away my one and only heart.Will you understand the story of the heart? My one and only.
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In July 2006, after a long struggle led by a medical NGO called Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), the first lot of anti-retro viral (ARV) drugs for people living with HIV were sent from a company in Chicago to Africa. Civil society groups had long been demanding that drug companies, mostly based in Europe and the U.S., sell this kind of drugs to developing countries at a reasonable price.
Proper medication prolongs the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS patients. Without anti-retro viral drugs, peoples' immunity will gradually be reduced to the stage that they suffer from secondary diseases, which are usually the cause of death. New kinds of anti-retro viral pills have been improved so that they have less side effects, tolerate high temperatures, and can be taken only once a day. This seems to be beneficial for those in poor countries where refrigerators are luxuries and where three meals a day may not be affordable.
However, the fact is that up to a million patients in Africa and Asia do benefit from these improvements. The drug industry is not driven by humanitarian concerns. The cost of medical research is claimed to justify incredibly high prices. This means that one company can monopolize the production of drugs that can save people's lives. Nowadays, only one-third of the world population can get access to necessary medicine. Anti-retro viral drugs are usually not included in developing countries' social security systems due to their high price.
Humanity has developed to the stage that we can control deadly diseases such as cholera, polio, small pox and influenza. Advancements in medicine prolong our life expectancy. However, science is not the only factor that directs human fate. In many corners of the world, thousands of people still die every day from curable diseases. Currently, there are more demands from people in the third world to get access to the right to health. The cost of research for new and expensive medicines that respond to the needs of the rich are to be balanced with the cost of responding to the needs of the poor.
Currently, a small number of CEOs at drug companies make decisions regarding who will get access to life-saving drugs. This is not a fact that we have to understand and accept. Our mandate is to fight for our rights.
For more information, please see www.msf.org
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www.bhantewimala.com newsimg.bbc.co.uk
l Ekaphop Dust l [email protected]
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I saw a Pathee (uncle) sitting in his hut, with one arm lying on the window ledge. The old man sucked smoke into his lungs and let it go slowly. His eyes were on his deserted paddy field.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked. He said, "I'm thinking of my paddy field." Oh! The paddy field being poisoned by cadmium, right?
Pa Deh village, Mae Sot is a small village of just over a hundred households surrounded by green forest and mountains, like many other Karen villages. The people used to settle close to town, but after a number of lowlanders came, they moved their village further up the mountains to a more peaceful place. Pa Deh was the chief who led the first 7-8 families to the new settlement in 1891.
I went there with a companion - my loyal old motorbike. Looking from a distance with the eyes of an outsider, it was beautiful. I saw mango, banana, betel nut and coconut trees all around. The Pa Deh villagers lived simple lives, depending on traditional farming and natural resources, with rice, vegetables and fish from the stream as their main food, until the day everything was poisoned.
And then I saw the deserted paddy fields, empty and sad, at the edge of the sky.
In 2004, the Pa Deh villagers started to be confident that the Cadmium that seeps into the soil and water, and then continues its way into their crops and finally into their bodies, was the cause of sickness. More and more people got sick, starting with exhaustion, nausea, dizziness, and leading to emaciation, back, legs and knee pain, and even death.
After the two zinc mines on the Mae Tao watershed were reopened in an industrial promotion era, around 1981-1982, cadmium spread to the stream that was central to the lives of the people in 4-5 villages affecting over 2,000 people. Most of them are ethnic Karen.
The result of the tests on the fields showed that 25 samples of their rice and vegetables, or 55.6 % of all the samples, were contaminated with high levels of cadmium. Sixteen samples were contaminated with medium levels, and only 4 had normal levels. A summary from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment confirmed that cadmium-poisoning was quite widespread.
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Healthy Heartsto Cure Poisoned Bodies
Documented by SawWith the help of Dabu and Th'blay Paw
Edited by Chana Damnoen
Those who consume cadmium over a period of time will suffer from kidney and bone problems, which result in exhaustion, joint pains and turbid and concentrated urine. When the body is poisoned, the mind will consequently be affected. The villagers were worried about how long they would live, whether they could be cured, whether they could afford medicine, and if they died, whether it would it be painful.
Villagers received medical check-ups, but government services were not provided for children 5-15 years of age. Someone's child died, and the doctor asked whether the parents wanted the body to be examined. Hopeless and poor, the parents said there was no need any more. It couldn't bring their child back.
Doctors advised villagers to stop eating the rice that was contaminated with cadmium. The paddy fields were then abandoned. Vegetables were left to dry in the fields. No one dared to pick them for food. No one dared to drink or use the water in the stream and wells.
My heart was exhausted. My old motorbike had taken me everywhere, through rain and shine, and today it brought me to this seemingly peaceful village that was poisoned with cadmium.
…In the old days, before the rain came, we helped one another in the paddy fields. Then, from the bright green sprouts, came grain, waiting to be harvested. Our efforts and sweat became rice! Isn't it wonderful ? Pathee asked me.
It has been three years since the Pa Deh villagers have been able to grow rice. I couldn't help thinking about the elders' proverb, 'Where there is rice, there is life.' But now this Karen village lives with problems that the outside world doesn't seem to care about very much.
The villagers have been fighting for justice for three years. It has been three years of complaints and demands. The complaints regarding cadmium in Pa Deh were delivered to the Pollution Control Department, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Governor of Tak province, a Tak member of parliament and the National Human Rights Commission. Yet, there have been no answers to the villager's great loss - the loss of security of livelihood, apart from a small amount of compensation, which was calculated by the loss of rice that could be produced on one plot of land. The mining company did nothing more than to open their arms wide to recieve new laborers from the affected community.
Compensation? A man laughed bitterly. It means the end of the conversation because we've given you money. Besides, the compensation is from the state, and that means it is the citizens' tax money. Why didn't the one who created the problem accept responsibility? Why take tax money from other citizens to buy rice for us? Rice, for the Karen, is our dignity. It's painful that one has to buy rice from others, as if you don't know how to make your own living!
Some of the villagers continue to grow a small amount of rice for their household consumption because they don't have enough money to buy everything they need, something they have never had to do before. Moreover, no outside community dares to buy rice from us, a school teacher told me.
… Or is it because we are just marginalized people, he asked?
After spending all their energy over a period of several years, some of the fighters are discouraged and tired. People don't know what else to do apart from waiting and waiting for answers. Nowadays, the Pe Deh villagers have to buy drinking water just like townspeople. The sub-district administration organization doesn't know what other alternatives are available, apart from trying to promote new alterna-tives for their livelihood. People live off the compensation. Many went out in search of day labor, in Bangkok and elsewhere.
Pathee! I called him uncle. I heard there'd be a program to promote other cash crops, right? The old man's eyes widened before he answered, "Oh! Yes, they told us to grow crops that we couldn't eat such as sugarcane, cassava, and palm trees. But, you see, this has no meaning in my life!
From my first mouthful that my mother passed to me when I was in her womb, to the milk I drank from her breast, to what she fed me until I grew up, it was all from rice. It was the rice that was the outcome of my parents' labor and the sweat on the field that passed to us from our ancestors, wasn't it ?"
The schoolteacher told me it was almost impossible to fight alone. The villagers know the road ahead is long and winding. But if each of us has a healthy heart to fight for our rights, we can combine our hearts and move mountains.
Before I left, I parked my old motorbike and turned to look at the village that was surrounded by the tall trees on the mountains. Along the concrete roadside were deserted paddy fields. I came back to Mae Sot town and stopped to buy a local newspaper. There it said, 'Three sub-districts farmers cheered for the governor.' The piece of news explained how the project to promote sugarcane plantations for ethanol production has been progressing According to the paper, it was a very good pilot alternative livelihood project.
And then I wanted to write a diary. I wanted to document what was happening for some of you who may want to join in the villagers' struggle, putting your healthy heart in with theirs. No matter who you are - a state officer, a lawyer, an attorney or a business person, Karen or Thais, when your hearts combine with theirs there will be no one at the margins.
I thought about the wrinkles on Pathee's face. I thought of that trace of tiredness from his hard life.
"It has no meaning in my life!" he had said.And the words of another villager came to mind,"We only want our lives back…"
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l Saitarn Salween l [email protected]
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I traveled to Samut Sakorn to visit two children. Both are children of migrant workers from Burma, and both are suffering from heart disease. A much needed operation would cost up to 100,000 baht per child.
'Yi', a little boy with cardiomegaly, amongst other problems, came to live with his sister after his parents died in Burma, and just after the migrant workers' registration had ended. Therefore, he has illegal immigrant status and can not access the health security system.
'Chompu', a little girl with mitral valve regurgitation, lives with her parents who are both legally registered via a sub-contract service. Consequently, Chompu is allowed to be here as her family's dependent, but shockingly, her registration card was found to be in duplicate of somebody else's name. Therefore, the child has no right to be here and to access the health security system even though her parents followed all the rules and paid the fees.
The Public Health Minister has refused treatment for unregistered migrant workers. Pinij Charusombat, the MOPH minister said that Thailand doesn't have enough funds to pay for medical treatment for aliens and unregistered migrant workers. In the past, the government had a budget of 200-300 million baht a year. Therefore all hospitals, especially those on the border, were made responsible for covering their own expenses if they provided services for unregistered migrant workers. Pinij said he had no fear of being accused of being inhumane as there wasn't enough money to treat Thai people themselves, let alone unregistered migrants. (Thailand News Agency, 27/04/06, www.thaisnews.com)
After I finished reading this, I had to accept that I was angry about how someone in such a high position could be so short sighted. I copied the news item and e-mailed it to friends so that they would join in my anger, at least, and at best they might try to do something about it. However, after sitting down and reading it once again, I realized that this wasn't the first time this has happened. In fact, I had read this kind of news every year. At the end of the government's fiscal year budget, or when there are some conferences regarding public health, each of the public health ministers act the same way. It must be due to their nationalistic emotions and from their anger in seeing the unpaid bills of the non-Thai citizens' medical costs. (Sorry, the 200-300 million baht being claimed must be included in the cost for the 30 baht scheme)
But wait a moment, sir! Take a look at the real problems first. I'd like you to distinguish public health services from the earnings of hospitals. I don't think our doctors and nurses work for their hospital's income, but rather for their professional ethics to help everyone, without discrimination, to be in good health. Your words undermine the honor of public health personnel, as if they were only salesmen/women for the Ministry. Besides, health problems do not choose to occur among any particular ethnic group or in any particular country. Contractual diseases travel freely from one country to another, right? (See the bird flu, for example!)
Most importantly, I'd like you to look at the issue closer, and with clear glasses. We received nearly 1,000 million baht in health security fees from the migrant workers' registration. In many provinces, that fee is more than enough to cover migrant workers, and is therefore used to cover the expenses for the Thai citizens there. Of course, in a few provinces, especially those along the border, the fee is barely enough. However, don't you think that if the system worked well, the money could be circulated and spread throughout the different areas based on need?
Lastly, I'm afraid the term 'alien' in the Thai bureaucratic system isn't that simple. To me, the term means migrant workers from neighboring countries. But in fact, the authorities usually consider ethnic persons who don't have Thai IDs yet as aliens. This means that all the people with colored cards, including highlander cards, are denied access to the government public health service.
A policy to hinder specific groups and create scapegoats may be your political strategy, but it is not a way that leads to the good health of all. I know that the medical expenses for Yi, who is only a Burmese boy, are very expensive. And I know that if he doesn't have an operation within six months, he will not be able to continue breathing. People around him have told me that there are many who are trying to help to their utmost ability. So here I'd like to end my note with a simple summary that, at the end of the day, it is the heart and understanding that people share that will truly lead the way to 'Good Health for All'.
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Photo by Dan
Photo by Dan
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Photo by Eh Soe
www.thaiplus.net
www.manager.co.th
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Over a million migrant workers from Burma have been staying in, moving in and out of, and going around Thailand for over 10 years. Nobody dare deny the fact, although it is rarely said, that the people who have fled human rights violations and poverty which resulted from political violence in Burma are the cogs of a gear wheel in Thailand's economy and trade.
This tea conversation in Mahachai, a migrant community in the fishery-related business area, was with someone who has continued to affirm the human dignity of migrants by both words and actions for the past 10 years.
"Currently, people talk more about migration. It's a global trend that migrants are in the light. The Thai governments also agree that labor migration is an important issue, but they don't look at it from a human rights or humanitarian perspective. Rather, policies aim only to restrict and control.
"I've often been asked why I don't work with Thai workers instead of foreigners. Well, migrant workers are human - they are world citizens who have equal rights to us. Moreover, they are the forces of our economy. When they face problems here, we should act as a bridge to their rights.
"Ten years ago when I began working with them, I only thought I needed to cure the symptoms of the problems. Sickness? Provide a cure. Lack of knowledge? Give knowledge. Behavior that leads to bad health? Promote for change. But now I see clearer pictures. There are many factors causing the problems. It's not only about the workers; we have to also look at the state's and the neighboring countries' policies, and the social, cultural, and political context of the people's lives and of migration. When you start to see the structural problem, then you see how you have to balance the work on the ground and on policy levels. I may succeed in pushing for policy changes, but there will be no change on the ground. We need to push the local facts and migrants' voices up there, because policies must be changed from the ground to the top. In my experience, I don't see how the top can change the ground.
"For example, policy says that migrant workers have this and that rights according to the health insurance they paid for, but there's no information about what we do if things don't go as planned. How do we demand or complain for friends? Can we question the hospitals, provincial public health offices, or the Ministry? If we compare it to the life insurance that we pay a company, when we go to the hospital, the insurance company should take care of us, right? But for the workers who buy health insurance from the state, when they get sick, the state hospital doesn't act as the one-in-charge.
"I'd like to say that now nobody speaks the truth. There's no public information from local hospitals about how much they earn from migrant health insurance fees, how they spent this money, and what's the balance. The Public Health Ministry people in Bangkok only say, oh! It's our country's burden. How? I'd like each hospital from all over the country to come and share the facts, so we can see whether it's really the state's burden. Ok, let's see how many people each year come to hospitals with no insurance and receive treatments without pay. This becomes an unfair business. The health insurance fees gathered from migrant workers around the country are very high. The amount could be shared with those without work permits and insurance. Moreover, I don't want us to look at the health security system as a profit making business. It's a service! And you can manage the money effectively. Some public health officers agree that we should promote a package of insurance for the whole family, so workers can buy for their dependants and children. Some also agree that we should allow those who have registered themselves and are allowed to stay in Thailand to buy insurance although they don't have work permits. This can't be promoted as a policy, however, and then the Minister said the country bears so much burden. And actually the problems are in the policy. It's a measure that allows local hospitals to run under the limitations of the 30-baht health insurance scheme for the Thais by covering the Thais' medical services with money from the migrants.
"Migrant workers' participation must be considered because they are the ones who pay. If we manage the budget without their participation, how can it respond to the real needs? I'd also like to know that after I paid 1,300 baht a year for health insurance, can I then get treatment equal to the Thais? Can the hospital let me have a say on the budget planning? Can I know how much they will spend my money for health promotion and how much for treatment?
"Problems regarding the right to health? Well, now there are lots of people who talk, but little who do. No one wants to share responsibilities. Migrant
Interviewed by NgaochanRetold by River Without Borders
children with no legal status go to the hospital. Oh! No insurance? Well, no treatment. End of conversation! So what? Shall we let the kid die? What about human rights? We talk so much about health education for everyone, including those without work permits. But when they get sick, the hospital denies treatment. Well, if that's so, maybe there's no need to provide any education. These practices just don't make sense. And although both the government and international organizations promote and support health promotion programs. There's no evaluation. Printing media came out in Burmese and there are a large number of ethnic people and even some Burmans who can't read it. I also fully agree with the idea to have Burmese health volunteers in communities and agree that this should be part of the official system. But then, we're found a number of volunteers don't have clear ideas about common diseases and HIV/AIDS, and lack community organizing and leadership skills. I would like to encourage all of us to think about the work more than just do the work.
"We are trying for a brain investment rather than material investment. I believe people can work without outside financial support. If there is money, then it's easier. If there's no money but there's a problem, things that must be done - must be done. It depends on the strategy and methods. We have to adapt, plan well, carefully organize a team, etc. I think it's an art of work to strengthen community, focus on participation and self-reliance. If there's money and no brain, it will be only primary relief. We must not make the people misunderstand that NGOs come with money and all they have to do is to wait and see.
"I'd like to say that now we look at things from technical perspectives too much and we aren't humanists with enough historical, cultural, and ethnic sensitivities. A few existing researches and studies shouldn't be let die - we should make it alive and edible That's why mow I'm trying to move forward to alternative health practice. If it's not serious, people won't go to the hospital. They go to traditional healers and midwives in the community. So now we're trying to promote this knowledge and capacity so that the community can take care of itself. I think if we see things from cultural perspectives, we may understand people more. For example, the habit of chewing betel nuts is a cultural practice. We have to discuss what's good and bad about it. I think we have to understand that betel nut is not only an eating habit. It's a culture. It reflects lives and works for community gathering and organizing. If we say, OK, from now on everyone must stop eating betel nuts because it is bad for your teeth. (laughs) Finish! They will not listen to you any more. We must be culturally sensitive. It's not that easy.
"Working is like an action research. It's like a huge field study. It's to transform what has been written into practice. And if there's nothing written yet, we have to find how to transform the practice into literacy. Academic work shouldn't be only in academic institutions. We who work in the field should transfer our actions and experiences into academic work. Working is a process of intellect. We work - we see the way - we get the wisdom. I think if one learns from work, the wisdom will be with him or her and that wisdom can be used in everyday life. Those who don't fight, step back, quit, will not able to find this wisdom.
"Sometimes I ask myself why I'm doing this. But, it's like… I cannot just stop doing it. Maybe it's valuable for my spirit. When you feel that someone sees your worth for any help, and then they smile and laugh -it's beautiful.
Tun, a man in his mid-thirties with a Community Development graduate degree from Thammasart University, started social work with the Pearl S. Buck Foundation in Pattaya. After four years, he shifted to work with Thai fishermen on the HIV/AIDS issue at the Programme of Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH). During 1998-2003, he worked with migrant workers as a project coordinator in Mahachai for Rak Thai Foundation. Currently he's a director of the Labor Rights Promotion Network, a small organization he set up on his own.
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When the social contexts that facilitate self-health care are limited, our health depends on modern medical doctors. People are familiar with medical services from institutions that are licensed and recognized by the state. They believe that only modern medical treatment is reliable. Different methods or those that cannot be explained by modern theories are considered wrong. Traditional medical knowledge and institutions that used to play a crucial role in the local community's life are gradually dying out.
Currently, it seems that there is some change in this approach and that the state is paying more attention to reform holistic health care systems and to restore traditional medical treatments. However, this framework overlooks the importance of the local community's self-management. In many areas, health system development has proceeded without direction. Thus, groups of people attempt to find the answers for the problems by themselves.
The Project for Research on Restoration and Conservation of Traditional Medical Knowledge for Local Community's Self Health-Care in Banna Village, Kalasin Province identified 24 actively practicing traditional doctors from different schools of knowledge in the community. However, from a field survey, which included interviews with villagers, it was found that only 124 kinds of herbal plants were left in the fields and forests. Therefore, a group of traditional doctors was formed. Knowledge and information regarding illness, methods of treatment, prevention and herbal medicines used by each doctor were documented and compiled to share with the community. Villagers then planted community herbal forests to serve as their medical resources.
To promote self health-care, villagers, monasteries and schools in the Banna study together and campaign for the return of traditional medical treatments using herbal medicines for illness prevention and treatment. Traditional medical treatment is promoted as an alternative. The youth are encouraged to play a crucial role in transferring the wisdom to the next generation. Middle school children from Banna Witthayakhom School started a lesson, taught by traditional doctors, on herbal medicines, and have conducted studies in the community herbal forest.
The conservation and promotion of a traditional medial system in Banna is only a start and a small part of health system reform. We may not wish to completely return to the traditional way of life and have traditional treatment as the only choice. Rather, this valuable knowledge should live and continue to be an alternative for the society. It must not be seen as an ancient foolish thing, against modern technology or only the smallest branch of the modern medical system. People will be able to get access to their rights to proper health care when they have choices, and each of those choices must be combined for the greatest effectiveness.
For more Information, http://www.biothai.net and www.vijai.org
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Traditional Medicine: Another Approach
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Do you know that many people are jealous of me?The truth is - I'm the healthiest one among the editorial team (please take a look at my photo above), despite the hard work
in the latest two issues of the magazine (in which I wrote two columns each). Why is that so? Because I am Mulan, a dog that lives around art and entertainment that fulfills my heart and makes my tail
wag almost every hour. No, don't be jealous. Here are some tips.
Number One: Avoid the year of meats You may know that it's not easy for a dog like me
to avoid meat. There must be an inspiration for this and it is the book 'My Year of Meat' written by Ruth L. Ozeki. It is about two women from two different corners of the world - Japan and the US - whose lives connect with each other by a television program called 'American Housewife'. This show about ideal American housewives (they own clean and beautiful houses, have cute, obedient kids, etc.) demonstrating meat dish cooking was made specifically for a Japanese TV channel. Why must it be meat dish and should it be a beef dish only? Hmm…
The sponsor of the TVprogram was a big American beef export company that wanted to open a market in Japan… Oops! (folds ears to close my mouth) Err.. No, they said that meat was the BEST food and beef was the BEST of all.
After you read the book, you will find the facts about hormone usage in cows and women. Oh! Yes, it's quite confusing between being a cow and a woman, and between trade and cultural assimilation after all.
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Number two: Beware of (even non-addicting) drugs Don't you think that some of the non-addicting drug producers are scary too? 'The Constant Gardener' made me aware of this. The movie is about a man who was accused of brutally murdering his wife and her medical doctor friend. Not an unusual plot, huh? But the details are that this woman was a young activist who had been investigating and wanted to disclose the facts about the evilness of a transnational drug company and governments that experimented with poor Africans in the name of 'charity'.
I thought we needed to be careful because I heard that in reality, similar stories regarding unethical transnational drugs businesses and their counterparts were even more complicated and cruel than in the movie. Not only that we have to beware not become their prey, but also we just can't be that innocent (like the woman in the story) to fight against these transnational evils.
P.S. Don't worry too much. Good drugs and doctors are also around.
The Constant Gardener (2006)Directed by Fernando Meirelles Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine From a novel by John Le Carre Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, and Danny Huston
Number three: open your mouth wide and sing out loud
This should be easy.
Luciano Pavarotti, the great tenor, once said, 'I was 10 when the 2nd World War ended, and the first thing I wanted to do was sing - to remind myself I was alive!'
Maybe that's why this Italian opera artist has spent the latest 20 years of his life using his name and prestige in the music world to support assistance for those affected from wars in many places around the world, such as Guatemala, Tibet, Cambodia, Iraq, Kosovo, etc. One of the special projects is a kind an institute that uses music to heal the hearts of the children of war.
Here is one example, the 'Luciano Pavarotti & friends: Together for the Children of Bosnia' (Live). Although the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina ended over 10 years ago, it doesn't mean and that sickness and wounds in young hearts could be healed within a short time. Most of the kids, either Muslims, Serbians, or Croatians were brought up in a conflict environment that promoted nationalism and hatred among one another for a long time.
This time Pavarotti invited friends of different ages, sexes, national origins and from the rock, folk, rap, and gospel music world to join hands for a bridge building. Their musical performance was to send a message of peace and hope to the children of Bosnia and all the others. My greatest moments were when I crouched listening and imagining Bono, the Edge and Brian Eno on the stage with the great opera singer for the song 'One' and 'Miss Sarajevo', and when I lied on my back with four legs up and let my heart fly with 'Come back to Sorrento' from the voice of Meatloaf. The very special one that made my tail wag and even tears run down my plump cheek was the duo between Dolores O'Riordan (Cranberries) and the great tenor in Ave Maria.
Part of the funds raised from the events was contributed to the Pavarotti Music Center in Bosnia. The center holds a music school and music for rehabilitation program. In addition, here is the place where the Bosnian and Croatian kids come together for singing, playing, and dancing, which is a mind healing and peace building process.
For a dog like me, music is probably the greatest healer for all kind of sickness and pains. If you don't want to sing and if you were not a fan of opera yet, I'd like to encourage you to just listen to this album and I believe you will hear yourself sing opera quietly in your soul.
Mulan
Luciano Pavarotti & friendsTogether for the Children of BosniaWith Brian Eno, Bono and the Edge, Dolores O'Riordan, Gam Gam, Jovanotti, Marco Armiliato, Meat Loaf, Michael Bolton, Michael Kamen,Nenad Bach, Simon Le Bon, The Chieftains, Zucchero
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Saw-Kha-Doh A-PawMomordica (Bitter Gourd) Spicy Soup
"Sweet will just pass, bitter will cure at last". This is a proverb that many of us remember by heart from the time we were little. But in fact, most of us usually turn away from whatever is bitter. Well, our main dish on the menu today is both bitter and a traditional medicine.
Bitter gourd leaves and fruit are very bitter and are an important traditional medicine. The Karen people are familiar with its medicinal properties. They have long been using the plant to cure typhoid and as an antiseptic. Actually, the bitter gourd works best if you eat it with boiled 'Na-Paw-Kyaw' leaves or bark. The Na-Paw-Kyaw, a tall tree that is easily found in the forest, acts like quinine and can reduce fever. In addition, the bitter gourd dish is also good for the recovery period of any fever.
In this soup recipe, there are also other kinds of herbs that are well-known among the Karen, especially the Hser Lui seeds which can cure the common cold. Believe me, it's only bitter at the first taste. After that you'll find this healthy food incredibly delicious!
Ingredients:Pork ribs, bitter gourd leaves, pumpkin leaves, violet basil leaves,dried and pounded Paw-Tee leaves, dried chili, grilled shallotslemongrass, galingale, salt, Hser-Lui seeds Instructions:- Boil pork ribs in a pot- Pound shallots, lemongrass, galingale, dried chili, salt and Hser-Lui seeds together- Add the pounded ingredients to the boiling soup and stir well - Add the pumpkin leaves and bitter gourd leaves- Add dried Paw-Tee leaves- Sprinkle the violet basil leaves on top
⌫dried and pounded
Paw-Tee leaves
violet basil leaves Hser-Lui seeds
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The Muddled Thread
The eyes of the yuta seemed to focus on something beyond my head, and yet, at the same time, they pierced into my eyes as if to search inside my mind. It seemed as if she could bring out of me a far-off time and space - a time from before I was born, and from another world I could not reach. I felt slightly dizzy when I looked at the clock. The time seemed to be distorted. It was as if the space and the air around me started to quiver, as if it was going to burst. A variety of meanings, beyond the familiar things I encountered in everyday life, passed before my eyes.
'Your ancestors used to make the kami angry, and now the kami is taking its revenge on you. It is creating problems with your ear and respiratory system', the yuta said to me, 'you have to pray at 10 shrines in Okinawa… I'll go and pray with you'.
A yuta is a shaman in the Okinawa area. The uchinaanchu people (their former name before it was changed to 'Okinawa' by the Japanese) have respect for her ability (chiji) to contact shugairei (gods/ancestors) in order to find out the cause of mental and physical illness, as well as misfortune or bad luck, and to find a way to correct it.
Apart from health concerns, the villagers usually seek the advice of the yuta about financial matters, finding a partner, study, work, and future plans, as well as other issues. This is a reflection of the pattern of therapy and the close ties between mental and physical health and other aspects of life, as well as the link with the social environment, and cross-generational relationships. Moreover, the yuta's practice usually encourages customers to heal themselves. The folk practice of yuta runs counter to the modern scientific paradigm of medical treatment, which usually separates the patients from their environment (bringing them to be 'treated' in the hospital, using medication) and makes them into the object of medical gaze and analysis. Therefore yuta were often blamed for being a hindrance. This even led the officials, in the1970s, to view many yuta as schizophrenic patients needing to be treated in mental hospitals.
In fact, the status of the yuta has changed along with the history of the Ryukyu Islands. The dispute over the Ryukyu Empire between China and Japan in the 17th century created a dispute over the difference in beliefs between Confucianism and local traditional knowledge. Yuta were seen as anachronistic and were forbidden to perform their jobs(1673), banished(1712), prohibited from contacting customers(1728), and from being shamen(1831). In the late 19th century, Japan sped up the process of national unification and modernization, and officially incorporated Ryukyu as Okinawa Prefecture. Again, yuta were seen as obstacle in the quest for modernity.
In the 1990s, however, the 'Okinawan' identity was revived in the context of the local conflict in East Asian politics, with such giant players as the US, and yuta traditional practices were also revived. Currently, yuta still retain recognition and popularity among the local people, especially in remote areas, and continue to play an important social role into the 21th century. More than 70% of people with mental problems still visit yuta, although many receive treatment from psychiatrists as well.
The space around me exploded into calm serenity. The muddled thread in my mind was re-organized by the yuta. But it was a treatment that went beyond the boundaries of present life, space, and time, to something that the eyes could not see.
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Firstly, let me thank you for the magazine. I enjoyed it very much! Thanks, really! As I am also working in a book circle here I'm sending some to you - to share my thoughts and opinions from Bangkok. I'd like to encourage you to continue producing such great media for the benefit of society and our country. I hope one day I will have the chance to be a part of your movement. N.J Bangkok
⌫⌫ ⌦ ⌫⌫ ⌫Thanks for the interesting book and encouragement. We'll always be happy to have you as part of our effort and organization. We would be very grateful if you could share your story, or help distribute the magazine and stories to friends around Bangkok.
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⌫ ⌫ I enjoy reading the magazine you provide to my school. I am a Lao national who is participating in a program there. I'm very interested in your magazine and hope to share my essays with your readers. How can I do this? I'm not sure of the topic you announced. Are short stories about social and environment or human rights in Laos appropriate? Please give me suggestions. S. I., Mekong School, Chiangmai
⌫⌫⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫⌫ ⌫ Glad to know there are friends from our eastern neighboring country, as we spend most of our time only on the west. The topics for essays are widely open for interpretation. Please send your thoughts and stories freely - there's no right or wrong. We'll be looking forward to reading them.
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⌦ ⌫Dear editor, I tried to find time to write an article to share with your readers. Please publish it if you find it useful. I don't mind some proper editing and changes where necessary. However, if it's not suitable for the magazine, it's ok too. With respect, C.K., Faculty of Education, Srinakarintharawiroj University
⌫⌫ ⌫ ⌦ ⌫ ⌫⌦ ⌫⌫We were very glad to receive your article and plan to publish it in the next issue. I hope you don't mind the delay as a story of this kind is always happening and has not yet ended as you mentioned.
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Friends Without Borders invites you to share an article or a poem. If you are interested in sharing stories or opinions relating to human rights, marginalized peoples, ethnic nationalities, refugees or migrant workers, please send a manuscript that has never been published before under the theme 'Friends' (deadline on 31/10/06) to P.O.Box 180, CMU, Chiang Mai 50202, or email to:[email protected].
The manuscript must be in English or Thai and not longer than 2 A4 page (Font Times 12). The writer's real name, address, phone number and email must be attached. Please let us know if you would like your story to be published under a pen name. The editor reserves the right to edit the select pieces. There will be a small gift and a little honorarium for the writers whose stories are selected.
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Photo: John Hulme
"Democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued-they may be essential to survival."
Noam Chomsky American-Jewish Activist