On the China border

I am back again on the China/Burma border. In many ways the same as I remember, but different, too. Much drier and browner than the verdant green that encompassed me last time. We are well on into the dry season now, and the months without rain are palpable. Though, we have gotten a couple of unseasonal showers this week, taunting an early start to the rainy season - an unusual occurence that would be welcomed, as water is already beginning to run short, earlier than usual. My lodging in fact has no water, the faucet is dry, and there is no well or cistern to fall back on. I am bathing etc. at the training center (which is but a short walk).

Amongst the trainees are many familiar faces from last September, and also Many new ones - in part because the training size has increased from 30 odd to 50 (or more, a few are still on their way). Which is both great, in that so many want to learn, and challenging, to keep eveyone engaged, and ensure they all get the most they can out of the training.

An immense pleasure to see SASM again. So much energy, and warmth. Approachable and knowledgeable, he is an excellent trainer (and also fluent in Jing Po/Kachin, Burmese, and English, which is a huge asset in itself). Found out yesterday he also plays the guitar and sings. Steph, are you reading? I think you should marry him.

Have been having an ongoing discussion with the local health department that we work with here about the importance of family planning - from a public health perspective, birth spacing hugely increases the health of both mother and child - increasing chance that both live, and do so in health. Local officials are concerned that family planning will decrease population - their policy explicitly promotes population growth, as the SPDC has for years made it a policy to reduce the Kachin ethnic minority. So, they are having trouble reconciling the use of contraception with population growth. We had a breakthrough today, when the third in charge gave a speech at our opening ceremony in which he discussed the importance of birth spacing, and its contribution towards increasing the healthy population of Kachin people! Woo hoo! Not sure the rest of the health department is quite on board (they are political appointees rather than health people) but this was a big step.

Internet is very slow - have lmited time.