I just got off a conference call with one of my grad school professors, who is the Director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and a long standing advocate for change in Burma. He was telling us about his recent trip to Burma - his first in a decade. For the past ten years, he has been on the black list, and unable to get a visa to enter the country, because of his many articles criticizing the regime and outspoken advocacy. That he was allowed back in now is yet another sign that real change is coming to Burma.
He was on a trip with the President of Johns Hopkins University, amongst others, to disucss a partnership between JHU and the Myanmar government, to help refurbish their higher education system, and allow Hopkins School of Public Health to do some health programming. The proposed project would be immense, intending to address several key health concerns, including malaria, maternal mortality, immunization, and more. They asked for Hopkins to start a new university there.
Its just crazy to me that after ten years of being banned from the country, Chris is now invited to Naypyidaw (several years ago the junta moved the capital from Rangoon to the middle of the jungle, where it is closely guarded, and the generals are said to live in splendor). He also met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It was really crazy to hear Chris casually recall his conversation with her, her ally for so long from a distance, and now such starling change, its hard to even take it all in. Its also pus my work here in a bigger perspective, to think that I am so connected to him, and he to her, this internationally honored advocate of rights and democracy. This is history being made, and I've got a front row view, and its pretty remarkable.
There is still much skepticism, is it all for real, is it just a show to win over the int'l community, but so far, the hope outweighs it. Even in the border areas, where the fighting still hasn't ended, where questions of citizenship, and land rights, and land mines dominate the conversation, optimism is still abundant. There have been a flood of visitors over the past several months, most notably Secretary of State Clinton, and a massive influx of INGOs and money are on the way. There is a building momentum, and many now think that even if the government isn't for real, that it is too late to stop this forward motion, that the point of no return has been passed: one way or another, Burma is headed for open Democracy.
He was on a trip with the President of Johns Hopkins University, amongst others, to disucss a partnership between JHU and the Myanmar government, to help refurbish their higher education system, and allow Hopkins School of Public Health to do some health programming. The proposed project would be immense, intending to address several key health concerns, including malaria, maternal mortality, immunization, and more. They asked for Hopkins to start a new university there.
Its just crazy to me that after ten years of being banned from the country, Chris is now invited to Naypyidaw (several years ago the junta moved the capital from Rangoon to the middle of the jungle, where it is closely guarded, and the generals are said to live in splendor). He also met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It was really crazy to hear Chris casually recall his conversation with her, her ally for so long from a distance, and now such starling change, its hard to even take it all in. Its also pus my work here in a bigger perspective, to think that I am so connected to him, and he to her, this internationally honored advocate of rights and democracy. This is history being made, and I've got a front row view, and its pretty remarkable.
There is still much skepticism, is it all for real, is it just a show to win over the int'l community, but so far, the hope outweighs it. Even in the border areas, where the fighting still hasn't ended, where questions of citizenship, and land rights, and land mines dominate the conversation, optimism is still abundant. There have been a flood of visitors over the past several months, most notably Secretary of State Clinton, and a massive influx of INGOs and money are on the way. There is a building momentum, and many now think that even if the government isn't for real, that it is too late to stop this forward motion, that the point of no return has been passed: one way or another, Burma is headed for open Democracy.
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