Worldwide Impact Now

Delivering healthcare to hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the hostile jungle is never easy. With continuous SPDC patrols looking for civilians to enslave or shoot-on-sight and continuous road developments to increase trade for military profit, the struggle and risk amounts to more than most could imagine, not just for the medics supplying healthcare but also for the patients, who often have to travel long distances risking their lives to receive medicine.

In order to monitor these issues and find sustainable solutions, WIN has helped community health workers develop a detailed information collection system to identify the most common hindrances to these people and ways to get around them. During the pilot phase, this survey has already covered hundreds of villagers, documenting the issues that stop them accessing healthcare.

This month 4 medics came out of the jungle to receive survey training so that they can pass their skills on to clinics across Karen State. By December this year, we plan to have documentation covering 4 key regions affected by war that can be used first and foremost to improve provision of healthcare but may also be able to help gain international support.

When people think of human rights, the most violent ones usually come to mind, but in fact the right to travel is a fundamental human right that few governments or cultures would argue was not crucial to living a stable peaceful life. While in Karen State, violence is also a horrible reality, the effects on the everyday lives of generations of Karen citizens gains little attention despite its severity. WIN is dedicated to enabling war victims in Burma to building stable living environments for their families so programmes like this are crucial to developing an understanding of what the real issues are that people face.

For thousands of people in Eastern Myanmar, the family home environment is without walls, deep in the jungle where they hide from the Burma Army. Shelters like these just about keep children protected from the insects on the ground and the pouring rains from above, but provide little consolation for the years of oppression keeping them forever homeless.

These people are living like this now, and those that have survived the nearly finished monsoon current await the annual military offensive that could force them to leave once again, with all the possessions they can carry, to avoid being shot, arrested or taken as slave workers by Burma’s ruling military regime. Visit http://www.worldwide-impact-now.org to learn more about how you can help them today.

Over the past month, Worldwide Impact Now has provided media skills training for members of 3 Karen communities working from the border, deep in the war zone and in central Burma. Covering basic journalism, camera work, video editing and advocacy strategy, these trainings have taken the skills of already experienced video documenters to new heights.

Video training in Karen State

At this time, the education of their people through media is critical due to the upcoming sham national elections that will threaten to solidify the current dictator’s grip on power for another generation, and the inevitable military offensive directed at the Karen people that comes with every dry season. We are now providing technical support and guidance on a number of Karen-led projects to do just this, distributing DVDs and MP4s to communities that have been denied access to independent media for their entire lives.

Every year, when the rain stops, the attacks begin. The Burma Army move into areas where the Karen National Union (KNU) are present and systematically devastate entire communities in a matter of days. Villages will be shelled with mortars from a distance before being entered and burnt to the ground, leaving little behind but burning embers and anti-personnel landmines. Following such attacks, hundreds, if not thousands, of villagers will be forced to leave their homes and hide in the jungle to avoid being arrested, beaten or killed, as they are every year.

Media Advocacy Strategy Training

WIN has worked with people in these zones to develop specific shooting plans to document this entire process from the outbreak of conflict through to the documentation of life in hiding. We are also empowering numerous community groups with the knowledge of international human rights mechanisms to collect incident details for the United Nations.

Working with these people on these training courses has been an inspiration for all those on the ground working for WIN. The determination among these young people to resists the temptation to seek asylum in refugee camps or resettle to the west and stay working to help their communities is remarkable and keeps us motivated everyday.

Three Generations of War Victims: Still No Home

End of July 2010, this grandmother, mother and son were forced to leave their homes to avoid a Burma Army attack . While they were gone, the soldiers burnt down the entire village and destroyed all the food they could find. Today, they are back, rebuilding their homes, while tens of thousands more remain hiding in the jungle following similar attacks.