A Community Hospital is a big deal for indigenous and ethnic minority Karen people displaced by the 60+ year civil war in Burma. Stateless people without internationally recognized identity documents are not officially allowed to access hospitals on the Thai side. Pushed up hard against the border due to burned villages, landmines and seemingly endless armed conflict over decades, these stateless & displaced people have been without regular medical care for literally generations. Kudos and quiet acknowledgement to those individuals and NGOs who have provided what medical care they could, on blue plastic sheets, carried in backpacks, under cover, without fanfare and at great personal risk and cost.
It was my privilege to attend the opening ceremony of the Kawthoolei New Village Hospital yesterday, January 29th, in Eastern Burma. While everyone was hammering and making noodles for VIPs and preparing for the ceremony, I asked what I could do to help.
"Please document. Our people have no voice in the outside world."
And so here it is - a simple video, recording what the remarkable and resilient Karen community has been able to achieve, thanks to the generous donations of a Korean church and its supportive Korean community. There is so much more to be done, but I share this by way of a beginning.
The Karen people who will be serviced by this tiny hospital are the same Karen people who source, grow and supply the organic herbs for our Thai herbal business, Pure Thai Natural Co Ltd. It made me just so happy yesterday to see their quality of life improving.
Part 2 of this story will be posted tomorrow - showing you where they've come from (the old bamboo hut and elephant ambulance), some of the detail including the new Asian Medicine Clinic (acupuncture, herbs & moxibustion) and giving you some suggestions if you'd like to help.
A standing ovation to my herbal colleague, Saw Diamond Khin, Deputy Director of the Karen Department of Health and Welfare, and to Dr Park Jin Young, the new hospital's Director and Doctor.
Grateful to witness such an important day for the Karen community.
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