Umpium Camp and Karen refugees from Burma

I was in Thailand from 4 weeks, burned from the sea, from the girls, amazed by the people… my mind had just begun to awaken.

A few days after my arrival in Mae Sot I visited Umpium Camp I met Karen refugees from Burma and some months later, after traveling all over Thailand, I returned.

Umpium Camp is a refugees camp for Karen people, fleeing the military regime in Burma, there are 30,000 people, and for Thai government they just not exist. For the NGOs officially is the same.
The camp is located on the border between the two states, in no man’s land.
They can’t go back in Burma without risking their lives. In Thailand are not allowed to enter.

The day starts with the sunrise and ends with the dawn, here there is neither electricity nor drinking water, the water must be taken from the river and boiled.
Dinner is at 5 pm, just before nightfall, and then we talk. Everyone has a story to tell and its tragedy.

After visiting the camp, returned to Mae Sot, for the first time I felt I was doing what was right, in the right place at the right time in equilibrium.
Probably in Mae Sot, without even realizing it, I made ??decisions within me that have totally changed my life.

I spent in town a month teaching how to use the PC to some Burmese students who were hiding there.
I met a lot of people and stories, something happened there. Something happened in me.

Posted on December 15, 2000

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