2015 march nupo report rc of balwyn final

7/21/2019 2015 March NuPo Report RC of Balwyn FINAL

1/27


2/27


3/27

Background:

There are over 100,000 Burmborder. The Karen people corepressed by successive milit

P.E.A.C.E. founder, Dr Philthe Mae La Oon camp. This vor more Burmese Karen refu

Due to subsequent personalNuPo camp who now lives inNuPo camp was more practicNuPos population is approxi

PEACE visits to NuPo subse

The first two visits essentiallythe camp residents, the historcamp and of course developicamp figures and organisatio

Me

ese Karen refugees in nine camps along thprise one of many Burmese ethnic groups

ary dictatorships that have ruled Burma sin

est, first visited a Karen refugee camp in 2isit was a first step in establishing a PEACee camps.

ontact with Eh Paung, the former Camp S Australia, it was decided that a P.E.A.C.E.

al in a large part due to much easier road aately 11,000.

uently occurred in 2012, 2013 and then in

involved developing more knowledge abouy of the Karen struggle, the general life andg the necessary personal relationships wits.

bers of the PEACE delegation, 2013

e Thai-Burmathat have beene 1948.

09. This wasproject at one

cretary of theroject at the

ccessibility.

anuary 2015.

the needs ofculture in theimportant


4/27

Map sh

owing Bangkok, Mae Sot and N

Po


5/27

The following images are of

rdinary camp residents during their daily ro

cleaning

utines in the camp.


6/27

The Karen and the politics

The Karen are one of many erepression by military dictator

Only in the past 2-3 years hais far from complete and theinstitutions. In the meantime,along the Thai-Burma border

A majority of Karen are Christ19th Century. The second larBurma.

The first refugee camps wererepression following electionswon around 65% of the votes.thought they could control theparties. This didnt occur andwas imprisoned under housewere tortured, murdered, disa

Now, a second generation ofconfinement and restriction oftraditional agricultural skills awhich are very cramped. Residevelops an aid dependency

Many also have war and confhundreds of Karen villages wmountains while being chasebehind and children died of illPEACEs Healing through Atrauma and emotional scars.

f Burma: a (very) brief history.

hnic communities in Burma who have faceships that have ruled Burma continuously s

a degree of democratisation occurred in Bilitary still controls most of the economy aens of thousands of Karen continue to liveand may not feel safe to return for many ye

ian, having been converted by German misest religious grouping is Buddhist the m

established in northern Thailand after masin 1988 in which the opposition led by Aun

. The military had allowed the election, butprocess and ensure victory by compliant,

losing was too much of a shock! So Aungarrest for the next 20 years and thousandsppeared or imprisoned.

children are being born in the camps. Due tcamp life, the younger generation of Karethere is no room for normal crop productio

dents receive food rations from internationhich is very debilitating in the long run.

lict-related trauma. At the height of the militre burned and people were forced to flee tby the military. Elderly or sick sometimesess and malnutrition. Their trauma and sc

rts program supports the long-term healinghen other agencies have left, PEACE will

severeince 1948.

urma, but thisd socialin the campsars to come.

sionaries in the jority religion in

politicalSan Suu Kyi

erhapsilitary-aligned

an Suu Kyiof Burmese

o theare losing

n at the campsl aid. This also

ry repression,thead to be leftrs are deep.from thisstill be there.


7/27

P.E.A.C.E. in Mae Sot and N

This PEACE trip took place bBoarding school in Mae Sot a

The trip was financially suppothese clubs for their generositBendigo: $100, Rotary Club o

The ideals of PEACE are em

Healing occurs when these i

The healing work of P.E.A.C.activities that the children in tthe lack of resources: colouri

paper cups and other relativelbeads, glitter-glue and so on.

Many activities may appear ua purpose relating to self-estedevelopment, co-operation as

Happiness heals.

For the children in the camp (countries are thinking about tbit more peaceful and joyful, ilong-lasting.

The team

The PEACE delegation this yPhil West,Ph.D, Art teacher aTherapists from Bendigo, LeaMeeny and Samantha HamiltBowen therapy relieves physi

ailments plus helps releaseemotional stress and pain.

uPo, January 2015.

tween Jan 9-12 at the Mae Tao clinic Orpnd Jan 13-17 at the NuPo camp, Thai-Bur

rted by a number of Rotary clubs and we siy: Rotary Club of Altona City: $600, Rotaryf Eaglehawk: $100, Rotary Club of Bendigo

athy , care , love and sharing .

eals are put into practice.

. is done through often basic and simple ae camp and at the orphanage can usuallyg in, painting, drawing and craft activities

y simple items such as ice-cream sticks, st

assuming, but are structured in way so them, community development, sharing, skillwell as just feeling happy!

and the adults too), just knowing that peoplem and wanting to share with them and m

s very powerful and can have an impact th

ar was made up of PEACE Founder and Pnd graphic artist, Claudia Salazar plus twonnen.

cal

Bowen in practice at the camp on atable in the school hall

anage anda border.

ncerely thankClub ofSouth: $100.

tivities butever do due to

ith balloons,

eamers,

activities haveand

from otherke their lives at is deep and

resident, Drowen

make-shift


8/27

The P.E.A.C.E. Team : Rear: Phil West and local camp contact person and Bendigo KarenCommunity Leader, Eh Paung. Seated L-R: Claudia Salazar, Sam Hamilton and Leanne Meeny.

_____________________________________

Bowen in Practice : One day, Leanne and Sam performed Bowen on a severely

traumatised young woman of around 17 who had only just arrived in the camp fromBurma. She had been the victim of an apparent gang-rape by soldiers and was beingcared for by the Karen Womens Organisation (KWO). She was not talking. For all of us,she was the most traumatised person we had ever seen. Her eyes appeared as ifhollow, she was expressionless and you could actually sense the terror she had beenthrough. It was as though part of her humanity had been wrenched from her. After atherapeutic session of Bowen, the girl actually smiled a bit and then asked if she couldreceive another Bowen session the following day.

The Art workshops.

Art, music and craftwork activities form the basis of the P.E.A.C.E. Healing through Arts workshops.

Images rather than words best illustrate the PEACE activities carried out at the camp,however, a short description is necessary and informative.


9/27

Respect, concentration, behaviour and happiness.

The Karen children in the camp present an extraordinary symbol of our sharedhumanity.

The camp children rarely have the opportunity to carry out the type of activities providedby P.E.A.C.E. At all times they show deep appreciation and respect and express their joy at the activities they are involved in.

Children as young as just three years-old deeply appreciated the activities or were justso happy to be doing them that they concentrated in a way that many 16-year-olds Ihave taught in Australian schools cannot!

However, the most remarkable expression of the community spirit of the Karen, theirsense of shared purpose and their grass-roots religious conviction is demonstrated inhow the children treat each other .

They always share and are very polite and respectful to each other. Not once did wewitness anyone grab something out of anothers hand or scream, cry or complain aboutanything. And this observation wasnt a once off.

During my last visit, a group of pre-school children aged 3-5 were doing activities suchas colouring-in and simple craft activities for an hour. Not once did any child grabmaterials off another, push another and not one child cried or had a tantrum or hissy fit.I really doubt that in Australia, a group of twenty 3-4 year olds could do art and craft foran hour without one child pushing another, grabbing scissors or a pencil off another or

crying about something.For me, this is a realisation of how spoiled our children are in countries like Australia.Children who are used to almost nothing, seem to naturally share, respect their fellowchildren and just enjoy the moment of happiness and joy without interfering negativelywith others. They also dont have ADHD and other similarly-labelled emotional ailmentscommon in developed, industrialised nations.

Photos illustrative of team-work and cooperation


10/27


11/27

The Healing through Arts

The activities carried out by Psong and dance and the follo

Balloon self portraits Bead necklace making Painting (acrylic and w Colouring-in Hearts of Hope activit

artwork and write mes Rubber Loop Jeweller Maraca making (two w

and which are then tap Own hand trace, cut Finger panting Mixed art posters

Here are some photos of the

orkshops:

EACE with the aid of our wonderful translating art/craft activities:

nd/or fantasy faces

ater paints)

featuring cardboard hearts on which childsage of love, hope and peace to others.

hite cardboard cups placed end to end whied together and illustrated by the children).ut & colour-in activity.

arious activities:

ors, included

ren cover with

h contain rice


12/27


13/27

Hap

y (or crazy!) Balloon Faces and Posters.


14/27

The NuPo Camp Special Devel

The NuPo camp has a populatiowith physical and/or intellectualabout specific needs of the SDS

In essence, the conditions are avery much like to provide suppo

lopment School (SDS)

n of approximately 11,000. There are of courseisabilities in the camp. PEACE met the teacheschool and ran a Healing through Arts progra

rocious and the school has almost no materialt to this school. Here are some photos.

some childrens and learned.

. PEACE would


15/27

Hearts Across the World : A P.E.A.C.E. initiative ready to go GLOBAL!

In recent years, two shocking acts of violence occurred in other countries that resonatedwith ordinary Australians: The Norwegian youth camp massacre and the Newtown highschool shootings in Connecticut, USA. These random and tragic acts of violence

prompted PEACE to take action to show support to the survivors and the families ofthose killed.

PEACE liaised with a number of schools in Australia and the school children madecards with message of support plus a canvas mural to send to the affectedcommunities. The purpose behind this project is for the ideals of PEACE to positivelyimpact our local children as well as the children touched by the particular tragedy.

The young people and families personally affected by a shooting, massacre,random murder or terrorist attack are going through grief, loss and trauma.

Receiving messages of love and hope from unknown children from the other sideof the world can help their healing process and to perhaps understand that theworld out there is not so bad after all. The act of solidarity is quite simple, butcan be significant.

For the Australian children, they can express their feelings about what happenedwhile also opening their hearts by sending messages of love and solidarity.

Young people at the best of times, but especially now with the shocking violence that isoccurring everywhere, cannot really understand why these things happen but still feelgrief and shock. Even if they would prefer not to hear or learn about the incidents, the

news and images are all over the TV and social media. There is no escape. Often theyoung people can relate to the incidents - such as the school or youth camp shootingsor the murder recently of the 17-year-old school girl simply walking through a parklistening to her i-pod or the young teacher murdered just before her wedding day.

At such times, young people can be shocked, angry but also feel sadness and fear.Being able to express their feelings and take direct, individual action makes themrealise that they can personally make a difference and have an impact across the globe.

Stemming from these initial actions, the idea of heart-shaped cards was

developed by Dr West based on the centrality of the heart symbol in thePEACE logo.

Thus, instead of just a usual flat (and boring) card, a heart could literallybe sent across the world. Related actions based on the theme could bedeveloped. For example Hearts for Hope (perhaps after naturaldisasters) and Hearts to Heaven. This latter idea was developed after the recentmurder of the young schoolgirl and the school-teacher bride-to-be in NSW. The idea is


16/27

that the affected communities (school children in these examples), could make theirPEACE Hearts that could then be attached to helium balloons. Thus, the Heartscontaining their heartfelt messages and artwork could literally be sent to Heaven. Thiswould be a beautiful and symbolic act during time of grief.

The Hearts Across the World idea was put into practice during this recent trip to theKaren camp. A sample of around 20 Hearts were made by school children in Melbournewith artwork and messages of peace and love for us to give to children in the refugeecamp.

At the camp, children made hearts to decorate their community hall, for the PEACEdelegates and to be passed onto Karen children in Australia. The Hearts activity trulyshowed the deep spiritual and emotional impact this idea can have. This was mostclearly seen when the children made hearts for the PEACE delegates. The childrenreally took the task to heart (excuse another pun) and produced beautiful and heartfelt

artwork and messages.

One girl who did herheart for ourprofessional artist,Claudia Salazar,unexpectedly producedanother drawing forClaudia the nextmorning.

Her amazing drawingrepresented theemotional linkdeveloped between herand Claudia through themaking of the heart.The emotion relating toher happiness and joyat our visit and the

activities and fun shehad enjoyed came tothe fore. This is betterdescribed by images of her artwork. The image above shows the first PEACE heartwhich features drawings of Claudia and herself. The following page shows a close up ofthe second drawing.


17/27

Below : An example of another PEACE heart. The words are simple but expressive andbeautiful: I miss you, I am happy today, Sing=love

The second artwork featuring a beautiful drawing of Claudia (teacher) and the young girl


18/27

The Boarding school at the NuPo Camp.

The children of the Boarding School are unaccompanied minors . Some have lost aparent or were separated from family when fleeing military violence and were sentacross to the camp for safety and to receive a basic education. Life in the Burmese

villages over the border is precarious, there is usually no education available andmilitary repression is still occurring. In the Boarding School, the older children look afterthe younger ones (some are siblings) and there are a number of adults who act in aparenting role. The children arise at around 4:30, tend a communal vegetable gardenfor about an hour, then have a shower and breakfast and start school at 9:00.

Above : Boarding school children tending the vegetable garden. Below : Children in class


19/27

PEACE at NuPo and beyon

After three trips to NuPo, PEstrong links with the camp leasupport to the people of the c

This report is not the place todetailed breakdown of possiblapproximate costs in order of

1. Support for the S

The school is in quite a dilapiresources and general equipare committed and do their bhigh level of educational inter

: The next steps.

CE now understands the community, hasdership and is therefore ready to expand omp.

provide all details about planed future suppe budgets, but the following provides a guipriority.

ecial Education School

ated state of disrepair. Materials, educatioent are almost non-existent but the staff ast. Suffice to say that the children do not reention, physical therapy or sensory stimul

evelopedr role and our

ort and ae and

al aids andd volunteersceive a verytion.


20/27

How PEACE could support the SDS:

- Provision of specialist stimulatory educational equipment and toys. Most would besourced in Thailand while some items unavailable in Thailand would be broughtfrom Australia where feasible.

Approx. cost: $2,000 for initial year, $1,000 pa thereafter

- Provision of specialist rest/posture equipment and related health and physical aides.Good second-hand items would be purchased if possible. Most items can probablybe purchased in Thailand.

Approx. cost: $5,000 for first year, $1,000 pa thereafter

- Materials and labour to repair the building including new leaves for the roof. Theroofs of the bamboo dwellings in the camp are made from large leaves which need

replacing each 12-18 months.Aprox. Cost: $1,300

One weekly free lunch for the children and staff

Approx. annual cost: $3,000

- Funds to enhance the teachers salaries and for volunteer support.

Approx. cost: $1,000

- Costs for ground transportation (of purchased equipment) in Thailand and relatedcosts (fuel, insurance etc)

Approx. cost: $500

PEACE would also like to support the volunteering at the camp of some SpecialEducation teachers/retired teachers or final year Special Education Students and otherrelated professionals (physio-therapists etc) to work with the children but also providetrain the trainer programs for the staff and parent volunteers.

TOTAL approximate cost to support the Special Development School : $12,800 for thefirst year, $7,800 thereafter .

Some of these costs probably appear quite low, however, costs in Thailand for mostitems are of course much cheaper than in Australia and the costs in the camp areextraordinarily low as it is not a real village in Thailand and there is no real economyas such.


21/27

2. Support for the Camp Boarding School and Dormitories.

This support would include money for Dormitory building repair (Including much neededwaterproofing for the rainy season) and to enhance safety for the children.

Approx. cost: $1600 for the first year and then $1,200 annually thereafter,- Art, craft and musical supplies for the dormitory and the school

Approx cost: $4,000 in first year and $1,500 annually thereafter

TOTAL approximate cost to support the Boarding school and dormitories: $5,600for the first year, $2,700pa thereafter.

3. Support for the crisis intervention and general work of the KarenWomens Organisation (KWO) including physical infrastructure repair totheir small office and purchase of supplies/aids/tools/equipment.

The KWO is a wonderful organisation that works in all the camps and supports womenseducation, development, health, maternal health and issues surrounding familyviolence. They also support women in emergency situations who enter the camp/s fromover the border after trauma of violence, family deaths or sexual violence.

Total approximate cost: $3,000 initially and $1,200 pa thereafter.

__________

General administration costs, volunteer support costs and manager travel costs: approx.$2,500 per trip and $10,000 annually for costs in Australia (design & printing ofpromotional materials/flyers, volunteer training, printing, telecommunications etc).

So far the trips have been each 18 months to two years apart. However, to properlydevelop the programs and to maintain the important personal relationships that alreadyexist, three trips per year for the program manager would be ideal. Volunteers fund theirtravel and accommodation/food costs. Thailand is of course in our region and travelcosts can be reasonably low if tickets are purchased well in advance. The main cost inThailand is for vehicle hire. Again, this is about a third of the cost compared withAustralia. For example, in January 2015, our four wheel drive hire with full insurancewas $50 per day.

Cont.../


22/27

TOTAL approximate cost ofpartners in the camp:

For the first year: $21,

For each subsequent PLUS admin costs of

admin costs in Australia).

$ ,

Support for the Mae Tao cli

PEACE also visited the famoThe clinic is really now a larg

It was established by Dr Cyntservicing poor Karen womendelegation in 2013 visited thethrough a Karen relative of hethe prestigious Sydney Peac

One of the PEACE volunteerfollowing our return to Mae SClinic as a volunteer at the Pr

The Clinic also runs the Orphin the camp, the children at thhowever; most are also orpha

Although the refugee camp ispriority of PEACEs work, theschool also has limited resou

PEACE developed a great relwith the school, the principalgeneral staff and PEACE wosupport these children too forprovision of art and craft supp

Photo: Children at the Mao Taoduring a PEACE Healing through

ALL support for PEACE activities and p

400;

year: $11,700pprox. $17,500 pa (3X$2,500 per OS trip p

ic Orphanage and Boarding school.

s Mao Tao clinic which is in the Thai townhospital that services thousands of patient

ia Maung over 20 years ago as just a fewho had fled the military repression. The P

clinic and Dr West has a direct connectionrs who lives in Melbourne. Dr Maung was tPrize in 2013.

in 2013 was a post-grad Prosthetic enginet from our visit to the camp, stayed for six

osthetics Lab.

nage and boarding school. Similar to thee Mae Tao facility are also unaccompaniedns as a result of the armed conflict.

the firstMao Taoces.

ationshipnd theld like tothelies and

orphanagerts workshop

roject

lus $10,000

$ ,

f Mae Sot.s each week.

uts in the dirtACE

with Dr Maunge recipient of

er andeeks at the

oarding schoolminors


23/27

develop and on-going relation

Establishing a Child Sponsorprogram will also be investiga

Photos showing inside and outsiboys dorms which were destroyed

few weeks after PEACEs visit. Thunderneath is of the kitchen in w

food for all the children in coo

ship with the school and orphanage.

hipted.

de theby fire aphoto

ich theed.


24/27

PEACEs principal area of work is related to the provision of arts activities andprograms to support emotional healing of war-derived trauma. We do not heavilysupport infrastructure. We will do this in the camp to some extent for our specific projectpartners who are in dire need such as the Special Development School.

However, PEACE would like to support the orphanage in the following way:

- Provision of art and craft and musical supplies for the school. Approx. cost: $2,000for first year, $750 pa thereafter.

- Once-off provision of equipment to properly and more hygienically stock the kitchenand for the construction of some shelving and cupboards. Approx. cost: $1,500

TOTAL for supporting the Mae Tao orphanage and boarding school: $3,500 initially,$750 thereafter.

PEACE delegations would of course continue to visit the orphanage and school andwould like to provide medium to long-term volunteer teachers and other professionals towork at the Orphanage.

So the NEW TOTAL for ALL support including support for the Mae Taoorphanage would be: $42,400 for the initial year and $29,950 for each yearthereafter.

__________________

The Hearts Across the World idea proved a great success in the small trial at thecamp. The heart is a universal symbol of love and hope across all religions andcultures.

PEACE envisages that this beautiful idea could become global if the right support andmarketing is done and one or two celebs come on board as Ambassadors. But there isnothing to stop this program being put into practice immediately. As well as beingenacted in Australia after tragedies such as the murder of the Melbourne school-school,the hearts could also be made by children from schools and other organisations andsent to children suffering loss and grief after school massacres or acts of violence andcruelty such as the recent university massacre in Kenya or the kidnapping of theschoolgirls in Nigeria.

This could become universal and the project trademarked, logos copyrighted and salescould generate income for the project.

Hearts Across the World Project (incorporating Hearts for Hope and Hearts to Heaven)


25/27

For example, at community festivals or events, PEACE could run a table for the HeartsAcross the World program. Kids/parents would purchase a blank heart for say $2 andthe children would complete a finished heart on the spot which would be sent to say arefugee camp. Additionally, because of the very strong emotional appeal of the PEACEHearts, Children could also purchase extra hearts to take home as the hearts could beused as Mothers Day cards, birthday cards and so on. There would surely be potentialfor retail sales or for partnership by a large retailer during a designated InternationalHearts for Hope Day or similar.

PEACE wishes to get Hearts Across the World started as soon as possible!

A quote from Precision Forme Printing shows that the production of 2000 A4-sizedHearts would cost $750. This is less than 50c each. Obviously cost per-unit is reduced ifmore are printed. The Hearts would be blank on one side and the other side would belined in part but also present information about PEACE and partners (eg a Rotary Club)

with logo/s. These promotional markings on the card plus contact information would besuitably visible but appropriately subtle.

__________

Summary

The trip to NuPo was very successful particularly in terms of:

Strengthening relationships made during previous trips

gaining further understanding of the needs of the people and how PEACE canbest support the NuPo community.

The resilience, strength and uncomplicated religious convictions of peace, love andgoodwill towards others of the Karen was a joy to witness.

Their happiness and delight in having an opportunity to extend their creativity,imagination and to express their feelings through participation in the Healing throughArts activities was a raw emotional experience for all involved. The power of The Artsto awaken, inspire, increase self-love and bring hope, joy and to relieve traumawas strongly evidenced. 1

1Up until now, the healing through arts activities of PEACE have not been based on formal Arts Therapy .PEACE is not philosophically opposed to formal therapy and would appreciate the involvement offormally-trained therapists in further development of our programs. However, the lived experience ofPEACE in the camp and in workshops PEACE has carried out in Cambodia and Colombia, demonstratethat a less formally interventionist approach which essentially provides traumatised children the chance tohave fun, be creative, imaginative and cooperative with others is amazingly healing and therapeutic.


26/27

Above all, the practical application of the Hearts Across the World programdemonstrated that this idea is very powerful and opens up creativity, passion, rawemotion and the manifestation deep human love and compassion. The practical testingof this idea has inspired PEACE to commit to make this project a Global reality withhoped-for participation by Rotary, UNICEF and other international organisations.

HeArtwork by a 15 Year-old Karen child at NuPo Karen refugee camp, January, 2015

Thank you for reading this report

Dr P West, Leanne Meeny, Claudia Salazar, Sam Hamilton

March, 2015


27/27

2015 march nupo report rc of balwyn final

Documents