Summer Issue, 2013

Pei-hua travelled to Mae Sot as a journalist for ve weeks in the summer of 2012. She visited 20 NGOs committed to supporting refugees from Myanmar. “Most of the NGO workers have to deal with their own problems, be they nancial dif culties or mental trauma, but they remain as passionate as ever about their work, despite great dif culties. ‘It is my mission to work for my people. This is why I left my country,’ said a Burmese media worker about being exiled in Thailand.” “Interviewees were pleased to share their stories with us, despite the fact that recalling their past was painful. When I returned to my country, a colleague asked me whether such generosity was attributed to the interviewees’ desire to make their situation known. This might be true. However, I believe that their kind hearts had greater merit. Some interviewees just started telling their stories without enquiring about our intentions. One interviewee let us lm his reunion with his family and a gathering with family members and close friends who had not met for 18 years.” “Even though I’m free I am not.” Since the beginning of President Thein Sein’s presidency, thousands of political prisoners have been freed. However, they are still under surveillance, suffering trauma and stigma. Yu Pei-hua 余佩樺 (BA, Year 2) The Best Thing in Mae Sot SERVICE 100 HKU has been lending support to the people of Myanmar for years, inside and outside the country...