Buckets of Rain......

This title is inspired by a number of things.   Most obviously, they play Bob Dylan EVERYWHERE here.  I, of course, am not complaining, and it certainly is much much better than the continuous loop of Jack Johnson I heard while traveling SE Asia last time around.  

Secondly, the rainy season does seem to have officially begun here.  Its offered a welcome cool down to the slightly stifling heat, though it is still pretty hot.  The only true downside is the fact that my computer accompanies me to work and about most days, so I found myself a bit at the mercy of the weather, as I would have no problem biking home, but my MacBook might.

"Buckets of Tears" felt more apt recently.   I began doing interviews last week, and had a rather heartbreaking day last Sunday.   I met with an HIV/AIDS support group, run in part by the amazing, local, Mae Tao Clinic.  The participants were kind enough to let me ask them some questions, and I was truly awed by the sense of hope and strength the interviewees possessed.   Most of them had migrated to Thailand for work, but as the disease developed they've found themselves to weak to work, and surviving on the support of organizations like the clinic and MSF.   Many had not seen their families in years, and were to scared to tell them about their illness, because of the attached stigma in Burma.  Of course the most heartbreaking were their children, some of whom were also HIV+, but all of whom had at least one parent that is being kept alive by donated medicine.    

Despite the sadness I felt, I was awed by the courage and optimism I witnessed.   One woman told me how happy she is to wake every morning, glad to see a new day.  Another, whose health has thankfully remained well so far, spoke about how lucky she felt to be able to inspire others who are HIV+ with her own health.  Before we left Eh Wah and I bought some snacks and candies for the children, and spent some time watching the role playing exercises the group was participating in.   The kids happily and politely accepted the candy we had, and ran around chasing inflated condom balloons, clearly over-joyed with the day.   We were a big hit, as several of our interviewees asked to take pictures with us before we left.

The day was certainly sad, and I went through a bit of an emotional withdrawal when I left.  I am working on detaching a bit, which seems like a useful skill for the line of work I am planning to be involved in.  For now I am just hoping I can do justice to the stories I heard, and make sure people's voices are heard.   

I know I've heard from many of you about my lack of blogging, I will try to be better!     Post comments, knowing people are reading is a motivation to write!

I haven't figured out how to post pictures to blogger just yet, but heres a link to Picassa, enjoy.......

http://picasaweb.google.com/ejgold/ChiangMaiAndFirstDaysInMaeSot?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTGg56OvNzq1AE#