Myanmar: The Aftermath
The New York Time lead article on the situation in Myanmar is . . .heartbreaking, enraging, stunning. The accompanying picture of hundreds of desperate famers lining the road waiting in the hope that a car of Burmese civilians trying to aid their countrymen will pass by. It is their only source of hope because the military regime won't let aid in.
Read it all. I was struck by a comment made by 40 year old Ko Htay Oo.
“I am no beggar, so I didn’t eat anything in the past two days,” he said, leaning against a roadside palm tree. “Besides, you shouldn’t compete with kids for begged food.”
The combination of pride and discipline is telling. It tells me a) he is used to not eating regularly although he is not a begger. (I have a hard time imagining an American who hadn't eaten in two days talking like that.)
posted by Sherry W @ 8:00 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
As I understand it, the cynical Burmese generals are just a variant of atheistic socialist style totalitarianism who see no importance in the people affected by the cyclone since they're just peasants who make no contribution to bettering life for those in power and since if empowered by aid workers could actually endager the military's own security. What we're witnessing here is the 21st Century's first genocide. The stoicism of the people is part of Buddhist fatalism. Seek first the kingdom of Nirvana and all these other things won't matter - not even death. How can we bring the gospels to them and enable them to see how empowering Jesus is? But the Generals won't have a bar of allowing too many Christian missionaries in. That would be far too dangerous.
Kyrie eleison
Stephen Sparrow
Stephen - perhaps the material help is what will best combat the fatalism you descry - I was struck not so much at the stoicism but at their lack of initiative to grant themselves permission to use what material are at their disposal to help themselves! The plastic trash the reporter mentioned can be used
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf517076.tip.html
woven into fabric to make tents, why wait for public or private assistance?
Where's the website or blog that diseminated this kind of wisdom? Should I perhaps be asking myself if that is my calling?
Some folks can and do make money for themelves with the assistance of the Mennonite Central Commitee:
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/catalog/product.detail.php?product_id=8129
but wouldn't it be wonderful if the knowledge was shared in-country and not hoarded for export to us wealthy foreigners?
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