Up to the Keran Refugee Camp
Hello everyone,
We have a beautiful weekend in Mae Sot again. We met up with John and Nisha on Thursday and enjoyed the weekend together. Friday, we rented bicycles and rode around the small city of Mae Sot and explored. It was fun and we were able to see the border down.
We also had to do some work for our day in the Umpium Mai Refugee Camp. The people in the camp are mainly Karen refugees. This camp is about 2 hours south of Mae Sot and 4 km away from the Burmese border. The camp was established in the late eighties after the military dictatorship squashed a student revolution in 1987. Since that time many ethnic minorities have been forced to flee Burma due to the hardships they have endured under the dictatorship. The army takes what it wants when it wants and our fighting many of the ethnic minorities to control them. Many of the ethnic groups want to create there own state but the Bermese Dictatorship won't let them. The camp itself has a population has a population of 20,000 people. The people live in huts up this valley. It is indescribable. The people are not allowed to leave the camp. The camp is not any worse then some of the cities we have seen in Vietnam and Cambodia although all the house our temperary wooden huts.
Nisha works in this camp, teaching 16 bright young adults English. The kids are brilliant and camp from different place to improve their English and get a better life. We were invited to teach a small workshop on fitness for them. It was a lot of fun and they seemed to enjoy it. We taught them some easy plyometrics that I learned a while back. We went up on the Monday and taught the workshop and then Karina and Nisha made an Indian curry for us and the students. We ate with them and then were lucky enough to be treated to a small talent show. They were amazing.
That night, we slept in the camp in elevated huts. The moon was out and we didn't even need flashlights to get around. It was a beautiful place for us although after being there for so many years with little hope of getting out. I would think I would be in a prison. The next day, we walked around the camp with the students are were able to talk to them about their lives and their goals. It was hard but these students are full of life and they also had many questions for us. It was an amazing experience. We hope that that one day soon they can all go back home and use what they have learned in camp to help their families and friends. All the students live in dorms in the camp and thus are away from their families.
We said good-bye to Nisha and left on Tuesday around lunch time to go back to Mae Sot. The students have basic needs but they don't always have what the need. If anyone can help, we can give you Nisha's info and we could send them some stuff. The kids are great musicians and need some guitars strings.
On the way back to Mae Sot, we kept reminding ourselves how lucky we are to be able to travel, to even leave our cities and mostly that we don't live a country torn apart by war. We hope that Nisha's students will be able to leave the camp and have a more independant life. We know they will suceed. It was also Johns last day in the Camp and thus he travelled back with us to Mae Sot.
Last night, we took a bus down to Bangkok. Today, we hope to go South to Ko Tao island and relax a bit till we go to Kiwi land. We can't wait to meet up with John and some of the old crew from Jeju.
We'll keep in touch on the island if possible. If not, we will be but in Bangkok around the 11th.
Later,
Christian and Karina
PS We hope to post some pics up during the next week.
posted by Karina & Christian at 9:27 p.m.
1 Comments:
Hello y'all,
We're looking into purchasing some guitar strings that we can send to Nisha, or I might be able to use my fundraising skills to get us some free strings. But I need to know what kind of guitars they use. Please find below a description of both kinds and a couple links to pictures on wikipedia, so you can tell the difference. Classical guitars are usually used by beginners and young kids because it's easier on the fingers. Also, at the top portion, or head, of a classical guitar, where the strings are attached, there is usually two hallowed out sections that allow for the nylon strings to be wound. For an acoustic guitar, there are no hallowed sections at the head of the guitar.
Nylon Or Steel String?
This depends on your style of play. Ask yourself what you see yourself playing more, classical or something else. If you said classical you will want a nylon string guitar. Nylon string guitars have a neck that is wider with more space between each string. The body of the guitar is also slightly smaller. Another difference in construction is that the neck connects to the body at the 12th fret. Nylon strings produce a softer sound and are easier to push the strings down for beginners.
Steel string guitars are used for most other music, such as anything rock or blues related, as well as country and jazz. Steel string guitars have a neck that tapers toward the headstock, and the body is usually larger. Also the neck connects to the body at the 14th fret most of the time. Steel string guitars are usually louder, and harder to fret. The two types of guitars attach the strings in different manners and require different stringing techniques.
For pictures of a Classical guitar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar
For pictures of an acoustic guitar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel-string_acoustic_guitar
Let me know, and send us Nisha's contact info.
It's nice to hear that you are experiencing things other than the tourist traps... I figure it's much more rewarding in the end!
Take care!
Gab
3:05 p.m.
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