{"id":75721,"date":"2020-03-02T16:54:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T21:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/?p=75721"},"modified":"2020-03-02T16:55:10","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T21:55:10","slug":"rangers-visit-encourage-new-idps-karen-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.freeburmarangers.org\/my\/2020\/03\/02\/rangers-visit-encourage-new-idps-karen-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers Visit and Encourage New IDPs in Karen State"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rangers Visit and Encourage New IDPs in Karen State<\/h1>\n

2 March 2020<\/em><\/p>\n

Karen State, Burma<\/p>\n

\"New
New Karen IDPs who fled Burma Army mortar attacks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Mu Traw\u00a0District, northern Karen State, 367 villagers\u00a0fled into the\u00a0jungle on Feb. 5.\u00a0The\u00a051 families from Wa Kaw Hta\u00a0and Ta Ko Der villages\u00a0fled\u00a0from\u00a0Burma Army mortars fired into and near their village. The Burma Army\u00a0is\u00a0trying to force\u00a0road construction\u00a0along the unimproved Muthe road and the Busakee trail. The Burma Army fires mortar barrages, crew serve machine guns and small arms to displace\u00a0villagers\u00a0from the area. FBR teams have gone to provide help, hope, and love and to report on the situation.<\/p>\n

Every year in the spring I plan a trip to\u00a0Jungle School of Medicine Kawthoolei\u00a0(JSMK) and our FBR training camp to do some type of construction project. I am not an engineer but during these two weeks in the spring each year I get to pretend to be one.<\/p>\n

\"Installing
Installing solar panel systems at JSMK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last year we built a brick lab\/dental\/eye clinic building at JSMK. The year before that we built a new suspension bridge over the river and we spent the two previous years installing electrical wiring and solar systems. This year was no different.<\/p>\n

The plan was to level the posts from our clinic and remove the part eaten by termites and put them on solid cement foundation, lifting and digging out the clinic a post at a time until everything was level again. We also traveled to a nearby village to install a solar system for friends of ours. Everything was running smoothly and we were actually moving ahead of schedule. I met with some of our staff and asked what else I could help them with and they asked if I could build some doors and tables to use around JSMK.\u00a0\u00a0While all of this work was going on at our training camp,\u00a0internally displaced people (IDPs) were living in the jungle.<\/p>\n

\"A
A family in their makeshift jungle living quarters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two days after I\u00a0arrived\u00a0at JSMK,\u00a0team members came back from a mission to help IDPs from two villages (51 households \/ 367 people) who had fled and were hiding in the jungle. They had gone to be with them and encourage the people as well as bring back information and photos for reporting. I wrote up their report in English and sent it\u00a0all\u00a0to the FBR reporting team to put it out as a web report. I ordered medicine and tarps from our logistics team so we could go back and help the\u00a0IDPs\u00a0with physical needs. The FBR team had done a great job and I\u00a0was\u00a0proud of them for being so quick and getting such detailed information. All in all, everyone had done their part and FBR was doing everything it could to help these IDPs. I went back to building doors and tables for our camp, but something kept eating at me.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0wanted to be with the IDPs and let them know that they are not forgotten. I wanted to pray with them. I had no other reason to go. The medicine and tarps we\u00a0had\u00a0ordered would take at least a week or two to get there. Our team had already done a great job getting information to report on this accurately. Still,\u00a0I\u00a0just\u00a0couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that I\u00a0also\u00a0wanted to go. I spoke with my wife and\u00a0shyly brought\u00a0up that I felt\u00a0like\u00a0I should go. I knew it\u00a0would mean\u00a0she would have to\u00a0care\u00a0for\u00a0our two\u00a0children\u00a0alone while I was away,\u00a0and she might not be thrilled with that idea. Instead,\u00a0she answered, \u201cYeah. I was kind of wondering when you were going to decide to go.\u201d \u00a0She already knew.<\/p>\n

So, our seven-member\u00a0team\u00a0came together\u00a0and traveled by motorbike over some of the worst roads and goat trails\u00a0Burma has to offer.\u00a0It was a 50-mile\u00a0journey\u00a0to\u00a0spend one night with the IDPs, and then\u00a0we returned\u00a0as that is all that time\u00a0allowed us. We\u00a0felt is was enough. We scrounged together what money we could and managed to come up with enough to give each family 500 baht, which is about $15.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t\u00a0much,\u00a0but it was\u00a0something. The medics carried enough medicine to treat patients they met along the way, and one ranger packed to stay for two weeks so he could keep us updated to any changes in the situation.<\/p>\n

The mission was\u00a0basic: to\u00a0be\u00a0with the people. I wish it could have been much longer. I wish we could have provided more material help. I wish I could have said more to the\u00a0IDPs and that\u00a0we could have put on a big GLC program to help\u00a0the kids laugh and sing and forget about their problems for a moment. We slept in the jungle with\u00a0security\u00a0right next to where the IDPs were hiding. We could hear a heavy machine gun firing\u00a0in the middle of the night, but thankfully\u00a0no mortars fell.<\/p>\n

\"Karen
Karen IDPs fleeing with what they could carry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We spoke to the 51 households that fled. We told them we were reporting\u00a0on their plight, we were sending help, and that what the Burma Army was doing is wrong. We treated a few serious patients. We gave some money to an old grandpa and grandma who had both had strokes.\u00a0The man\u00a0began crying when we gave him the $15. We traveled with some other Karen leaders who encouraged the IDPs as well. We prayed with all our faith that the Burma Army would stop and these people could all go home and start their rice crops for the year. We shook hands and then we travelled the 50 miles again back to FBR\u2019s camp. It was a good mission. People were encouraged. They were all smiles after seeing us. Even though all we had to offer was a few words, hours, and dollars, it was enough and the people were grateful for it.<\/p>\n

There are always reasons that I can talk myself out of doing something. I might think a\u00a0project\u00a0might not\u00a0get finished, I\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0have enough to offer,\u00a0or that\u00a0I have already done all that I can.\u00a0But, if I was an IDP in that situation, if my wife and kids were\u00a0sleeping\u00a0in the dirt and hiding in the jungle from\u00a0Burma Army mortars and machine gun rounds, I would want someone to come and let me know that I am not forgotten.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t join FBR to build tables and doors. I can let myself get too focused on what I am doing that\u00a0I\u00a0don\u2019t want to drop everything and completely change direction and plans and schedules. But I am a Ranger. We are Rangers. And we go where the need is the greatest.<\/p>\n

God Bless You,<\/p>\n

Jesse<\/p>\n

\"School
School continues in the jungle by using a fallen tree as a chalkboard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Using
Using the tree for math<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An
An IDP family in the jungle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Some
Some of the new Karen IDPs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"IDP
IDP living space in the jungle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"IDP
IDP living spaces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A Karen grandmother who suffered from a stroke and can no longer sit up or stand sleeps on the jungle floor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A mother with her children after fleeing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n