michael's blogedy blog: November 2012

Saturday, 17 November 2012

Mae Sot is a fairly sleepy town with no tourists which is great, there are colourful markets, eating on the street quite a bit, food is yummy, local beer good too. beautiful mountainous countryside so been on some very sweaty bike rides to temples (no more temples) and waterfalls. found a yoga teacher, she's not impressed with my posture and crumpled back, keeps shouting chest out and thrusting me into the correct posture, and after an hours massage is a fiver ! much better idea.
staying at a beautiful guest house in a little traditional thai house surrounded by bamboo trees and very noisey cicadas ! typing away with creatures walking across the screen here. there are heaps of NGO s working in Mae Sot or at the refugee camps so a great crowd at the guest house, enjoying talking to the europeans, not sure about the americans, why are americans (except Kristin) so loud and annoying ?
there's a huge black market trade across the border with Burma so some very colourful characters around town !
The organisation I am working for has been here for 27 years, a French doctor set it up, he's a professor now and a world expert in malaria, a few of the doctors have been here for about twenty years, amazing people, very inspiring and they are all quirky and funny and friendly. There is heaps of research going on so heaps of people back at the ranch in town, they are a very social crowd, been hanging out, and found a drinking and pogostick dancing buddy, harriet ! We go to 5 refugee camps along the border, they've done an amazing job at reducing the level of malaria and improving general health care, another big role is providing antenatal/maternity services, so healthier babies are born and women are much healthier through their pregnancies and have the option to give birth with a midwife or a doctor in a delivery suite (must put a photo of the delivery suite on here, just like home !). there are 8 younger doctors who go to the camps, 5 burmese - one goes to each camp and 3 western doctors. I work at Maela refugee camp with a lovely Dutch doctor called margreet, she's amazing and is teaching me heaps, she's here with her husband who works with a NGO involved in education, and her one year old, have been baby sitting, ah
I love the refugee camp, the burmese people are so gentle and kind and genuine and happy and so grateful. there is a mixture of ethnic groups so have been learning a few words of burmese and karen, and getting very confused and the trying to speak thai badly back in town too ! so using a complete jumble of the 3 local languages, cockney, french and lots of sign language and grinning inanely ! The organisation train the burmese people from the camp to become medics and nurses, I have been asked to get involved in teaching, having heaps of fun with the staff, introducing the idea of patient centred medicine ! may be a few more years before that's needed, and they are setting up assessment and qualifications, i suggested a reflective learning log ! oh no the poor staff are having that introduced. the staff are great, they have impossible names to remember, they bring their families to meet me. Have been down to the market a couple of times, have to be escorted, love having a body guard, was expecting to find a couple of bananas and a packet of chic peas but there is absolutely everything from Christmas trees and tinsel to smart phones ! the burmese living in Maela refugee camp tend to have big families and some cannot afford to feed them, seeing some malnourished children, often they are the sixth or seventh child and the family can only afford rice so i keep offering to adopt !
would really like to spend a weekend in the camp, need to get permission, would love to go to the temple or to a football match with the staff.
enjoying my time here, it's fab. they need more volunteers so if anyone wants to join in let me know
xxxx