March 06’ Trip to the Border; 3/4

Peggy and I spent the day at Mae La camp with Moe Moe and most of the 40 orphans and the 35 "borders" whose parents are still inside Burma. BBP, through the generosity of Kim and Mark Smith, supports both the orphanage and boarding house. Today was the end of the school year for most of the students. We arrived in the middle of their celebratory competition in which groups of children and individuals sang, enacted words they were given by the moderator and in one case, did a series of flips reminiscent of Jackie Chan. The wonder, of course, is how an orphaned child from one of the most repressive situations on the planet could have the desire to perform, let alone do so with joy and enthusiasm. However, smiles and laughter were the currency of the day.

The made for TV movie part of the day was the top student, who had a significant history of stealing before arriving at the orphanage, saying in his "thank you" speech to Peggy and me that it was when we visited when he was first in the orphanage and saw a few other students talking with us because they'd learned some English, that he decided to apply himself so he could so the same thing some day. He's obviously bright, has had wonderful care under the direction of Moe Moe and the Karen Women's Organization over the past several years and here he is.

Moe Moe is on fire as she spear heads her vision of a Buddha dharma center which is being constructed on land near her house. She reported that most of the Karen are Buddhist, but because of their significantly disrupted lives, have not had much opportunity to learn about their religion, a fact of which many are ashamed. We visited the center which is under construction and her mentor who is a peaceful, cigar smoking man of about 50, who makes his own instruments to preserve Karen culture and has constructed an impressive altar in his house. They will take this project "step by step".

Humbling, awe-inspiring... You make the call.