Tri-Semester Finals, dun-Dun-DUNh!12 page reflection paper
30 page group paper
2 presentations of research
1 test.
All of us interns hide behind our computers and try not to look up. It was never this difficult in the Africa Program. The students have been working-working-working and the time has come for the house to breathe sighs of relief and transition for the next part of their journey. These two classes have been academically intensive for masters programs, let alone undergrad, and it's been phenomenal watching these girls pump this academic work out in four weeks (their course reader for Exclu. & Expl.--not including their textbooks for the course--is over 1,500 pages of human rights reports, country profiles, and ethnic research). In the beginning even Julia threw looks of concern...Christa, are you crazy? Four weeks. Do you know there's only FOUR weeks? But they have gone above and beyond. Uganda & Rwanda programs, cower in shame.
This weekend all of the students, two interns, and "mom" stuffed into Ajran Marting's scalding trunk bed and rode 15 minutes away to a tiny retreat so the students could have a peaceful environment to have their finals. The interns are only one half because the other two are out gallivanting around VIETNAM (ahem, google image one of their destinations: Halong Bay) for a few more days and won't be back until Wednesday. I don't want to talk about it.
No, no, I love them dearly; it is my wanderlust jealousy which overcomes me. Contender for the 7th wonder of the natural world? Have you seen those Google images? Just......lemmie get some air.
Day one: 6 hours in class for History, Religion and Society of the Mekong Region.
Day two: 2 and 1/2 hours for Exclusion and Exploitation presentations.
Their command of their topic was excellent. Their setup alone looked like Masters Thesis defence. Minus Kiersten's snarley face in photography below. It was only Christa, Anna, Julia and I in the audience but there was a row of chairs in front of us to be a buffer for potential facial criticisms.
Summary: The partnership of national governments and foreign economic powers creates an environment for exploitation of minority peoples. They looked at a couple of instances of land confiscation and ethnic tourism. They conjectured that perhaps this is a new face of colonialism in Southeast Asia, but not in the traditional sense. Because corrupt governments of Cambodia and Laos take the money, the ideas, and environmentally destructive projects of the World Bank without speculation, without concern for their citizens (especially minority hill tribe people), all of their resources and income pay off Western loans/interests and exploit their people for GDP (trekking companies, dam projects, etc).This reality doesn't allow development to reach the people who need it. In Cambodia's case, most resources don't reach 90% of the people because that ninety-percent still live in what would be considered "Third World" poverty. Cat's part on ethnic tourism in Thailand and Laos was so fascinating--a good sociological expose, to make even the likes of Amy Brainer proud. I learned so much about Bubble tourism, Ethnic tourism and the social psychological detriments of hosting people who can afford to be in "tropical paradise". She should do her dissertation on tourism in the Mekong region. Invisible Children and Acting on AIDS has opened up many opportunities for the Church to be involved in responsible, transformational activism. What could the global church do to bring awareness of the treatment of Hmong in Laos and the Karren in Burma? Could they? Should they?
Classes over, questions asked, tropical fruit consumed, we did something we haven't been able to all do these four weeks.
Resort guests took pictures of our American shrieking jolliness and I took a picture with one of the resort staff to remember the first black person she'd ever seen. She kept on staring intently and her smile stretching from ear to ear, she pointed me out specifically. Photo. She was so awesome, I didn't mind. The girls have one day of glorious down time and Monday will be on their way to their three-week practicum for the 2nd third of the semester.Beth: Mekong Minority Foundation, General Internship, Chiang Rai, TH
Bianca: Sustainable Agriculture, Systems Research Intern, Chiang Rai, TH
Cat: Bi-vocational Laotian School, Advertising Intern, Laos
Kiersten & Nikki: Garden of Hope, Street Children Research Interns, Chiang Mai, TH
The boys will be home on Wednesday.
I have a Lahu research community visit on Thursday.
And much of my work lays before me.
The P.S.
Dear Passion fruit,The thing is, I'm in love you. I should have made it official much sooner, we have history in Uganda, but you are my favorite of the fruit variety. I don't mean to be effusive. I just think you make the best juice ever.
2 post-its:
You always have so going on! Thanks for catching us all up to speed. Two questions: when you say "In Cambodia, most resources don't reach 90% of the people," do you mean the government is not providing a mechanism to distribute the government's internal revenue to its people, or that foreign aid and investment are used for special interests of the officials rather than public good, or that there's extreme economic stratification? 2) How could the Church responsibly intervene on behalf of the hill tribes?
Great question. Many officials distribute foreign aid and national income for the special interests of elite officials which results in stratification: the government and the people (which would still qualify in Marxian thought as two classes).
How could the church get involved is an wonderful thing I'd like us all to think about. It was largely Joseph Koni's ineptitude and the people's disillusion with the conflict that made the conflict/child soldiers fizzle but Invisible Children did help by making an awareness on the other side of the world--an awareness and non-governmental intervention. And Frankly--what's happening to the Hmong people in Laos is even worse. It's the worst thing I've ever seen actually. And I'm sure a proper media campaign can get college students just as riled up to hit Capital Hill.
Lack of knowledge is not the problem--the UN is fully aware of what's happening--but that's the thing with governments and supranational agencies. The UN and the ICC are only their member nations. Burma isn't recognized, Vietnam denies all claims, and Laos says all its money is going toward developmental endeavors. Nothing can be done unless (yes, its true) China starts condemning them. But China is the big political dog in the region. By pointing out the mistreatment of hill tribes in other nations, it would have to recognize its own.
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