If I explained how I became a political organizer, I would have to tell you my whole life story. Ever since 1988, I feel like the military regime took me, put me in a pot, and has been shaking me around.
– Kyaw Zwar, Narrator
Dear Voice of Witness Readers,
Political prisoner. Refugee. Child soldier. Trafficked woman. It’s hard to understand Burma’s human rights crisis when entire lives are reduced to labels and sound bites. Whether it was in a makeshift refugee camp hidden in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur or a bustling Starbucks in Bangkok, the people from Burma who’ve told us their entire life stories remind us that Burma isn’t a country of human rights abuses - it’s a country of people.
It’s not every day that you have the privilege of listening to someone’s life story. You can read the short quotes we’ve put here for you, but we want you to see that they only scratch the surface as an introduction to the narrators. In our book you will meet Hla Min, who was a child soldier for six years. Hla Min deserted the army when he was ordered to shoot monks during the 2007 Saffron Revolution; he now works as a tobacco farmer in Bangladesh. In his free time, Hla Min studies human rights.
“I have had no contact with my family since the army took me. I don’t remember a lot from when I was young. I may not even be able to remember or recognize my family. My parents were workers and we were a poor family in Rangoon. I remember this. I remember that when I went to school for the first time, my family was really happy. I went to school until I was nine, when they took me for the army. In the army, I never got to study. I was only taught about guns.”
At Kutupalong Makeshift Camp, Bangladesh
2010 marks an important year in Burma — the military regime will hold elections for the first time in twenty years in an attempt to legitimize their power. With the continued detention of almost 2,200 political prisoners and ongoing attacks on ethnic communities, it is crucial that the voices of Burma’s people are heard.
The upcoming Voice of Witness book, Nowhere to Be Home: Narratives from Survivors of Burma’s Military Regime, will delve into the diverse lives of people who have lived under Burma’s repressive regime. It is our heartfelt belief that this book will be a valuable tool for seasoned activists, policy makers, and academics as well as those learning about Burma for the first time.
We hope that you will help us complete this important work. Click here to support Voice of Witness with a donation today.
M. Lemere and Z. West
Help Voice of Witness raise $2500 by May 31st to support this important book! Donate today.
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