Tag: Burma

Souls from Southeast Asia – Pee Sai

theycallmedameLeave a comment


His name is Pee Sai.
He is 23-years-old.
He is my friend.

Pee Sai speaks very little English, and I speak absolutely no Burmese, but the language barrier is not detrimental towards our friendship.  I don’t need to speak his language to know that Pee Sai is hilarious, kind, and worrysome.  He does not need to speak my language to know how well we get along.

When I first met Pee Sai, I had just crossed the Burmese-Thai border after sitting between the two countries in horrendous heat for an hour.  I was sweaty, irritated, and was suffering from one of my headaches; he was shy, not speaking to anyone as we found our way to the bus that would take us throughout Burma.

I officially met Pee Sai outside of a school in the Burmese mountains.  I was asked to grab my ukulele from the bus so our group could sing a song for the schoolchildren, and Pee Sai was asked to escort me.

“Hello, I am Pee Sai, what is your name?”
“Hi, I’m Aria!”

When I tried to converse further, I realized how those few words were some of the only English words Pee Sai knew.  After we discovered this hurdle, we communicated through outrageous gestures, silly faces, and universal sounds of approval, disapproval, annoyance, and happiness.

Pee Sai would seem to be, to most of anyone, a shy but friendly face; a man who has lived a relatively easy life and recognizes that.

Pee Sai has not lived such a life.Read More »

Burma VJ

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

Burma VJ is a 2008 Danish Documentary. It tells the story of a group of reporters in Burma, which is a closed country, who film the 2007 protests and smuggle the footage out of the country. Their footage was used by CNN, BBC, and other news stations to tell the rest of the world of the proceedings in Burma.

The film is narrated by one of the reporters, who is forced to leave the country and work form Thailand after being caught with his camera out and interrogated by the police. Throughout the movie, he references the 1988 revolution.

In 1988 the people of Burma rose up and protested the government. As a result of the uprising, 3,000 people were killed. The country spent 19 years in fear, too afraid to speak up.

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The World (as we know it) is Coming to an End [[Pt. 1]]

yrreskrapLeave a comment

It’s very hard not to get sad when thinking about the world and how horrible a place it can be. It’s very hard to remember the other lives that are being abused today, when my life is so easy. It’s very hard when you know you can’t fix these problems that plague society. It makes my blood boil.

Right now, people are living in fear. In fear of their government, in fear of their people, in fear of disease, in fear of something.

Burma, Southeast Asia, 2007.

Monks are holy and sacred figures, the symbols of peace and humanity in Burma. They are religious leaders who focus on the tranquility of life and don’t involve themselves in politics, that is, until the summer of 2007.

The political standing of Burma is corrupt, savage, and inhumane to put it lightly. The government, an organization of people meant to protect the welfare of their fellow Burmese, has caged their people and censored the news. Their goal was to disband people, to prevent civilians from joining together because two people are stronger than one, and 100 people are stronger than 10. Nobody speaks in fear of being taken by undercover government officials. Their voices aren’t heard. The people are mute. The people are afraid. The people are waiting for an answer, for a solution.

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