so im afraid i won't really be able to give this subject justice, one, im kinda tired, two, its been a long day, and three it was a lot of information to take in.
we had the chance to visit an organization focused soley on support to political prisoners in their homeland. the people running the organization were prisoners themselves. they were also some of the most beautiful people ive ever met. the kind where the inside just radiates through to the outside.
the organization focuses on 3 main goals:
1. providing assistance to familys of prisoners so that they can visit them bc the visits from the world outside of prison are crucial in a prisoner's resistance to what happens in prison.
2. support for the children of prisoners, helping them go to school and pay for other necessities
3. drawing international attention to the issue
international pressure does make a difference! that has been true in north korea's situation as well as the witness of these prisoners. the pressure of the international community pushes these regimes to allow groups to come in and check out the situation. which lessens the burdens of the prisoners at times.
this organization knows of every single political prisoner in burma -- there ar 2,076 of them. they have them categorized by gender, age and occupation -- well monks. they know who is sick and what is happening. it was unbelievable.
on top of that they have pictures of the majority of the prisoners. and they even have created a model prison cell for people to see and understand better the situation.
and with the funding they have they are able to provide support to half of the political prisoners in burma! amazing!
there is so muc more to say about this organization and the situation! it will return, especially in accordance with the book i finished reading, The Heart Must Break.
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So, after this meeting has your point of view changed on whether or not being arrested can make a change in the regime?
this is a good question. in relation to my earlier post about james, the brit who went to jail to make a change, well i dont know how foreigners fit into this equation.
but in terms of natives being arrested for their work. i think there is a difference between that being your goal and it being a side effect of your actions.
both the people we talked to said that they do not want to go to jail again. but at the same time, the man reiterated that in jail he made the closest friends he has ever had. and because of their experiences they are working for political prisoners - taking care of them, raising support for them and advocating for change. nothing better than experience to make you act.
another thing i have recently learned is that sometimes peaceful protests are turned violent by the opposing team. for example there was a peaceful march done by monks -- monks mind you -- and the government hired some people to dress up like monks and start destroying things. then at that point the government/army has a reason to step in and put down the protest with violence. so even if you are trying to do things right, someone can screw it up.
they talked about one man in burma who is dedicated to working in burma by getting petitions signed and organizing peaceful protests. he faces jail all the time, but he has told the government he will not stop.
so maybe jail is for some people. some people have to be on the outside working for those in and some people have to be in causing a raucuous. (spelling?) i think the bigger issue is that regardless of what role you wish to take, you must not fear imprisonment because that is one of the biggest strongholds the government has over you.
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