Mae Sai, Thailand

So after four flights, three (long!) layovers and a one hour bus ride, I made it to Mae Sai, finally! The town of Mae Sai is the northernmost city in Thailand, on the border of Burma. But, saying it's on the border of Burma really doesn't convey how close it is to Burma. Just a small river separates the two countries, and most of the town lies right on that river. I can see Burma from my hotel window and I walk past the border crossing on the way to the internet cafe. I still can't get over how so little separates the two countries. People even desperately swim across the river to Thailand in order to enter Mae Sai. Because of that, there are road blocks set up outside of Mae Sai to check the immigration status of all who want to leave the Mae Sai area. Also, I'm starting to realize how much Mae Sai's economy depends on the Burmese who cross the border (legally or illegally) everyday. For example, the street that my hotel is on contains a large, bustling market. However, by five o'clock in the evening, the market is absolutely dead. This is because the border closes at 5:30 and the workers all need to return to their homes by this time. Also, most (if not all) of the beggars in Mae Sai are Burmese who cross the border just for the day. In addition, goods are brought back and forth the border to sell at the markets. National borders always look so important marked by a big fat line on a world map, but in reality they are porous and can be almost irrelevant; people use them and live around them as though they do not hardly exist.

Now that I've said a bit about the town where I am living and working, I'll tell you a bit about what I am doing and the organization I am working with. I am here as a professor's assistant. There are nineteen students from Northeastern University and five students from Rutgers University in New Jersey who are earning university credits for the work they are doing here in Mae Sai. In addition, there are twenty-three women from all over Southeast Asia including Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam who are in the beginning of a three year program called Mekong Youth Net. These women spend the first year of their program at DEPDC (the organization we are working at) studying Thai or English and learning about issues related to human trafficking and the prevention thereof. During the second year they will go back to their home countries to do an internship with their sponsoring organization and to conduct research on a project. During the third year, they will write a report based on their research and they will report back to DEPDC periodically to touch base with this organization. These women were chosen because they are extremely intelligent and driven. They will be the future leaders of their communities and will be able to carry DEPDC's mission to prevent human trafficking back to their communities.

So, what are all these American's doing here? Well, a professor at Rutgers University started an organization called Global PACT a few years back. The mission of that organization is to teach young people to combat problems in their own communities. The Global PACT training involves intense small group work where the students actually develop an organization that works to combat a real problem. Global PACT's training fits in perfectly with the Mekong Youth Net's mission, so the two organizations decided to do the Global PACT training together. This is a very brief description, and I'll be sure to talk more about the training in later posts.

There have been many hurdles and barriers in the training so far, but it has been very rewarding, also. More on the trials and joys later. I am happy and healthy and loving Thailand and all of the people I have met. Cheers.