Mae Tao Clinic - 23 March '06
We have almost finished our second last week here at the clinic and to be honest I have mixed feelings about leaving. I have met some great people here and it will be sad to say goodbye to everyone. When Damien and I first arrived I remember wondering how I was going to fill my days but now its more a case of what i can fit in before I run out of time.
On Monday we visited Mae La migrant/refugee/displaced persons camp! Its one of the biggest in Thailand with about 45,000 residents. The camp has been running for about 20yrs however its still classified as 'temporary' by the Thai government. It was spectacular to see, and not what I had imagined. Things were suprisingly comfortable which was great. There was permanent schools, medical clinics and churches set up for everyone to access. From what we saw most people had their own bamboo homes with access to drinking water and toilets. I was pleased that whilst these people dont have freedom to travel in and out they at least had what looked like a safe and happy home life.
Visiting Mae La gave me better insight into the lives the medics lead and the families they have come from. A lot of the medics we work with go home to the camp to visit family members - its about 1 hour, 20mins from the clinic. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to take a few of the medics home with me for a holiday and show them what its like where I live. I think that the basic things in daily life here are the same, people eat sleep work play and have a social life. The biggest differences though are freedom and finances. These differences were hard to come to terms with because they are so limiting in this place.
Anyway before i get to heavy... I just thought it was high time I updated my blog spot and said hello to everyone. Just one week left before we head off and im getting sentimental!
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