Journeys on the Edge

The name of Aung San Suu Kyi will be familiar to many people. The inspirational political leader of Burma (now Myanmar), upholder of democracy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her brave resistance to military rule. Followed by a sense of disillusionment when she appeared to condone military crimes against the Rohingya in 2018. But the complexities of the history of that troubled country, the role of the British after World War 2, and the ongoing refugee crisis, are less known over here. So when my daughter Karen declared in 2010 that she was going to Thailand to work as a language teacher in refugee camps along the Thai border I had to do some rapid learning. I found that Burma had a multitude of ethnic groups, all of them wanting more recognition, land rights and a degree of autonomy from the centralised government ruled over by the military after a failed attempt at democracy in the 1950's. One of these groups was the Karen (emphasis on second syllable) whose villages had suffered repeated attacks from the army, leading to a major refugee crisis. Thailand had set up very basic camps along the border, with minimal facilities. My daughter was a trained English teacher and she made contact with Bob Anderson, who was launching a project to support the small schools that had sprung up in the camps. One problem was that the local teachers, largely untrained, only had experience of "talk and tell” as a teaching method. The goal of the project was to work with the teachers to support other approaches, to unlock their imagination and to encourage creativity and initiative. And to help them gain internationally recognised teaching qualifications. Karen remained with the project for about four years. Now Bob Anderson has written an enthralling account of the whole story, how he came to develop an interest in the people of Burma, how he started the project, and how it has developed over the years. The organisation is called MEP (Mobile Education Partnerships) and the book is called "Journeys on the Edge”. It describes an adventure on many levels. It includes dangerous treks through remote mountainous passes and complicated negotiations with insurgent groups and Thai officials. It has a cast of extraordinary characters, including a young Thai nurse who gave him medical treatment when he was seriously ill ("She was carrying a pink-and-blue backpack in the shape of a bear”) and a Karen elder who was a fan of Agatha Christie. One of the schools was called Sky Blue. It was literally built on a refuse dump, where the parents of the children scavenged for a paltry livelihood. The descriptions of the lives of those directly involved, the migrants, the refugees, the armed resistance, the villagers and the volunteers are vividly painted. The book is not about victims or aid in the traditional sense. It is about individual encounters between people of vastly different backgrounds, and finding a common language, the language of listening with an open heart and deep respect. The book also contains historical background to help understand the roots of the conflicts that have given rise to so much suffering in the region. And it helps us understand how the Buddhist faith of so many of the displaced people informs their world-view and way of life. MEP continues its work. It has projects with refugees and marginalised communities on the Thai/Myanmar border, as well as teacher training programmes in Myanmar and Thailand. Bob Anderson writes "Although MEP is a charitable company, it feels more like a family. It is built on relationships forged in a shared endeavour during a period of great change and turmoil in a country.” This book gives a vivid window into this extraordinary story.

It was February.01.202, when tanks appeared on the streets of Burmese cities and the people of Burma are once again involved in a seemingly endless struggle for justice and democracy waged against a brutal military regime. Journeys on the Edge shows the growth of Mobile Education Partnerships, an educational charity built from scratch by teachers, which became an international award-winning organisation. It is, an adventure on many levels, physical, emotional and spiritual. MEP works with communities ‘on the edge' many displaced by war, poverty and oppression inside Burma (aka Myanmar) and on the Thai/Burma border. It is important to note that this is not sentimental presentation of ‘victimhood' but a very candid, sympathetic and human exploration of how an organisation was built in these challenging circumstances. Neither is it a handbook on how to build a charity but it does offer a ground- level guide to anyone who wishes to go down that road. Journeys on the Edge is a story which provides a fascinating insight into this tragic, violent and at times bizarre world drawing on the lives of those directly involved, the volunteers, the refugees, the migrants, the warlords and those of us searching for something to believe in, in a world where the truth is elusive and the central message of Shakespeare, that nothing is as it appears to be, serves as a warning to all. I give Journeys on the Edge five out of five stars! Happy Reading!