New on Sebadaf’s blog : the first English message !

As I promised, I write on my blog in English! I give you my feeling after 3 weeks in Burma…

 

My English level is a little bit better day after day. My colleagues accent is generally bad, so it's easier for me to speak without any complexes! I'm working both with Burmese and French people, but also with English men. That's really fun!

 

I'm discovering what can be the life under a strict power. It's really strange to see how it's possible to forget the context when you're living in the better area of the city: "Golden Valley". In this former capital, you don't see a lot of policemen or militaries. It's the opposite with New York & Paris! But the pressure is terrible because not visible from outside. I don't want to go further and to give to many details from here because we know that emails are under control. I don't care too much about that because the risk for me is not big (I'm a foreigner and I'm here only for few weeks) but I've already seen that the access to my blog is denied from here!

The censure is really strong. It's the first time I see something like that… At the beginning, I thought newspaper never speak about many subject (as Nargis Cyclone for example). But in realty, it's worth! They're speaking a lot about that but with a modified version: NGO can access to the field, everything is under control, emergency step is finished, now it's already time for early recovery activities… It's exactly the realty! But people here are not stupid: they have information from other ways with satellite TV (witch is not censured because it's impossible!).

 

However, I have to recognize that once I've explained that, the description is not finished at all. Situation is more complex in this country. But it's really hard to understand what's happened because of the lake of information.

In our country, the main issue comes from our Medias who schematize the situation. And our governments decided to take strong measures against Burmese's power, but in fact the impact is for the lower social classes.

So, you understand how the situation is not easy in this poor country (poor despite natural wealth as gas, wood, jade, paddy fields…)

 

In a couple of weeks I'll be in Dhaka (Bangladesh). I already know that this Muslim country is also very poor with a lot of corruption and under the power of a very strong regime. The city seems to be huge (more than 12 millions of people), polluted, noisy, malodorous and with a big rate of poverty…

 

Hopefully my NGO offer good living conditions in order to propose a bearable situation…

 

You understand that this "picture" of the situation is incomplete and totally subjective. Of course it's very hard to understand a country, a population, a culture, and political stakes, economic issues… only in few weeks! It's why I choose to work during 1 year in Bangladesh. I'll see what's happened… ;-)

To be continued…