Nancy and Nori

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18247

April 10th, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Leave a comment

97 degrees Fahrenheit right now.  Heat index of 104. By 9pm it will not feel much cooler and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day will be the same. Again, I say ugh. I never thought I would look forward to going to Malawi to feel cooler!

….update.  I was just told that now it is 44 degrees Celsius - 111 degrees Fahrenheit. I sit and I sweat. My attention wanders. I daydream about siting in front of an air-conditioner on its highest setting  - instead of the fan next to me, which serves no function at this point really. The 20 minute bike ride home which I will make in a few minutes may be too unbearable.  I may have to stop at one of the few air conditioned coffee shops on the way home to break up the trip! Sadly though, my ultimate destination is an unbearably hot house with little circulation during the day and no air con.  Maybe I’ll wake up around 3am just to enjoy the small time frame of relative coolness that does exist from 3-5am in Mae Sot during this time of year. again I say ugh.

April 3rd, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Comments (2)

Match Day has come and gone.  Nori and I will be staying in NY!!! Hurray!!  Nori is now in Malawi for two months doing a hospital rotation in the town where he served in the Peace Corps and I will be joining him in May.  I am finishing up at Mae Tao Clinic and will soon begin transitioning the incoming BBP team into the Mae Sot community.  We have hired three amazing women to continue the mental health work that BBP has been doing on the border for over 10 years!  More updates soon….

March 28th, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Leave a comment

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15580824

March 3rd, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Leave a comment

A recent article on the displacement of Burmese, by Phil Thornton:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/33686/

March 3rd, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Leave a comment

http://backcountrybeacon.com/2010/02/brooklyn-boulders-an-nyc-climbing-hub/

Yep, that’s right.  The woman going for the far hold is me and the men planning their next route are Nori and Anthony.  :-)

I really miss BKB.

February 26th, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Leave a comment

Please view this short video on YouTube, In the video are many clips of Mae Tao Clinic which will give you a sense of where I work, what some of the major clinic issues are right now, and what I see everyday when I come to work at the Counseling Center. I continue to be amazed and impressed by all  that happens on the grounds of Mae Tao Clinic every day, by the dedication of the staff and volunteers, by the healing that occurs in every department, and by the inspiring presence and forward-thinking visions of Dr. Cynthia Maung. Please share this clip with others to raise awareness of Burma-related issues as well as the current needs of the MTC community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5as8vcSRFg

February 26th, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Leave a comment

The work week here is 6 days, yes 6 days.  It was initially a challenge for me, as I was previously enjoying a 4-day work week in Brooklyn, but over time i have found many ways to adjust to these long weeks.  One silent protest to Saturday work is having an occasional Friday night beer while watching an episode of some downloaded show.  Yes, I still wake up at 6:30 Saturday morning, but for that 30 minutes on Fridays, I like to imagine that I am winding down for the week and that I will be able to sleep in the next morning.  This ritual of mine was recently thwarted, however, when the worker at one of the many Mae Sot 7-11 stores refused to sell me my Archer beer. Yes, Archer - my budget is getting tight these days. She refused the sale in Thai, I expressed confusion in English and slightly nudged the beer closer to her register, she again kindly protested in Thai, and I again smiled and gave an affirming nod and held up my Baht for her to see. At this point, it was obvious to both of us that this conversation was getting nowhere. She smiled and pointed to an English sign behind her: “Selling of alcohol is from 11:00-14:00 and 17:00-23:00.” It was 4:55pm. No beer for me. So, I thought, had I come at lunch time, I could have purchased my beer, but I cannot buy it on the way home from a tiring day at work. I lowered my head, put my Baht in my pocket, put my ear buds in and resumed my listening to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, as I left the 7-11 empty-handed. Water and an episode of The Wire would have to do this Friday night.

I later learned that this break in alcohol sales is the compromised result of the Royal Queen’s efforts to reduce alcohol consumption in Thailand. Go Queen! I support this, but 11am and not 4:55pm, really? Ok, I’ll just go out at lunch time next time. That will be my compromise. Maybe I’ll even treat myself to Singha next week then.

February 19th, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Comments (1)

These are the words of a wise man who was responding to my concern that he is working so many hours and so many days without rest. This exchange occurred when we were deciding whether to hold an evening session for a mental health/self care training that I recently co-led to mobile medics who, on a daily basis, risk their lives in order to provide medical care to communities in remote jungle areas.  We agreed to have the session and for an hour that evening, the water was collected, in the form of learning yoga skills, enhancing coping skills, and learning to recognize stress in ourselves.  I feel, however, that here it is always raining.  There are always new skills to learn, more trainings to attend, more visitors to talk to, more collaboration to be done, more experts to consult, more information to gain, and more reports to read.  I suppose that is why this is a called a “movement” - forever moving, never resting.   But I do worry about what happens when our bodies and minds just can’t move anymore.   In the words of a dear friend, “I want to work, but my body won’t let me.”  That is what can happen.  But she will move.  She will push through. She will continue. She will keep the movement going. And she will inspire me to do the same.

February 9th, 2010 | Category: Nancy | Comments (2)