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I'm not sure if you guys have been keeping tabs on whats going on in the news. Aside from Britney Spear's meltdown (although I hate to admit, but I have been sucked into it as well), there are more pertinent things that have been overshadowed by such pop culture and voyeuristic "news." Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar) has undergone tremendous upheaval. A military run government, these violent protest are not new. With the uprising in 1988 (known as the 8888 uprising), thousands were killed in order for democracy to make an appearance. And an "appearance" is what occurred, specifically in the 1990 free elections where Aung San Suu Kyi had rightfully won by a landslide, but these votes were annulled by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Presently, this military junta still has its oppressive hold on the people.

I am not what you would call an activist, but this is a cause that feels quite personal. I traveled to Burma in May 2006 and although I was only there for one day (due to strict visa regulations), it is a place that has had the greatest impact in all my experience of travel. It is a place of contradictions. A beautiful landscape, yet a depressing situation. Corrupt yet filled with so many innocent victims. Rich in potential, poor in freedom. I remember stepping off the boat and being flooded with a hoard of people wanting to be our "tour guides." It was actually a shocking sight. About 85% of the people we met and saw were disfigured in some way. It is interesting that a country with such a strict government has come to have so many problems. Burma has one of th highest rates of drug smuggling, AIDS, Hepatitis, and babies born "on drugs" (i.e. their mothers were on drugs when they were in the womb). Two young boys decided to tour us around, one named Jon and the other I cant quite remember, but kept calling me "sistah..sistah." They were both about 16-18 years of age, yet like many of their peers were disfigured and malnourished. The one named Jon had a shrunken right arm, his hand was where his elbows should have been and it was the size of a small child's even though the rest of his body was fully grown. The other boy, had a face that seemed to be wrinkled and age (despite only being in his teens) and red stained teeth (from chewing betel leaves).

Going deeper into the town we came to meet a little girl She didn't smile, but only came to hold our hands. She clutched it as though she belonged with us. That she was ours and had always been

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