Last year I was lucky enough to be involved in the founding of a new partner school, the Health and Earth Rights Training Center(HEART) in Mae Sot, Thailand. HEART is the brainchild of the inspiring Dr Cynthia Maung founder of the acclaimed Mae Tao Clinic, and ERI’s executive director Ka Hsaw Wa. Together they set out to combine issues of earth rights and health, recognizing the devastating health impacts that environmental and human rights abuses can have on local populations.
Situated on the Thai-Burma border, for decades Mae Sot has provided sanctuary for refugees and migrants escaping the terrors of civil war and government oppression in neighboring Burma. Here communities have waited for years, scraping together a transient existence, as conflict continues across the border. Meanwhile their homelands are ravaged by fighting and a paucity of resources, resulting in rampant environmental destruction.
HEART is not only a school, it is also a place to explore new possibilities for addressing health and earth rights challenges. It is also a family, and over the twelve months since its founding it has become deeply enmeshed in the lives and activities of the local community in Mae Sot.
One of my favorite parts of my work is spending time at the school. Located on the outskirts of town, it’s a peaceful place - frogs jump and croak in the surrounding rice paddies, bicycles creak over dirt paths and students play barefoot football under a pink sky and the soft hint of surrounding mountains. They study by day (and sometimes by night) in an open air classroom. There are the occasional puppies and chickens underfoot, and in rainy season the odd gust of rain might find its way inside.
Outside the HEART school
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