I gave a talk to today on the ethnic groups of Burma. It felt so good to talk and then be surrounded by people with whom I could actually talk with about human rights and Burma. I’ve been totally deprived of that interaction in the entire time I’ve been involved with Burma issues. I’ve never even discussed the issues with Madoka. That’s a curiosity in itself. Madoka and I used to be able to talk about anything, but now the most obvious thing we’d discuss has never crossed our lips.
So I spent last night and most of today preparing for the talk and rehearsing what I was going to say. In the end, I talked without the script and just tried to let it flow. There were Burmese at the talk and one of the speakers was Burmese, Ko Ko Lay, who talked about his experiences in the 1988 military crackdown and his time on the border and then getting to the U.S.. There was also a Karen woman there, and that was exciting since my talk was on the ethnic groups. I exchanged information with some people and I hope to stay in contact with them.
