FROM ROMANIA WITH LOVE

[ By Tayza Thuria ]

                                            Her name is Raluca Enescu (Dreamy Girl), a 15 years old High School Student in National College "Spiru Haret" of Bucharest. Many Burmese democracy activists on the internet know her well as she is currently an active member in many Burmese democracy listserves.
                                            About a few months ago she joined our democracy for burma group, and sent a message requesting us to help her in her history project about Burma's democratic struggle. To say the truth honestly, with apologies to Raluca, I didn't take it seriously at that time. But fortunately for her, there are many people in Burmese internet community who are much kinder than me.
                                           And clever as she was, she joined large listserves like NLDsupporters......_ how she find the largest Burmese listserve, I don't know. But, anyway, she got the help she wanted. With the help of some Burmese activists, she made a very comprehensive document on 'the lived history of Burma's democracy movement, from 1988 till now'. It's very thorough and complete document presented in an interesting style_ the fact that it was written by a young Romanian high school girl with a good will towards Burma's democratic struggle makes it more wonderful!
                                          While she was preparing that history project, she was also given a geographical task. And there she
found out about the potential adverse effects of Tasang Dam on Salween River on the environment in Shan State of Burma, and also about SPDC's notorious practices of forced labour.
                                          She presented all those facts to her geography teacher and her teacher told her that what she had
prepared looked more like a petition against Tasang-Dam rather than a geography project. Then the good-natured teacher adviced Raluca to made a real petition against Tasang-Dam. So the teacher and student together wrote a proper petition.
                                          The next step is to get the approval from their Headmaster_ he gave the approval on condition that the geography teacher must be the first person to sign the petition. So they launched their petition_........!
                                          Raluca and her teacher went from class-rooms to class-rooms, lecture-halls to lecture-halls to tell other romanian students about Burma's human rights struggle, about Tasang_dam, about forced labour and environmental deterioration under SPCD rule, etc.
                                          It was not a very smooth and easy campaign; she told me that sometimes she was asked why should Romanian students care about a Dam in a place thousands of miles away from Bucharest. And sometimes mischievous students signed the petition with names like Spider-man, Saddam Husein,etc. To make things more difficult for her, sometimes her teacher too busy to accompany her in the signature collection campaigns and debates in other classes and other schol. But Raluca fought on_ for human rights, labour rights and environmental conservation in BURMA!
                                         Just a few days ago, after she has got about 400 signatures, she and her teacher has sent the petition
to United Nations Environmental Agency. But the petition is still open, if you want to sign it, please contact her at
ralukutza_dreamygirl@yahoo.fr or "Raluca Enescu-Aleea Callatis nr. 2, bloc D2, scara E, et. 3, ap. 47, sector 6, Bucharest,
Romania, postal code 061923".
.
                                         As it is, Raluca and her teacher are not the only people petitioning against Tasang_Dam, in fact, they
are the 70th petition group. Here's a list of the other 69 groups against Tasang Dam.

                        69 organizations from Thai and Burma against Tasang Dam :
                              Asian Forum For Human Rights and Development
                                        Assembly of The Poors
                                       Friends Without Borders
                           MAP Foundation for Heath and Knowledge of ethnic labour
                               Thai Action Commitee For Democracy in Burma
                                      Thai Research Burma Issue
                                     Southeast Asia Rivers Network
                                     Students Federation of Thailand
                           The Committee of Natural and Environmental Conservation
                                        Wildlife Fund Thailand
                                      All Burma Students' League
                                           Altsean Burma
                                 All Arakan Students' and Youth Congress
                                  All Burmese Students' Democratic Front
                                   All Kachin Students and Youth Union
                                    Anti-Salween Dam Network Group
                                        Arakan Liberation Party
                             Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)
                                       Burma Lawyers' Council
                                   Democratic Party for a New Society
                           Ethnic Cooperation on Human Rights and the Environment
                                    Human Rights Documentation Unit
                                   Human Rights Foundation of Monland
                                    Images Asia - Environment Desk
                              Justice of Human Rights for Burma (Japan Chapter)
                               Karen Environmental and Social Action Network
                                    Karen Nature Conservation Group
                                     Karen Student Network Group
                                       Karen Youth Organisation
                                          Karenni Evergreen
                                        Karenni Farmers' Union
                                  Karenni Human Rights Education Team
                                    Karenni Information Network Group
                                      Karenni Literacy Committee
                                   Karenni National Youth Organisation
                                       Karenni Parliament Union
                                    Karenni Social Welfare Committee
                                       Karenni Students' Union
                                       Karenni Teachers' Union
                                  Karenni National Women's Organisation
                                  Lahu National Development Organisation
                                    Mon Women's Rights Organisation
                                   Mon Youth Progressive Organisation
                               National League for Democracy (Liberated Area)
                       National Council of the Union of Burma (comprising 37 organisations)
                          National Democratic Front (comprising 9 ethnic organisations)
                                 Network for Democracy and Development
                                     Palaung Youth Network Group
                                       Pa-O Youth Organisation
                                       People's Liberation Front
                                          Salween Watch
                                        Shan Democratic Union
                                       Shan State Organisation
                                      Shan Youth Network Group
                                     Shan Youth Power Media Group
                                  Students' and Youth Congress of Burma
                                    Tai Literature and Culture Society
                           United Nationalities League for Democracy (Liberated Area)
                                       Wa National Organisation
                            Women's League of Burma, comprising 11 organisations:
                             All Burma Democratic Lushai Women's Organisation
                                       Burmese Women's Union
                                      Chin Women's Organisation
                                 Kachin Women's Association of Thailand
                                      Karen Women's Organisation
                                      Lahu Women's Organisation
                                        Pa-O Women's Union
                                       Rakhine Women's Union
                                     Shan Women's Action Network
                                       Tavoyan Women's Union
                              Women's Rights and Welfare Association of Burma

* [ The Salween Dams will destroy one of the richest river ecosystems in Southeast Asia and the world, with a wealth of
biodiversity. The impacts will be felt not only by the peoples living along the river and its tributaries, but by the entire population of the region. They will further worsen the environmental crisis in the region, including climate change. The flooding will divide the forests on Thailand’s western border, which are the richest forest areas in Southeast Asia.
The Salween Dams are large-scale projects which will have major impacts on communities in the area. Whether the dams are built in Shan State or on the Thai-Burma border, they will involve human rights violations. Up until now, Thai politicians, EGAT and private companies have claimed that the Salween River Basin is not populated, or only has minority groups living there, but in fact over 10 million people of 13 different ethnicities are living in the Salween Basin, and relying on the natural resources in the area. There is rich social and cultural diversity among these people. Their human rights must be respected.

* You can search Burma Digest article archives with Google