ELL: Akha Journal:Maesai War Feb 18,2001

[Matthew McDaniel]

Dear Friends:

We have a small drawn out war here in Maesai, Thailand.  Maesai was hit
with numerous mortars and the border closed and the Thais shelled
several Burmese outposts.

I have a short video for you but both Akha.org and Akha.com are down for
the moment.

Burmese feuding with the Shans has made spillover likely along long
stretches of the Thai border, mostly occupied with the Akha villages I
work with, so the villages have lots of army in them, trucks, tanks,
mortars dug in and armoured personell carriers.

This is adding stress on the already impoverished Akha, as well, many
can not go to the fields.  Of course it is the  uncertainty about how
much this may escalate that is bothering most of the villages.

People are concerned that it might be used as just one more reason to
press for village relocation, etc.

I was down in Lampang seeing villages there when Maesai flared up, but
am in and out of town now.

I am nearly complete with the building of the village circuits, with
over 250 villages on the route now and will be breaking this up into
route segments so that I get to all the villages.

But I am needing much more of your support for fuel, first aid meds, and
wells.

I do quite a lot here on nothing much, of hundreds of people who get
this newsletter less than 12 donate regularly.

That adds up to $200 per month that I can sort of depend on.

Not much.  For everything that has to get done.

The  press was coming to the building, then the owner got busy and
changed his mind, so we still need to just get that paid off and moved.
Nearly $900 remaining on that.

The fish well is down to the water level and soon as I get a break I
will take five days and finish it.  The pumps are purchased for the
well.  It is quite wide, nearly twenty feet, and will go down sixty five
feet time we are done.  It will supply water for the fish tanks, up to
twenty sets, and will also supply water for the host village vegetable
gardens since they own no other land except what is next to their huts.

If you can help with this project, please donate.  If you have doubts,
then please come over and ride along and see what this is all about.

Matthew
Maesai, Chiangrai, Thailand

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