delhi:

-the rain got me via mini-floods the day i didn’t wear my rainboots

-that same day i slipped on the stairs at the BCD office and got myself some lovely bruises

-today was suddenly hot and my feet roasted in my rainboots, and my czech colleagues made fun of me all day

reena:

-i’ve mastered the back streets enough to know my way around and even say hi to the same locals i see every day

-i’ve not yet succumbed to delhi belly (knock wood)

but it’s not about me that i should be writing, rather the people i’ve met here. on tuesday we went to the mizzima news agency, one of whose founders is soe myint, who at one point in his ‘activist career’ hijacked a plane from thailand  to india, after having lived on the border as a member of the student army. he now runs mizzima, a burmese exile media agency, in new delhi. they do undercover reports with journalists inside burma, have a news website, and even do a weekly radio drama for soldiers in burma. our three czech journalists – honza, jaromir, and martin – are doing a mutual mentorship program at mizzima. they learn more about burma and how exile media works, and then share tips on their respective areas of reporting – tv, radio, and print/online.

the BCP team left the journalists at mizzima and went to a meeting with the ambassador at the czech embassy. the embassy used to be much bigger, but after the czech and slovak republics split, they basically cut the embassy in half. the ambassador recieved us and asked all about our program here in delhi, including both our microgrants (www.mikrogranty.cz) and the journalists’ mentorship. you may ask: what’s the connection between the czech republic and burma? why does BCP get funding from the czech ministry of foreign affairs? the czech republic has a program called “transitions” – the idea being that the CR went through the transition from totalitarianism to democracy and thus is able to help other countries do the same; burma is a priority country in this program. vaclav havel has also been a long supporter of the free burma movement, and was actually the one who nominated ASSK for the nobel peace prize she received.  we’re lucky to have the czech ambassador coming monday to open our media workshop at the press club of india.

the rest of the week has included visits to different groups that have received microgrants from BCP. these include several women’s unions that teach weaving and sewing so that women can earn a living, and also offer language classes for burmese children; two free medical clinics for refugees; two organizations printing news and literary magazines in ethnic languages, and a group selling burmese fast food as a means of making a living. having heard the stories of many refugees here, i understand why these projects are so important. burmese refugees may have to wait one or two years to get a refugee status determination interview, and while they are waiting they have no right to work, to get healthcare, or to security. while some refugees get jobs with local indian businesses, they are often exploited. it’s not safe for women to walk alone after dark, and some are widows that need to look after their children at home. so having the opportunity to work for a burmese ‘company’ (of course all in the informal economy) or to work from home is essential. To date so far in 2010, there have been 50 documented cases of violence against refugees, with many more going unreported as the police often do little when such cases are reported. one of the groups we visited provides emergency help to people who have been victims of violence, taking someone from an indian (not burmese) NGO with them to the police station to lodge a complaint, and providing funds for medical care at a hospital. the two medical clinics provide a tremendous service but of course lack funds for a sufficient amount of medicine and cannot be open every day of the week.

 all the people from these groups have been so grateful and extended truly heartfelt thanks for the funding they received, in particular those that received their first-ever grant from BCP, and were able to start up a project. it doesn’t really get any better than that.

Related Posts:

• a successful end to our trip
• last to the post
• Support Burmese Grassroots through Microgrants
• India 2.0
• A new home…

Through an application procedure we selected three Czech journalists who will accompany us in India to learn about Burma, the work of Burmese exile media and the living conditions of Burmese refugees, and to share their experiences with their Burmese colleagues. Among the many highly qualified applicants, we chose three who represent TV, radio, and Internet media. All of them have professional experience of working and traveling in Asia.

These journalists would not be journalists if we wouldn’t expect from them some later output about the things they have seen during their trip. But you won’t have to wait until their return if you want to know about what is going on in India. We are excited to announce here that you will be able to follow their steps through Delhi from day to day – even though, I admit, there might be one or another day missing.

These three journalists will be writing their own blogs during their time in India. If the blogs are not hosted here (which we will find out soon), we will every now and then reproduce snippets, add our comments, or summarize from our side.

So don’t forget to check back around September 19th on the following pages¹:

• Jan Novák’s blog (TV Prima)
• Jaromír Marek’s blog (Czech Radio)
• Martin Vlnas’ blog (Finmag)

We will keep you informed here at this central point.

Now that you know where their virtual homes will be during the last two weeks of September, we can also reveal their location in the real world. You might have guessed it after the last post: The journalists will be staying with the Mizzima News media outlet, based in New Delhi. They’ll be living and working in the quarters where Burmese refugees dwell, almost invisibly, among the poorer population of Delhi. So you can expect nothing less than real in-depth reports right from the scene.

For Monday the 27th we are planning a special event together with Indian journalists and, hopefully, diplomatic representatives.

Part of the Burma Center Prague team will accompany the journalists to Delhi, mainly in order to visit the recipients of the micro-projects that are one of our other activities. I am looking forward to seeing how these people and their projects are doing. Are you curious as well? If so, have a look at my own blog around September 19th where I will try to keep a diary about these visits – whenever I find time to write and a working Internet connection.

Related Posts:

• Support Health Care for Burmese in Delhi
• Vorbereitungen für Indien
• Support Burmese Grassroots through Microgrants
• India 2.0
• a successful end to our trip