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http://dassk.org Planting Seeds of Change For Myanmar Activists worldwide are using new technology and social networking sites to spread the word about the need for political change in Myanmar. Activists in Sydney, Australia hope a project to plant sunflowers worldwide will help nurture an open dialogue about the injustices in Myanmar. The founders of the nonprofit project “Sunflower For Suu” started planting sunflower seeds in late 2009 in community gardens, parks, near highways and in train yards. Bright sunflower beds scattered across Sydney soon captured the attention of the local media. Creators of the project are now using social networking sites to raise awareness worldwide about the repression endured by the people of Myanmar, also known as Burma. In the project’s infancy the Web site had about four hits a day, but with the help of sites like MySpace and Facebook it now draws more than 1,000 daily hits, said the project founders. “We want by next year’s summer, to have as many houses and parks display sunflowers on mass, so people take notice,” explained co-founder Dave Hibbard, who said he has received reports of Canadians and New Zealanders also participating in the program. “Somebody will ask someone else, ‘What is with all these sunflowers this year?’ And we hope the response will be: ‘They are supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma.’” Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the pro-democracy movement, the National League for Democracy (NLD). Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for about 14 years. The military junta the State Peace and Development Council has controlled Myanmar for about 20 years. Under its rule social policies in Myanmar have suffered, among other things. Health care in Myanmar is rated the “second worst” in the world, according to the U.S. Campaign For Burma, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit dedicated to bringing an end to the military dictatorship in Myanmar. About 30 to 50 percent of the government’s budget is spent on the military while about 2.2 percent is dedicated to health care. Activists in the United States are utilizing Web sites like Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about the military-controlled country. “We have used social networking sites to educate American citizens about the situation in Burma and organize their support,” wrote Aung Din, executive director of the U.S. Campaign For Burma, in an e-mail to the Pacific Citizen. “These sites are quite helpful and productive, and with these technologies, we can raise awareness on Burma more than before.” Myanmar in 2010: In 1962, Gen. Ne Win staged a government coup and assumed control of Myanmar and its people. He was later forced to vacate his seat in 1988. That year, dissidents protested against the junta’s control, which spurred the military to open fire and imprison protestors. Thousands were killed and sent to prison, according to estimations. Those that have been imprisoned in Myanmar are still haunted by the experience. “Prisons in Burma are the closest ones to the hell. I was tortured physically and psychologically in prisons.” Din added, “Most of my time in prison was in solitary confinement. Those days haunt me to this day, and I always wake up in the middle of night, having nightmares and hearing cries from the torture chambers.” Din said over 2,200 dissidents, including Buddhist monks, remain imprisoned because of their political views. He was a part of the 1988 uprising, as the vice chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions. Amnesty International called for his release in 1989. A year later seemed to bring promise when Suu Kyi’s party won 82 percent of the seats in parliament. However the junta did not recognize the results. Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. These incidents should be brought to the attention of everyone across the world, said advocates. “I had traveled to Burma three times in the last few years and every time I come back to Australia I feel compelled to make people aware that there is a country … in deep suffering and repression,” Hibbard said. “A lot of people know or have heard of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but surprisingly there is so many people who don't.” To ensure that Suu Kyi becomes a husehold name, Hibbard, who is also a musician in the band the “Badloves,” has planted about 440 pounds of sunflower seed in the last six months. He has also dispersed about 1,000 envelopes in Australia with seeds and a note describing the project. “Music was once upon a time my no.1 passion. But in the last few years it has taken second seat to Burma,” Hibbard said. A Blossoming Democracy?: A meeting in November 2009 with Suu Kyi and Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell seemed to signal strengthening relations between the U.S. and Myanmar. But some activists said a dialogue between those within Myanmar is still needed before a more significant change is seen. “The most important thing for a positive change in Burma is a meaningful dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Senior General Than Shwe, the regime's paramount leader,” Din said. The year 2010, he said, is crucial for the people of Burma because the military will try to maintain its regime with a “sham constitution and showcase election.” “However, the regime will not be able to hold the election, as it promised, as long as it can't settle the demands made by ethnic ceasefire groups and it can't persuade the NLD to participate in the election,” Din explained. With each blooming sunflower comes a renewed sense of hope for change in Myanmar. “It was really exciting. To see the first sunflower reminded me that from little things big things grow and that what we had been thinking about for so long was starting to become a reality,” Ben Roche said. “Change is like that, we need to plant the seeds of an idea and stay focused on the kind of future we want to grow and then eventually it will start to materialize.” |