Eyes of the Storm - from PBS Broadcasting

The struggles of several orphaned children left to fend for themselves and rebuild their shattered lives in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, please click on the following link to view the episode in its entirety. While I weep with my fellow Karens who came from the Thai/Burma border who had to endure carnage, I can also personally relate very well to what was portrayed in “Eyes of the Storm.” The evil-doing of the government is indisputably far-reaching. Atrocities committed inside Burma is often the unheard story of the other Karen and Burmese people. On the border, you have organizations such as Free Burma Rangers to document killings and torturing, but it is much harder to document what’s going on inside Burma . Perhaps blatant killing and torturing is not as prevalent inside Burma ; nevertheless, things are not less dire there. Slow killing and torturing are taking place and these people cannot escape anywhere.


Uncensored news from the heart of Burma is scarcely reported and this is a must watch for everyone who love the people of Burma . This news piece made me rethink of how I spend my life and how I use my resources.


http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=9363628&msgid=388098&act=I899&c=140467&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbs.org%2Fwnet%2Fwideangle%2Fepisodes%2Feyes-of-the-storm%2Ffull-episode%2F5457%2F

THE SECOND KAREN CANADIAN YOUTH CONFERENCE ACCOMPLISHED

Karen Canadian Youth- Canada
Contact: Saw Joe Teeshara and/or Saw Hsa Htu Wah
Communication Department, KYO-Canada
Email: sawjoe2001@hotmail.com, mailto:hsatu@hotmail.%20com

August 4, 2009- The second Karen Canadian Youth Conference held in Edmonton, AB, from July 31st to August 3 was organized by Karen Canadian Community (KCC) and hosted by Edmonton Karen Canadian Community. About three hundred people attended the conference. Participants came from different cities across Canada. Karen communities from Calgary, Edmonton, London, Ottawa, Regina, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Windsor, Winnipeg, and Vancouver were able to send their delegates

While some observers also came from the United States.

Slone Phan, the Karen Canadian Community youth coordinator who initiated the conference, explained that the objectives of the conference were to make Karen youth residing in Canada build strong connection with the headquarters of Karen Youth Organization, Kawthoolei, and other Karen youth from different parts of the world. The conference involved different sessions that focused on leadership, overview of Karen history, Karen resettlement issues in Canada, while some sports’ competitions were also performed.

The second day of the conference comprised of the Karen Martyrs Day commemoration in memory of Saw Ba Oo Gyi and the fallen of all Karen soldiers and innocent civilians in Burma. Mahn Kyaw Shwe said "our Karen youth need to learn from our leader Saw Ba Oo Gyi who unselfishly sacrificed himself for the cause of freedom and liberation of the Karen people in Burma".

The newly-elected president of Canada Karen Youth Organization, Andy Soe said "I was so delighted to see more youth coming to participate in this conference than the previous conference and am happy to see their eagerness and cooperation for the betterment of our Karen Youth Organization”.
At the end of the conference, the most frequently asked question is “when and where the next Karen Youth Conference will be”. Three days of the Karen Youth conference may be short, but the Karen Youth who had attended the conference made the best of it by networking, sharing information, and socializing with each other.