So, with Burma night over a week ago now, Anna and I have been counting the money and talking to Prospect Burma about what they propose to do with  it.  We’re really excited because it looks as if it will go to sponsoring 12 exiled students for a year’s university in India.

We had some much welcomed, very positive feedback for the film, and the evening in general.  We really appreciate that everyone paid a not inconsiderable amount of money to attend our evening, and frankly not just that, they gave up their time on a Monday night, and I know it’s not CSI night that night unless you are one of those lucky people with Sky tv, but still, there are warm kitchens, children, sofas, cuddly dogs, cuddly cats, goldfish, that forgotten bottle of whisky and the stash of pot/porn/chocolate on the top shelf.  We all need a good incentive to get out these nights.  So we owe you big time, thank you!

Moving to Mars , the film we watched, illustrated just how hard it is for immigrants to make a fresh start in life.  They do it very much for the next generation.

The families in the Thai border camps have nowhere to go.  Some have been there for 12 years or more, in some instances up to 20 years.

Their choice is stark: they can return to Burma and almost certain persecution and death, endangering the lives also of their friends and relatives, or they can leave Thailand for Britain or another welcoming country.

They cannot leave to work in Thailand; they are effectively stuck in the camp forever unless they move overseas or the situation in Burma is resolved.

Where Prospect Burma comes in is by offering English language lessons within some of the border camps.  It also provides sponsorship for university studies overseas, should the families manage to emigrate successfully.  The students who accept their sponsorship do so on the understanding that when it is safe for them to return to Burma, they will do so, and will help to rebuild their country.

The beauty of this scheme is that there is no brain drain; also it helps the students to be self-starters, to not be reliant on benefit handouts but to get jobs.  What is very clear from the film, is that given the choice, the families would rather stay in Burma; Prospect Burma gives them the chance to make the most of their stay here or abroad, then go back and contribute in an incredibly positive way.

Immigration is never straightforward. My mother arrived in Dublin on an ocean liner from Burma when she was about 13, with nothing but the clothes she stood up in.  She was met by a sister she hadn’t seen for over ten years, and a grandmother who didn’t want her to come at all.  She had all the educational advantages, all the material advantages that living with a wealthy family could bring, but was so miserable and felt so unloved and unwanted she was too ashamed to write back to her Burmese cousins, and lost touch with them for 30 or so years.

Moving to Mars showed that most families would rather be in their home country, reunited  with the friends and family that they love.  Prospect Burma enables them to take their skills back to a country that has seen schools and universities systematically shut down since 1988 in an attempt to eradicate any student opposition.  It is the only charity that receives support from Aung San Suu Kyi.

We’re sure those 12 students who now have the chance to attend university in India, thanks to your donations, will be happy to receive your help. Thanks to your help, we’re giving them a new start, for a new life that will reach far beyond the next few years of any normal undergraduate’s schooling. Hopefully  one day, come the revolution (if you’ll pardon the expression), these same students will be able to return to Burma and rebuild their country.

Thank you from

Burma Hole in Your Pocket

(that’s me, Anna Curtis, Antony Easton and Olly Daniaud plus our huge team of supporters who stepped up and got involved!)

Ps - had lots of compliments on the food.  If you like I can ask Luke from The Island, who cooked for us all that night, for some recipes… Let me know if you want that! Write a comment on the page!

For Burma enthusiasts, I want to add a few books/articles you might find inspiring:

For a quick update on the reality of living in Rangoon, this cartoon book is BRILLIANT.  Burma Chronicles is written and drawn by Guy Delisle, the husband of a Medecins Sans Frontieres NGO.  It depicts life in the city as it really is.  I couldn’t put it down.  The writer also travels around Burma and visits some of the villages where 86% are addicted to opium. He describes how the Chinese don’t bother rescuing workers in jade mines if the roof collapses - they leave them to die there and just dig another mine. Here’s the Guardian’s review

The Karens are perhaps the most publicised tribe to be persecuted in Burma.  But this recent article in the Independent, about the Burmese Muslim community is well worth reading as it shows how they too are forced to flee. It chronicles their arduous journeys, some successful, some diastrous and presents a truly painful portrayal of immigration.

A World Overturned by Maureen Baird-Murray. I’m not just telling you this because it’s my mum’s book - our family doesn’t make a penny from sales! But… this is my MUM’S BOOK! (that’s my mum pictured in my grandma’s arms on the cover!)  and it’s really good, and hearing of the stories of some of our guests and prize donors  and how they came to live in Britain (Jamie Cullum, Ruby Hammer, Sue Arnold) on the night reminded me that her story is really worth reading and re-reading.

Finally, we were honored on the night to have the award winning journalist Sue Arnold in our midst. Sue’s book A Burmese Legacy describes her return to Burma to visit her family.  Sue has written for the Guardian for years, and is so supportive of anything concerning Burma she came to our Burma night with only a couple of hours’ notice.  

And FINALLY!!!! … A short (very short, no honestly, it’s REALLY short) film as a tribute to Sheffield for those who found the former home of British steel, as depicted in Moving to Mars, just a little too grey and miserable for their liking, check this out:

And finally again - news just coming in - tonight I will be attending a talk about sanctions and Burma, hosted by Intelligence Squared, and starring another of our guests last Monday, Brad Adams from Human Rights Watch, and an old friend of mine, Thant Myint-U, who is the author of a history of Burma called, The River of Lost Footsteps, he was also former head of policy planning in the United Nation’s Department of Political Affairs.   It promises to be an interesting and possibly controversial debate - you can see it live for FREE at 6.45pm, find out how by clicking HERE…