Dr. Cynthia Maung: How Foreign Donors Can Help Bring Peace to Burma

Eliza Villarino / Devex, August 29, 2013

Encouraged by Myanmar’s reform efforts, international donors have begun to shower the Asian country with aid.

But not everyone appears to be benefiting from the growing interest of foreign investors.

“Unfortunately, aid donors’ growing focus on Burma is coming at the expense of border-based community groups,” said Dr. Cynthia Maung, who runs a clinic on the Thai-Burmese border catering to Burmese refugees, migrants and orphans. “Everyone thinks that refugees will go home and those who stay will get registered in Thailand. But we know that this won’t happen that easily.”

Maung is a displaced Burmese herself whose story is worthy of a movie or a novel. On the night of Sept. 21, 1988 — just days after the military seized power — she fled through the jungle for the border alongside 14 other pro-democracy activists. As they moved through remote villages during the weeklong journey, they used limited supplies to treat people suffering from injuries and disease. Five months later, she opened the Mae Tao Clinic.

Staffed by 700, the clinic provides comprehensive health and child protection services to some 150,000 people per year. For her work, Maung — simply called “mother” by many of those the clinic serves — has received numerous awards, including the Asian version of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Magsaysay Award for community leadership, in 2002.