Yesterday's protest against the Salween Dam

Hi everyone!!

My name's Leslie, and I'm a first year grad student at American University. After traveling to the Thai-Burma border this past winter break, I've become very passionate about the Burmese people and the struggle for democracy in Burma. There is a great deal one can read online or in books, but visiting face-to-face with groups along the border that are working toward their country's freedom is so inspirational.

Yesterday, a bunch of us went to protest the construction and funding by the Thai government of the Salween Dam. Here are just a few reasons why the Salween is destructive to the environment and the people of Burma, courtesy of Earthrights International:

--Civil War is raging in the area around the dam sites and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced at gunpoint
--Dams are being used as a military strategy against the ethnic peoples of Burma
--Torture, rape, and killings of villagers are continuing as more soldiers are being deployed and more landmines laid
--Dams will provide financial support to the military junta
--Massive corruption is inevitable given the complete lack of transparency
--The dams will permanently degrade Southeast Asia's longest free flowing river's fisheries, floodplains, teak forests and wildlife habitats, and flood villages and fertile agricultural land

They should be uploading pictures of the protest yesterday onto their page soon, but for now you can check out protests from around the world at Salween Watch. I'll be blogging every Wednesday in the future, and posting events sponsored by American University's Student Campaign for Burma.

In peace,
Leslie