A Day of 2 miracles

Khine's sister arrived in Edinburgh to see Khine. It was very hard for her to see him in Intensive Care with many machines supporting his life. She was here through the hard work of Mark Lazarwicz, MP and his PA Karen and the International Unit of Edinburgh University. When I saw her come off the plane, I was awed by the miracle of this young Burmese woman getting a visa and arriving in Scotland so fast.

And then Khine regained some consciousness! Though still sedated, he used nods of his head and squeezing of hands to tell us he knows his sister is here and he can see her and to tell us when there is pain etc. A second miracle of the day.

So the second operation he had to have last night on his brain was a success and now we pray for a slow and steady recovery to health.

Louise is just back from the hospital (11pm) and she wants to blog this;

I feel elated because Khine did a very nice goodbye. It was the first time this week that I thought Khine was really there. He squeezed my hand hard when I said, "Shall we listen to Metallica tomorrow?" He even moved his head in Geoff's direction when Geoff said bye and then he waved.

However today was a day of highs and lows because 3 patients became very ill yet Khine became better.

Please pray for Khine....

Khine Maung, BEST's student at Edinburgh University is critically ill in hospital in Edinburgh. Khine developed flu with an infection that spread into his sinus and brain. He had emergency brain surgery on Wednesday 28 January 2009. His Scottish friends are sitting in hospital with him all the time but we would like you to join us in sending this clever and delightful young man your prayers and positive thoughts, whatever your faith.....

Mark Lazarowicz, Forthview's MP (http://www.marklazarowicz.org.uk/) , and his wonderful PA, Karen, have been awesome in the support they have given to Khine's sister which will enable her to travel to Scotland in the next few days. You can see Mark in his continuous support of Forthview's Burma link in the posting below this.

The University of Edinburgh are generously arranging her travel. Everyone who has heard about Khine has done their utmost to support his fight for life. Join us in our vigil. We will keep you posted.

Here is a photo of Khine on his 23rd birthday. He is now 24.

Chelsea's Burma Christmas Card wins competition

Mark Lazarowicz, MP for North Edinburgh and Leith (http://www.marklazarowicz.org.uk/) choose a Christmas card designed by Chelsea in P5 to be his Christmas card. Inside Mark told his 2000 readers about Forthview's link with Hle Bee and asked for support for our Burmese friends. Thank you Mark and well done Chelsea. We have now sent a copy of the card to Hle Bee. They will be delighted.

News with hope from Irrawaddy

Today, Christmas Day 2008, the Irrawady website (http://www.irrawaddy.org/) posted this news that the new Government in Thailand will be more supportive of the Burmese people. We wait with hope to see what this means for our friends in Mae Sot.

Speaking at an academic conference on December 19, Thailand's new Foreign Minister, Kasit Piromya, said that Thailand would now run “an ethical foreign policy,” in contrast to that of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his hand-picked successors.

“From now on, there will be no personal business dealings on the side. This government will not mix business and politics,” he said. “We shall have no [personal] business deals with the [Burmese] junta; we shall observe human rights and environmental concerns; we shall treat Burmese as we do Thais.”

Hle Bee Christmas Party

Forthview children raised enough money during Children in Need to give Hle Bee children a Christmas Party. You can see the photos of Forthview Christmas parties on http://www.forthviewschool.blogspot.com/. Soon you will be able to see the photos of Hle Bee Christmas party here. Meanwhile Happy Christmas to all our friends and in Burmese....

The Burma Book

Murray Forgie visited Edinburgh briefly in early December. He had hoped to be here for longer but he was held up by the protests in Bangkok Airport. Eventually he flew to Edinburgh via Phuket, after an 18 hr wait in Phuket Airport, only to discover his luggage had not followed him!

My main worry was not Murray's sophisticated clothing going missing but Murray was bringing back the etchings printed by Kyaw Win in Chiang Mai. Thankfully they arrived safely and in January, I will be taking these to Balgreen, St Mary's, Tollcross and Pirniehall Primaries. Meanwhile Kyaw Win is taking these prints and the children's writing and creating The Burma Book. Watch out for a launch near you - in Edinburgh and in Chiang Mai and in Mae Sot! We are becoming veterans of International Exhibitions of Burmese-Scottish Children's Art!

Floods in Mae Sot

Yesterday Guardian Angel was telling me on the phone that Mae Sot is really badly flooded. Today I saw a photo of this on http://www.irrawaddy.org/ . The worrying thing is that the Rainy Season should be over and this should be the Cold Season with no rain and yet rainstorms keeps coming. Many businesses and homes have been flooded and are covered in mud. Our friends find it very depressing. We don't know yet how Hle Bee School has been affected.

Update - Hle Bee School is not flooded and the rains seem to be lessening. However they still have no long term funding although it is hoped this will come through soon.