Students Learn about the Humanitarian Crisis in Burma

Myra Dahgaypaw addresses an Upper School assembly.

For several years, PCD's student-run Peace Jam club has been supporting the U.S. Campaign for Burma, an organization that provides aid to refugees from the ongoing humanitarian crisis in that country. Part of the club's ongoing effort includes this Friday evening's Burma benefit concert in Corkery Hall. A variety of students and faculty will be performing at the event, which begins at 6 on Friday evening. We will bring you more on the concert next week.

In preparation for the concert, the Peace Jam club brought Myra Dahgaypaw to an Upper School assembly Friday morning to teach students about the Burma crisis. In an engaging lecture, replete with statistics and photos, Ms. Dahgaypaw eloquently demonstrated the extent to which the ethnic minorities in the country have been persecuted for over 50 years.

Ms. Dahgaypaw with Peace Jam member
Brenna Guyette '13

Burma, long ruled by a military junta, has made small steps toward democracy since 2011, when Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest and subsequently won election to Parliament. But the humanitarian crisis in Burma, driven by the persecution of the nation's seven ethnic minorities, continues unabated.


There is no doubt that the country's serious problems will require ongoing action from the international community of nations, which can pressure the country's dictator. But Ms. Dahgaypaw also made it clear that PCD students themselves can help. By raising money – Friday night's concert will benefit an orphanage for young refugees on the Thai-Burmese border – students are helping to mitigate the crisis. Even more, but discussing the ongoing situation, the Peace Jam club has instigated a crucial first step to a solution. As Ms. Dahgaypaw noted, until more people are aware of what is happening there is little hope of any international aid to the country's oppressed people or action to help stop the humanitarian crisis for once and for all.