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  • Share a resource / Lend a hand?

    This is an email I just recently received from Antonio Graceffo requesting help and my reply in return. Being that shaolin iis basically a missionary institution, I thought I'd post it here.

    If you know an organisation or can contribute resource or contact, any and all aid will be appreciated.

    Blooming tianshi lotus.

    hello Antonio.

    I remember when I did my tesol course seeing a book with a list of places in exactly that type of hardship and an accompanying list of organisations who have dibs and facility to help them as you were describing.
    It's not the kind of thing that some of us forget so easily... it's a very very long list and @ ppl per place .. it kind of stays with us.

    So, I'm really busy atm studying for next week's exams, but when I have an opportunity, I'll go through some emails and do a cpl of searches and hopefully will be able to send you a link or some contact options of organisations that you can request assistance from.

    My uncle, also a long long time martial artist ( first qualified in Japan while working there many yrs ago), and an engineer built alot of the irrigation systems in the phillipines, and my billionaire uncle bought his second last wife from there. I did hear they might need some support..


    as always.

    Michelle Salt.
    Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 06:40:43 -0600
    Subject: The Paramedic of Shanland
    From: antonio@speakingadventure.com




    Just so everyone knows where I am and what I am doing, I left
    Thailand/Burma and am in Manila, studying to be a paramedic. When I have
    completed the training for combat field medic I will return to Shanland as
    a medical volunteer and journalist.

    While I am in my course I am continuing with my Shanland project,
    publishing one video and one article per week about the war against the
    ethnic minority people in Burma. My body will be in the Philippines for
    several more months, but my heart and my mind are in Shanland.

    Since I have come here I have been hearing from a lot of other groups that
    need help. The Hmong, the tribe who helped the Americans in the war in
    Lao, have been hiding in the jungle, suffering, since the end of the war,
    in 1975. They need me to go there and bring as much medicine as I can
    carry, and of course to bring my camera. The Burmese refugees in Malaysia
    and Bangladesh are living in deplorable conditions and subject to attacks
    by paramilitary groups. I am inclined to try and organize an aid mission
    into Malaysia but I don’t know how to start and I would need some help.

    While I am in Manila, I am working on a book called, “Pinoy Paramedic,”
    about the experience of studying EMS in the Philippines. The book has been
    a lot of fun to write, and I will be publishing some excerpts while I am
    here. Unfortunately, a reader wrote in to complain about the paramedic
    articles saying they were irreverent and insulting, and I am not sure what
    else was wrong with them. While I refuse to apologize for what I wrote, I
    am willing to explain. Burma, while a noble pursuit, is bloody depressing.
    Sometimes, I need a break from writing all of that serious stuff. Writing
    about back alley organ sales in Manila is the kind of light sunny fare
    that I need.

    I hope you will understand what I am doing. And I hope you enjoy the
    paramedic pieces. Below is a story about my friend Kawn Wan, he is one of
    my particular friends in Shanland and somehow when he tells what he and
    his people want, it is so powerful. Please let me know what you think.


    Antonio
    Living to Help His Shan People
    By Antonio Graceffo

    “Inside Shan State we cannot teach Shan language. And, when youth talk
    about politics there is retaliation. Even talking about the meaning of
    democracy, even thinking about the meaning of democracy is dangerous.”
    Said twenty year old Kawn Wan.


    After his family was murdered and his village Burned, Kawn Wan completed
    his education and became a teacher and caretaker of orphans in Shanland,
    Loi Tailang, Shan State Army (SSA) Headquarters.


    “You foreigners, when you aren’t happy with something, you go and change
    it. You protest and fight. But here in Burma, it is impossible for us.” He
    explained.

    Kawn Wan sits in the bamboo hut he shares with several other teachers. The
    orphan dormitory is just across the way, and the boys are busy hiking a
    mile, down the mountain to bath in the river and wash their school
    uniforms for the next day. The uniforms are comprised of Shan trousers and
    pressed white shirt.

    “It takes an hour to get the shirt clean.” Said a boy, toiling to bang out
    the wrinkles with a rock. Life in Loi Tailang is predicated on schedules.
    Kawn Wan and a few other grown-up orphans are the official caretakers of
    the young kids, but the children know their daily chores and for the most
    part, they do them. This includes the two mile river hike, daily, as the
    thrice daily hike all the way back to the school, on the other side of the
    camp, where they get their meals.

    Some boys who have finished with their laundry are playing takraw, a game
    similar to volleyball, where the feet, rather than hands, are used to get
    the rattan ball over the net. The orphan area is surrounded by defense
    trenches and air raid tunnels, where the boys know to take refuge in the
    event of an attack. Further down the hill is a line of punji, sharpened
    stakes, designed to keep out the enemy. The steaks serve as a warning, to
    keep innocent people from walking into the landmines.

    Seeing the boys laugh as they struggle to kick the ball over the net, you
    would think this was a normal school, at recess, anywhere. But it isn’t
    anywhere. The school, the dormitory, the base, and Shanland itself are
    inside of Burma. And, if it wasn’t for the thousands of Shan State Army
    soldiers protecting them, the orphans, as well as all the other refugees,
    would be killed by the forces of the SPDC, the junta that rules Burma.

    “In Shanland, even the little children when you ask, what is your dream,
    they say, I want to go home.” Said Kawn Wan.

    Most of the children came to Shanland because the SPDC burned their
    villages or killed their parents. They seem happy to be living in a place
    where they have so many brothers to play with, but like people everywhere,
    their instinct is to want to go home. Unfortunately, there is no home to
    go back to. And, until the war is over, or until Shanland wins its
    independence, a trip to Loi Tailang is one way. It would be too dangerous
    for the children to consider going back.

    Kawn Wan came to Loi Tailing in 2001, and has now spent nearly half his
    life living as an orphan and Internally Displaced Person (IDP).

    When the SPDC killed his mother and forced Kawn Wan to leave his village,
    in 1996, he was so young he couldn’t carry his own gear.

    “The SPDC soldiers came to our village and told us we had to move into the
    town.”

    The Burmese government forces frequently forcibly relocate villagers in
    order to better control them. Those who resist relocation are often
    murdered, and their homes are burned. In Kawn Wan’s case, his village was
    forced to move into a city.

    “In the city it is hard for us to survive because we are countryside
    people. We don’t know how to get food in a city. Some people escaped from
    the town. From when I left until now, I didn’t hear anything about my
    family. They left the town to look for food. Then people told me the SPDC
    caught them.”

    Eventually, Kawn Wan made it to Loi Tailang. He finished school and Shan
    college. Now, in addition to taking care of the other children, he works
    as a teacher of English and Shan Kung Fu. Kawn Wan teaches the nearly lost
    Shan martial art to the children in the hopes of preserving their culture.

    “If we do not win,” said a Shan military officer, “Some day, if you want
    to know about Shan culture, you will need to go to a museum.”

    Some of the boys living in the orphanage are not orphans in the strictest
    sense of the word. One or the other of their parents was still alive when
    they came to live in Loi Tailang. Inside Shan State, the SPDC has made
    life very difficult. Parents cannot take care of their children the way
    they want to. Shan children don’t have access to education. At Loi
    Tailang, at least the parents know that their children can attend school
    and get three basic meals per day.

    “They come day by day.” Says kawn Wan. “Some come alone, and some come
    with a relative. Their Uncle or the headman bring them here, because
    inside Shan State life is so bad. The government doesn’t allow us to teach
    Shan language at school.”

    The orphans here are not only Shan, but also Lahu, Pa-O and Palong. The
    student body is composed of all of the ethnic groups who live in Shan
    State. Colonel Yawd Serk, the military and political leader of Shan State
    Army stresses the importance of racial tolerance. All of the many ethnic
    groups in Burma have suffered at the hands of the Burmese Army, but the
    SPDC has long used disunity as a tool for controlling the ethnics. If they
    combine their forces, under a single military ruler, the many tribes far
    outnumber the Burmese in the tribal areas. The Burmese soldiers are
    conscripts, who suffer oppression at the hands of their superiors. The
    tribal people, on the other hand, are fighting for their homes and
    families. United, there is no way they would lose.

    “All the ethnics can bring children here to study.” Explained Kawn Wan.
    The term Shan State Nationalities is often used to describe the many
    peoples living in Shan State. “Some of them can’t speak Shan when they
    arrive here. So, they learn it. We also teach them English, Thai, and
    Burmese.”

    “When I lived in Shan State I didn’t know what is democracy, what is human
    rights, what is other countries do. I didn’t know. I came here and I was
    sent to Shan college, and I learned. And now I can use my skill to help
    other people.”

    Between leaving his village and coming to Loi Tailang, Kawn Wan lived as a
    novice monk in Thailand.

    “I was a temple boy, cleaning the temple and studying with the monks, but
    could not go to regular school because I had no Id card.”

    Many of the Shan leaders were monks in Thailand at some time in their
    lives. Up to about age fifteen the Thai police are rather forgiving about
    asking for ID. But, once the boys reach adulthood, they have to have legal
    papers to remain in Thailand, or they have to go home. The problem for the
    Shan, of course, is that they have no home to go back to. Luckily, Kawn
    Wan found a home at Loi Tailang.

    “When we live here, our heart is warm. These children don’t have parents,
    so I love to help them and be an older brother for them.”

    What is the future for Kawn Wan’s young students?

    “When they graduate, they don’t have to be soldiers.”

    The Colonel gives the boys freedom to chose their own career.

    “They can be teachers. They can be whatever they want. They can go to work
    in an NGO, or in a government department.”

    The government of Shanland is called the Reconciliation Council of the
    Shan State (RCSS). The governmental departments are in place, and staffed
    with bright young Shan waiting for the world to recognize them as an
    independent country.

    “If we have only soldiers, we cannot build our country. So, we need to
    educate our people, to have skills, to help develop our country. Even me,
    I lived with soldiers for a long time, but I didn’t want to be a soldier.
    I want to be a teacher. I don’t want to have a high position. I just want
    to stay with the orphans and take care of them. This is my dream.”

    “It is important to teach the children what are human rights so they know
    the good way for them.”

    The Shan all respect Aung San Suu Kyi, but they are realists.

    “I think the NLD (National League for Democracy) cannot do anything for us
    inside of Shan State. We have never seen them. They haven’t visited us.

    “I like other countries, they have democracy. I like Thailand. I only
    don’t like that I don’t have the ID card, but our food and everything
    comes from Thailand. I like the Thai King.” All Shan people respect His
    majesty, King Rama IX of Thailand. On the day of his 80th birthday, no one
    worked in Shanland. The villagers put on their best clothes and met at the
    temple to pray for the King’s health.

    “We teach the children to respect Him.”

    On the wall in his bamboo hut, just above his Buddhist shrine, Kawn Wan,
    like so many other Shan, has a trinity of kings. These include, the last
    Shan King, King Rama V of Thailand, and King Rama IX.

    “Even if we don’t know the future, our leader is trying his best to find
    our victory. Some of us work in different ways, but we have the same goal.
    Some work like soldiers. Some have skills and can help a lot of people.
    Even if we cannot go live inside Shan State we can have our school, and we
    can teach the children freely. Inside Shan State we cannot teach Shan
    language. And, when youth talk about politics there is retaliation. Even
    talking about the meaning of democracy, even thinking about the meaning of
    democracy is dangerous.”

    Kawn Wan is fully committed to the path he has chosen.

    “I don’t think about getting married. I think about my students. I
    sacrifice my life to help them.”

    I asked Kawn Wan what message he would like to send to the American people.

    “I want the American people to know that we have a country, but we cannot
    live in it. We have no human rights. The Burmese government doesn’t do
    anything for us. We want the Americans to help us, to tell the SPDC to
    give us democracy. We want the power in the hands for our people. We want
    to live freely, like other countries. I think because in America they have
    freedom, and in democracy country, they have rights, and they will use
    their rights to help us. Please share our information with other people.”
    Antonio Graceffo is an adventure and martial arts author living in Asia.
    He is the Host of the web TV show, “Martial Arts Odyssey,” Currently he is
    doing a film and print project to raise awareness of the Shan people. To
    see all of his videos about martial arts, Burma and other countries:

    Antonio is the author of four books available on amazon.com Contact him
    Antonio@speakingadventure.com
    see his website http://speakingadventure.com/burma.htm
    Antonio is self-funded and seeking sponsors. If you wish to contribute to
    the “In Shanland” film project, you can donate through paypal, through the
    Burma page of my website.




    Any and all assistance and links or contacts can be sent directly to antonio at any of the above contacts.

    Amitoufo.

    Blooming tianshi lotus.
    Last edited by doc; 04-11-2008, 03:13 AM. Reason: unreadable

  • #2
    I've been in Manila a few times, and other areas of the Philippines.

    The Philippines are noteworthy for a few things; emergency medical care (and paramedic training) is not one of them.

    As for helping these tribes in Burma and Malaysia, I suggest you and he go on a date and see Rambo IV. Entertaining shit movie, with some deeper insight and relevance.

    Nobody ever said it was a perfect world that we live in. Never was, never will be.

    (I'm fixing your post so that it is more "readable")
    Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

    "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

    (more comments in my User Profile)
    russbo.com


    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks. If we're ever in the same country at the same time, you never know. It might just happen .

      This guy has been doing this for years! ever since the monk from brooklyn jaunt in china and besides collecting martial arts as he travels, he 's been visting mostly remote "conflict zones" in an effort to bring light to their situation. He gets received quite well.

      I get loads of these types of emails from Antonio, but I quite like this one because a. he was asking and asked for medical assistance and b. because I happen to know that Antonio can carry a reasonable amount of weight, so i liked that image.

      It'd be great to see them get aid.
      He doesn't ask for that type of thing usually. He really should be referenced to an organisation, because with that he's just become a paramedic, I dont think this 'll be the last we'll hear from him about this stuff.

      Again any assistance or network links, will be greatly appreciated.

      Blooming tianshi lotus.

      Comment


      • #4
        Are you sure this guy is doing all of this for purely ideological reasons? Or is it just more fodder for another book?

        I'd be less cynical if he were devoted to a cause that wasn't so unfortunately damn hopeless.
        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

        "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

        (more comments in my User Profile)
        russbo.com


        Comment


        • #5
          We can question motivation and primary motivators until the cows come home, but the point is that ppl have asked for help and he is endevouring to get it to them.
          ..not that we'd begrudge him a living to be able to continue to do that.
          The books that Antonio writes about what he encounters in his travels, is as much about telling the stories and sharing cultures of ppls as it is about anything financial whether that's a factor or not. Just as ppl teach kungfu and get paid for doing that. the point is that's it's being done.

          I pesonally think it's fairly dharma-kosher m.o. anyway. I have often appreciated his international efforts and spirit of it over many years now.
          I dont have any issue with assimilation and redistribution of resource and culture exchange for those that want it.

          They asked for help. and further , because of that, I also Wonder what education would do for them. It's a very long story.


          Blooming tianshi lotus.

          Comment


          • #6
            Good point.

            But when someone asks me for help, I question motivation. It is something I learned to do after the Xing Wei debacle.

            If someone has good ideological reasons for a good worthwhile reasonable cause, with little or no personal financial gain involved, I'm more than happy to jump in with both feet to help.

            But you usually find people who are clinging to a cause under the pretense of being a good humanitarian, but with hidden motivations for self profit or self advancement, whether it be financial, public opinion, or otherwise.

            Unfortunately, as I get older and more cynical and jaded, I find less and less of the former, and more and more of the latter.

            A few things come to mind with this whole thing. For one, the Philippines are not known for there Paramedic programs, if they have them at all. In fact, with all the ambulances I've seen there, paramedics were not on them. And outside of Manila, you can forget even seeing them regularly. Some areas of the Philippines just have local clinics (which if you can't afford the doctor, you don't get care; one reason why I do medical missions there occasionally). I would think, if you were interested in getting an education in being a real paramedic, on your journey to give medical aid to people in Burma, you would get your education where they have real, established, paramedic programs, such as in the USA (where he, I assume, is a citizen).

            And what you learn in a paramedic program is not terribly useful in a place such as Burma. So, it's a bizarre approach, but, maybe he doesn't know.

            So, in my opinion, it doesn't add up. I applaud his desire to help people, if, that is what his desire truly is. If so, he's doing it the wrong way, and in my opinion, the wrong place. Burma is not going to change anytime soon, and his going in there with some bandages and splints won't change anyone's life there for long. I'm more inclined to think that this is just fodder and experience for another book. He's creating his next story. And because it is new and different, people will read it.
            Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

            "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

            (more comments in my User Profile)
            russbo.com


            Comment


            • #7
              The Xing Wei experience is something that alot of ppl likely learnt from.

              Here is an earlier email I received from antonio regarding becoming a paramedic.
              I dont think he'd mind me sharing this one with you.

              [quote]
              part.1.


              our exam is given inn philippines but graded and licensed in australia which means we are qualified to work anywhere in the world except USA. in america the course is recognised as meeting the training requirements but we have to sit for a US exam in order to get licensed in USA. so that is fine. i am really hoping they can get me some paying woprk in a conflict zone for a few months before i return to burma. that way i can continue writing but i could also earn money.

              part.2.

              yes, i am living with master frank this week finishing my black belt in kuntaw. this saturday we will go to meet the professor who will be teaching the class i need to take to be certified as a black belt instructor of arnis. also i need to move into a dormitory this weekend and start EMT paramedic school on monday.

              part.3.

              the course 50% for me. I have more or less enough money to get
              > started but have no idea how I will survive financially till the end. So,
              > I still need help from anyone willing to be a sponsor. When I finish the
              > training here, I will return to Shanland and the Burma border and
              > volunteer my new services. While I am here, I am still publishing one
              > story and one video per week, about Burma, to raise awareness of the war
              > there.
              >
              > If you are interested in hearing the whole story and I like hearing about
              > miracles and the inherent goodness of man, read on.
              >
              > At the last minute it looked like I wouldn’t have money for paramedic
              > school in Philippines. I was waiting for a couple of donors to come
              > through as well as some miracles.
              >
              > A friend on Cebu island found a course for me, beginning Monday, March 3.
              > Some money came in toward the end of the last week of February but it
              > wasn’t enough to buy a ticket to Cebu. I thought about it overnight and
              > decided to contact Master Frank. I had enough to fly to Manila, but not
              > much else. Master Frank used to be a paramedic, and I was hoping he could
              > help me find a course.
              >
              > He took me to the school today, and it turns out that it is foreign owned,
              > the number one school in the Philippines. The exam is given here, but
              > graded and accredited in Australia. So when we graduate we are already
              > fully qualified for a job in Australia or any of the Arab states which
              > normally recruit workers from the Philippines. The school even has job
              > placement. But I promised to return to Shanland and Burma for several
              > months and volunteer before seeking gainful employment.
              >
              > The Philippines doesn’t have a full paramedic course designed yet, but
              > they have a number of advanced courses and the school has connections with
              > hospitals, so the owner said as long as I am able to hang on financially
              > in the Philippines, he can keep training me and sending me to different
              > hospitals to gain experience.
              >
              > Luckily, working EMS in Manila I will probably get to see some gun shot
              > wounds to prepare me for Burma.
              >
              > This week, Master Frank and I are finishing my black belt in Kuntaw. He
              > also enrolled me in a course at the university, on weekends, to get
              > certified as an instructor of Philippine stick fighting, Arnis.
              >
              > The miracles in my story are: Master Frank found this excellent EMT course
              > for me and let me stay at his house this week before the course begins.
              > The next one is a friend of mine in Thailand arranged a sponsor to help
              > underwrite the cost of my tuition. The big one is that the owner of the
              > school, after hearing about Burma, grabbed my application out of my hand
              > and wrote “50% discount” at the top. I was so grateful. If he hadn’t done
              > that I couldn’t even get started.
              >
              > The major financial obstacle now is that I have to move out of Master
              > Frank’s house on Sunday and into either an apartment or a dormitory in
              > preparation for my course starting on Monday. Obviously, that will cost
              > money, and I don’t have a plan for that one yet.
              >
              > It sucks not having money. And I complain a lot. But I have to say, when
              > you reach out for help, you find first of all that most people are good.
              > And second of all, you build a closer relationship with people who help
              > you than you do with people you pay money to.
              >
              > I am happy and optimistic. I can’t wait for the course to start. It will
              > be intensive, 40 hours per week for a month, followed by a month of
              > volunteering at the emergency ward of the hospital. And that is just level
              > one. Then all of the other training starts.
              >
              > If anyone is interested in helping to sponsor this program, please let me
              > know.
              >
              > Antonio is self-funded and seeking sponsors. If you wish to contribute to
              > the “In Shanland” film project or his paramedic training, you can do so
              > through paypal, through the Burma page of his website.
              > http://speakingadventure.com/burma.htm
              >
              shan,state,army,burma,burmese,junta,war,rebel,shan land,antonio,graceffo ,paramedic,medic,EMT,Philippines

              [end quote]...

              So whlile I dont actually give money to Anotnio myself, as I'm quite reserved about that myself being the breed of mahayana that I am, I know that alot of ppl really rely on being able to make donations and do tis out of their own personal beliefs. I have nothing against that, and it was actually local business men and women where I am now, who donated to build our new health science and medical faculty. I pondered on that for a bit, and I decided that, okay. I was fine with them and had ephinany on that. How to persecute somebody for an avataric disposition?? I tend to believe that it all fits in somewhere or other.


              I actually have other reasons that I believe in Antonio's honesty and emptiness for, which I'm not going to share here for their personal nature, but although he doesn't make secret of the fact that he lives on donations and dearly hopes to find a sponsor, It just it what it is. He reeally is out there doing that on those terms.

              God bless the entire project.

              A journey of a thousand steps starts somewhere or other. How long since the C.R. and where are we in the 'progess' of that turn of event??



              Blooming tianshi lotus.

              Comment


              • #8
                edit on above

                The Xing Wei experience is something that alot of ppl likely learnt from.

                Here is an earlier email I received from antonio regarding becoming a paramedic.
                I dont think he'd mind me sharing this one with you.

                [quote]
                part.1.

                our exam is given inn philippines but graded and licensed in australia which means we are qualified to work anywhere in the world except USA. in america the course is recognised as meeting the training requirements but we have to sit for a US exam in order to get licensed in USA. so that is fine. i am really hoping they can get me some paying woprk in a conflict zone for a few months before i return to burma. that way i can continue writing but i could also earn money.
                part.2.

                yes, i am living with master frank this week finishing my black belt in kuntaw. this saturday we will go to meet the professor who will be teaching the class i need to take to be certified as a black belt instructor of arnis. also i need to move into a dormitory this weekend and start EMT paramedic school on monday.

                part.3.
                the course 50% for me. I have more or less enough money to get
                > started but have no idea how I will survive financially till the end. So,
                > I still need help from anyone willing to be a sponsor. When I finish the
                > training here, I will return to Shanland and the Burma border and
                > volunteer my new services. While I am here, I am still publishing one
                > story and one video per week, about Burma, to raise awareness of the war
                > there.
                >
                > If you are interested in hearing the whole story and I like hearing about
                > miracles and the inherent goodness of man, read on.
                >
                > At the last minute it looked like I wouldn’t have money for paramedic
                > school in Philippines. I was waiting for a couple of donors to come
                > through as well as some miracles.
                >
                > A friend on Cebu island found a course for me, beginning Monday, March 3.
                > Some money came in toward the end of the last week of February but it
                > wasn’t enough to buy a ticket to Cebu. I thought about it overnight and
                > decided to contact Master Frank. I had enough to fly to Manila, but not
                > much else. Master Frank used to be a paramedic, and I was hoping he could
                > help me find a course.
                >
                > He took me to the school today, and it turns out that it is foreign owned,
                > the number one school in the Philippines. The exam is given here, but
                > graded and accredited in Australia. So when we graduate we are already
                > fully qualified for a job in Australia or any of the Arab states which
                > normally recruit workers from the Philippines. The school even has job
                > placement. But I promised to return to Shanland and Burma for several
                > months and volunteer before seeking gainful employment.
                >
                > The Philippines doesn’t have a full paramedic course designed yet, but
                > they have a number of advanced courses and the school has connections with
                > hospitals, so the owner said as long as I am able to hang on financially
                > in the Philippines, he can keep training me and sending me to different
                > hospitals to gain experience.
                >
                > Luckily, working EMS in Manila I will probably get to see some gun shot
                > wounds to prepare me for Burma.
                >
                > This week, Master Frank and I are finishing my black belt in Kuntaw. He
                > also enrolled me in a course at the university, on weekends, to get
                > certified as an instructor of Philippine stick fighting, Arnis.
                >
                > The miracles in my story are: Master Frank found this excellent EMT course
                > for me and let me stay at his house this week before the course begins.
                > The next one is a friend of mine in Thailand arranged a sponsor to help
                > underwrite the cost of my tuition. The big one is that the owner of the
                > school, after hearing about Burma, grabbed my application out of my hand
                > and wrote “50% discount” at the top. I was so grateful. If he hadn’t done
                > that I couldn’t even get started.
                >
                > The major financial obstacle now is that I have to move out of Master
                > Frank’s house on Sunday and into either an apartment or a dormitory in
                > preparation for my course starting on Monday. Obviously, that will cost
                > money, and I don’t have a plan for that one yet.
                >
                > It sucks not having money. And I complain a lot. But I have to say, when
                > you reach out for help, you find first of all that most people are good.
                > And second of all, you build a closer relationship with people who help
                > you than you do with people you pay money to.
                >
                > I am happy and optimistic. I can’t wait for the course to start. It will
                > be intensive, 40 hours per week for a month, followed by a month of
                > volunteering at the emergency ward of the hospital. And that is just level
                > one. Then all of the other training starts.
                >
                > If anyone is interested in helping to sponsor this program, please let me
                > know.
                >
                > Antonio is self-funded and seeking sponsors. If you wish to contribute to
                > the “In Shanland” film project or his paramedic training, you can do so
                > through paypal, through the Burma page of his website.
                > http://speakingadventure.com/burma.htm
                >
                shan,state,army,burma,burmese,junta,war,rebel,shan land,antonio,graceffo ,paramedic,medic,EMT,Philippines

                [end quote]...

                So whlile I dont actually give money to Anotnio myself, as I'm quite reserved about that myself being the breed of mahayana that I am and prefer to reach for Shi De Qian's journey through the snow across the country if not Shi De Yang and his ways, I know that alot of ppl really rely on being able to make donations and do tis out of their own personal beliefs. I have nothing against that, and it was actually local business men and women where I am now, who donated to build our new health science and medical faculty. I pondered on that for a bit, and I decided that, okay. I was fine with them and had ephiphany on that. It's been somewhat of issue I 've come back to now and again also, because I know alot of ppl, particularly my billionaire uncle, who have made me wonder. How to persecute somebody for an avataric disposition?? I tend to believe that it all fits in somewhere or other, and I feel it's resolved enough as described above, even if not everyone who does that does such.


                I actually have other reasons that I believe in Antonio's honesty and emptiness for, which I'm not going to share here for their personal nature, but although he doesn't make secret of the fact that he lives on donations and dearly hopes to find a sponsor, It just it what it is. He reeally is out there doing that on those terms.

                God bless the entire project.

                A journey of a thousand steps starts somewhere or other. How long since the C.R. and where are we in the 'progess' of that turn of event??



                Blooming tianshi lotus.

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