“Do not be afraid,” Kyaw insisted, gesturing at my camera. “You are a guest, it’s ok.”
The construction crew of a nearby building paused to watch the repeated flash. It was late March, two weeks before bi-elections; at the time, flagrant acknowledgement of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party was a freedom only tourists could flaunt.
Yet my memory card quickly filled up with subtle images of defiant civilian support. Stickers pasted inside rolling betelnut stands; flags sprouting out of garden plots; messages scribbled onto tuk tuk mirrors. Gestures that shook a brave fist in the face of the government’s majority USDP.
On April 2nd, thousands of Burmese would arrive at the polls, unsure if individual voices could outshout a regime. History gave them little faith in the safety of their actions.
Yet they voted anyway.
What’s stopping you? Nov. 6 is Election Day- please vote, America, vote!
Kelli Mutchler left a small, Midwest American town to prove that Yanks can, and do, chose alternative lifestyles. On the road for five years now, Kelli has tried news reporting and waitressing, bungy jumping and English teaching. Currently working with Burmese women refugees in Thailand, she hopes to pursue a MA in Global Development. Opportunities and scenes for international travel are encouraged on her blog, www.toomutchforwords.com.
