Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
knots.” Black Spot explained that the tribe’s desire was simply to
find a scrap of land where they could plant their crops, preserve their
stories, live in harmony, and wait for the Younger White Brother to
find them once again.
At the end of the summer, the Thai government decided that not
all the Karen people in the many refugee camps were refugees. Those
who had not fled from persecution faced no danger and had to go
back to Burma. As far as authorities could tell, fifteen hundred fell
into this category, including the Lord’s Army, who not only had not
been persecuted but had been given star treatment. They were taken
to the other side of the border, where a military welcome party was
waiting for them. Some feared the regime would retaliate against
these runaways, but they need not have worried. Thus far, none of
the people deported has been heard to complain, not a single one. In
fact, they have not been heard from at all.
While being transported, a terse military report later stated, the
hill-tribe insurgents, once known as the Lord’s Army, escaped and
then drowned when they foolishly jumped into a swollen river.
My American friends were devastated when the news reached
them, months after the incident. They had not seen one another since
their return home, and they called for a reunion. There were hugs and
tears all around. What had happened to Black Spot, Grease, Salt, and
Fishbones? Where were the cheroot-smoking twins Loot and Bootie
and their loony old grandmother? Did they really drown, or had they
been shot in the water? Were they alive but now porters, pipeline
workers, or land-mine sweepers? Were they in the jungle right this
minute, hiding quietly as soldiers walked by, hunting for goats?
With the Mind of Others, I could see where they were. There is a
place in the jungle called Somewhere Else, a split that divides Life
from Death, and it is darker and deeper than the other ravine. They
lie on their mats, all in a row, and they stare at the tree canopy that
hides the sky.
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