BBC Series: Saving Lives on the Burmese border

As part of a series on life on the Thai-Burma border, the BBC visits with Dr. Cynthia and the Mae Toa Clinic in Mae Sot. Clear Path has been funding work with landmine survivors at the clinic since 2002. CPI representative, Lobke Dijkstra has been blogging her experiences there on this blog for the past year.

In addittion to the article below is an excellent photo gallery.

If you were to trek into the jungle in eastern Burma, and mention the name Dr Cynthia, people would know immediately who you meant.

Cynthia Maung is well-known to Burmese in the border region, because her clinic in the Thai town of Mae Sot offers free healthcare, whatever the circumstances.

Most of the staff - including Dr Cynthia herself - are living in Thailand as refugees, having fled from Burma's harsh military regime.

Her clinic caters for thousands of other refugees, as well as economic migrants, and every year an increasing number of patients also come across the border from Burma, especially for treatment.

Such is the draw of the clinic - and the paucity of Burma's healthcare facilities - that even Burmese soldiers, with access to the country's best medical care, have been known to abandon their posts and turn up at Dr Cynthia's door.

"There is a real need for Burmese people to get access to basic healthcare, because conditions there are so bad," said Dr Cynthia. "We treat everyone we can, and we don't discriminate."

Allied to the clinic is another organisation, the Backpack Health Workers Team, which trains and equips local people to provide basic medical services in their communities back in Burma.

Often working in active conflict zones, riddled with landmines, these backpack medics risk their lives for their work - in fact seven have already been killed.

Read the rest of this article here.