“Every house not a home, but dare do I roam, there’s a light on the porch here for someone. Once upon a time in a border town, the war was over, the guns laid down, the women, the men, the children say, that it’s hard to remember it any other way. When the law acts as though, there’s nothing to show, there’s compassion and depth in a neighbor.” Continue reading
Author Archives: Andrew Riley
Culture of Generosity and Thar Bar Wa
In 2015, Myanmar was ranked the world’s most charitable nation by the World Giving Index. For those who live here, this isn’t necessarily surprising. When major flooding hit during the monsoon season last year, the community mobilized immediately. Students organized volunteer efforts, donation groups patrolled the streets soliciting donations from cars and pedestrians, and trainers at my gym interrupted my lat pull-downs to show off pictures of the rice they’d delivered to affected villages. Continue reading
Life Outside the Margins: The Rohingya Existence
“To study psychological trauma means bearing witness to horrible events. When the events are natural disasters or “acts of God,” those who bear witness sympathize readily with the victim. But when the traumatic events are of human design, those who bear witness are caught in the conflict between victim and perpetrator. It is morally impossible to remain neutral in this conflict.”
– Judith Herman
Deep down south there is a place crammed into a constriction between steep dirt hills and a sweaty ocean. So much water hangs in the air that mold grows on shirts, walls, blankets, comp Continue reading