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Defying power in community service Arabella Newnham BusinessWorld Internet Edition Dr. Cynthia Maung was not able to travel to Manila to accept her Ramon Magsaysay award and deliver her public lectures for fear that she might not be able to return to her clinic on the Myanmar-Thai border. Ms. Maung is a supporter of Myanmar political leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party. "She has ultimately received the ire of the Myanmar military," a co- worker of Ms. Maung said. The winner of the award for Community Leadership, Ms. Maung has been recognized for "her humane and fearless response to the urgent medical needs of thousands of refugees and displaced persons along the Thailand-Burma border." She has been treating victims of the brutal Thai-Burmese war for fourteen years. Tens of thousands of Karens and Burmese minorities have found sanctuary at Mae Sot in Thailand, where Ms. Maung runs her clinic. Born to a Karen family herself, Ms. Maung and some other medical students fled to Mae Sot when Burma's military junta launched a bloody crackdown against democracy advocates in 1988. She set up a makeshift clinic in response to the trauma and illness that was rampant amongst refugees in Mae Sot. Ms. Maung trained health workers to assist in the clinic and to serve as "backpack medics" across the border. By 1996 she supported six clinics in the Karen war zone. Today, Ms. Maung's clinic provides free health care to 30,000 people a year. The clinic has a laboratory and prosthetics workshop. It also deals with the social effects of refugee life. She set up women's organizations and youth programs to deal with problems of domestic violence and education. A spokesperson for the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation said they were sad such an inspirational individual could not attend the awards in person. A co-worker told media Ms. Maung was just too fearful of not being allowed back to her clinic if she left. Dr. Junice Melgar accepted the award on Ms. Maung's behalf at the ceremony last Saturday. Ms. Melgar is a member of Likhaan, a nongovernmental organization that works with Ms. Maung and her clinic in Mae Sot. The exchange program between Dr. Maung's clinic and Likhaan started in May 2000. Ms. Maung said in a message, "We strongly urge all countries, not just our neighbors, to support us in our struggle to free Burma from the military dictatorship."
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