Piece Comment

Review of RN Documentary: Waiting to go home


Another excellent documentary by Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands. This half-hour piece gives us a detailed examination of the life and dilemma of Burmese refugees currently living in Thailand with no home and no hope of going home. Like the Southeast Asian refugees who escaped the aftereffects of the Vietnam War, the 140,000 refugees from Burma live in poverty conditions along the Thai-Burmese border, some for more than 20 years. Sujan traveled to the Mae Ra Mo Loung camp and talked with refugees of many nationalities and social workers there about the harsh living conditions, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, political divisions--pretty much everything that you would expect in a small city but with more emphasis because of the temporary conditions of the refugee camp. Still there is a sense of hope and strength in the residents there especially for the children as they embrace new techonology and education. "Waiting To Go Home" is a timely piece and can easily be partnered with another Radio Netherlands half hour to make a great and pertinent world affairs one-hour special.

Advisory: "Guinea Pig shit" is spoken very quickly 15 minutes into the piece.