Rachel Goldwyn

Simon Korn reminds us that not all travellers are lucky enough to return home with fond memories

"So how was your summer?" This has got to be one of the most common questions you'll ask or hear at this time of year. I'm sure plenty of you have been backpacking round the world. It was quite a shock for me to have only two weeks' holiday this year, having got used to those long three or four month holidays as a Cambridge undergraduate (who says we work hard?). I travelled round Egypt seeing tombs, pyramids, and temples. I then finished with an open-water scubadiving course in the Red Sea. Fantastic! I guess I don't really have too much to complain about.

I love travelling, meeting people, and experiencing different ways of life. But on returning home it always strikes me how boring middle class suburban life can be. However, I am also that bit more aware of how lucky we are to live in such relative peace, security, and stability.

About two years ago Rachel Goldwyn, my second cousin, taught English for a year in a refugee camp in Thailand. I remember her proudly showing me her holiday snaps at my home. Nothing too outrageous, I know. But, a fortnight ago she went to Myanmar, formerly Burma, from where her students had escaped, to sing a prodemocracy song in the centre of Yangon, the capital. You may have read or heard that for this "act of revolution" she has been arrested and is now sentenced to seven years' solitary confinement and hard labour.

Rachel: arrested for singing a prodemocracy song

Her parents, Edward (who produces television documentaries) and Charmain (who works as a general practitioner), are at present in Myanmar, negotiating with the authorities. Some may regard what she did as foolish or naive. But, as Fergal Keane wrote in the Independent, "no one who has been in Burma for any length of time can feel immune to the sense of fear. It is the ultimate police state. There are no guarantees there, no certainty that diplomatic niceties will be observed. It is not a futile gesture. It is an act of heroism, a belief in principles larger than any individual and which in our self obsessed, consumerist society we all too rarely see."

In an open letter to the people of Britain and Australia, James Mawdsley, who has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for distributing prodemocracy tapes and leaflets, explains what motivates him: "Many of you are aware that the military regime in Burma is violently oppressing millions of people. You may have heard of the psychotic violations of human rights, where the sick and elderly are burned alive in their homes, where villagers are used as human minesweepers, where young girls have broken bottles pushed into their vaginas by soldiers. Like me you find this intolerable, and you wish to God you could find a way to stop it. Many of us write letters of protest or join demonstrations outside Myanmar's embassies in Canberra and London. We pressurise companies that invest in Myanmar to pursue ethical policies, or even to withdraw entirely. We might lobby MPs and ask our governments to take a firm line on human rights. Journalists and public speakers can increase awareness, non-governmental organisations and charities can give humanitarian assistance, and any individual can donate money to fundraisers. And because of all this effort we now have the United Nations, the European Union, and the International Labour Organisation issuing their strongest condemnation of the junta's brutality. Invaluable, but clearly not enough. Is it not obvious what the next step should be?"

The last time James Mawdsley went to Myanmar he was imprisoned and sentenced to five years. He passed out twice under torture. After four weeks he had a fit and collapsed from lack of nutrition. He caught scabies, and the "authorities" refused to hand over the treatment provided by the embassy. He contracted two ear infections and sat for days with half his head on fire as if he'd been smacked in the face with a brick.

It is all too easy to step over the political line in countries where you are unaware of the political regime and the dangers. Many medical students spend their electives in countries such as Myanmar, naively unaware of the instability of their surroundings and therefore their position. Living in a country where human rights and democracy are commonplace makes it difficult to appreciate the constraints and rules underlying everyday life.

I'd like to finish by sharing some thoughts with you from Rachel Goldwyn's father. "A friend who knows Rachel well wrote these wonderful sentences to the generals.... 'Young people make mistakes arising from their idealism and a naive understanding of the real world. Through these mistakes we become mature human beings. I am certain that showing compassion for this young misguided girl will have a much greater effect on the girl's maturity than incarceration. In the ultimate we all need goodwill, both personally and nationally. I appeal with all my heart to yours.' I think this approach is fantastic. Communicate with dignity, respect and depth. Don't threaten. Don't talk about things you do not have first hand experience of. This is a chance to talk to the heart of these people. I am getting to know them. They are in many ways decent. They care about parenthood and about being good fathers. About patriotism, about hard work, about keeping one's word. Appeal to their good parts and so make them respect you." As the German Pastor Martin Niemoeller, who was famous for his rebellious sermons during the Nazi era and later his outspoken protest against nuclear weapons, said, "... then they came for me and there was no one left to protest ...."

If you'd like to write to Rachel or send a postcard to cheer her up, you can write to the following address: Rachel Goldwyn, Insein Jail, Insein, Yangon, Myanmar.

If you are interested in finding out more about the situation in Myanmar an excellent place to start would be James Mawdsley's website at http://www.insideburma.freeisp.co.uk/index.html

Simon Korn, second year medical student, Cambridge University


studentBMJ 1999;07:394-436 November ISSN 0966-6494