Yesterday I went to Elaine Allan’s house to buy a couple of computer cords for the machines I’m giving to Burmese refugees. A lady named MuMu was over there. MuMu is a Burmese refugee who currently watches children for other Burmese people here in town. She speaks a little English, but is far from fluent. She has never used a computer in her life.
MuMu and other refugees like her are very interested in what has happened to Burma. MuMu didn’t know where her only sister was even before the cyclone due to the oppressive nature of the government. She’d heard about the storm from Elaine, but didn’t know the details.
I sat at a computer and showed her Google. I explained that this was a resource greater than all of the libraries she could imagine. There was a wealth of information at her fingertips, and she like anyone else could publish her story and connect with others.
She had seen a computer, but she had never in her life truly recognized the internet.
In seconds, I pulled up Google news and typed in “Burma cyclone”. I showed her pictures. Elaine and I explained headlines. She looked in amazement and a certain quiet sadness. I cannot imagine what was going on in her heart at that moment.
I messaged my friend in California and explained that this person was over 1000 miles away and could instantly communicate with me. I sent out a message of what we were doing to over 300 people on Twitter. All of this was new to MuMu. All of this could help her get better employment, educate herself and her children, or bring assistance to her family back home. None of it is at her disposal.
Social media is power. Believe it.
View Comments so far ↓
1 andrew.harrison.org : quickly: showing the internet to a burmese refugee // Jun 3, 2008 at 5:57 pm
[...] 1 [...]
2 Christopher Mikkelsen // Jun 9, 2008 at 7:20 am
Dear Michelle,
Please have a look at the organization I work for, Refugees United. I’m hoping you’ll like it, especially given the story you just told here.
Thank you for sharing it!
Christopher Mikkelsen
Refugees United
3 GeekAustin.org » Blog Archive » Linux Against Poverty: the mother of all install fests! // Feb 1, 2009 at 2:59 pm
[...] ago, Michelle asked me how she could obtain computers for the Burmese refugees she was helping (story and story). She didn’t have a lot of money to throw at it, and no ready sponsors, so the [...]
4 Clement // Feb 8, 2009 at 6:52 am
This is a moving story. Sometimes we take the technology that we have at our disposal lightly. I feel sad for the Burmese for the problems that they have at home.
Clements last blog post..Awesome Consumer Generated Media (CGM) Night in Tokyo
5 Don // Feb 27, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I appreciated your blog post. Have you read ‘Wealth of Networks’? It’s written by Yochai Benkler and basically details the benefits of providing information access to communities. It would be relatively easy to help set the Burmese refugees up with a sustainable affordable open source mesh network.
6 Linux Against Poverty: the mother of all install fests! // Mar 19, 2009 at 11:41 am
[...] ago, Michelle asked me how she could obtain computers for the Burmese refugees she was helping (story and story). She didn’t have a lot of money to throw at it, and no ready sponsors, so the [...]
7 showing the internet to a burmese refugee - Andrew Harrison // Jul 25, 2009 at 4:41 pm
[...] Michelle Greer showed a Burmese refugee the internet for the first time: [...]
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