Local Charity Starts Orphanage:
Refugees in Thailand aided by Niantic
group
Born two months prematurely with a birth weight of
2.65 pounds, the products of rape by a Burmese soldier, abandoned by her mother,
hospitalized in Intensive Care for five days at birth with four more days in the
regular hospital ward, and then periodic follow-up visits to the hospital: It's
been a tough start to life for Bente, a Karen refugee orphan who celebrated her
first birthday earlier this year.
What's the connection for this infant with
southeastern Connecticut? It is doubtful that Bente would be alive today if it
weren't for a small, local charitable organization that has founded an orphanage
in the upper reaches of Thailand.
That charitable organization is known as the Karen
Emergency Relief Fund or "KERF" to its supporter. Stated informally in Niantic
in 1987 by the Rev. Steven Hulme and parish members of St. John's Church, much
of its modest budget comes from donors in southeastern Connecticut. While
modest, its funding provides major support to the Karen people, an ethnic
minority in Burma who have been brutally persecuted and largely displaced by
Burma's military dictatorship during the last 40 years. Parade Magazine this
year ranked Burmese General Than Shwe second on its list of "The Ten Worst
Living Dictators."
The Karen people, who are mostly Christian, number
about 11,000,000 in Burma; An estimated 140,000 refugees are now living in camps
across the border in Thailand where they have fled to escape persecution.
As one of its projects, KERF "officially" opened
an orphanage for infants and children like Bante last year, according to the
Hulme, an East Lyme resident who is the executive director.
"She was expensive!" Hulme said of Bante. She is
one of 20 children in the KERF Orphanage. He described the rapid growth of the
orphanage and related expenses. In April 2003 there were eight children and two
caregivers at a cost of $500. At last count there were 20 children and five
caregivers at a cost of $1,500 a month. Some of the children are the result of
rape by Burmese soldiers and have been abandoned by their mothers.
Like others of different ages, Bante was taken in
by Dr. Sabine Roper, a young physician and psychotherapist from Germany who runs
the orphanage. Part of a unique community refugee center she oversees as program
director from KERF, the orphanage is located in the border town of Mae Sot,
Thailand.
The Center is the major beneficiary of KERF funds.
In 2001 KERF engaged Roper to help victims of rape and torture, and provide
prenatal care for young women. Recognizing the great need, the center now runs
the orphanage, and a walk-in medical clinic. It supports refugee children in
school, and has established a large garden plot, and raises poultry, goats and
pigs.
While Hulme has made several trips to Thailand,
more recently has maintained contact through e-mail with Roper. In addition to
Bente, Roper writes of the need to care for other abandoned infants: "We have
two new babies now, 1 month and 3 months old. ... I have had to buy clothes and
diapers for them, more milk bottles. ... It is difficult enough to care for four
infants during the night."
She talks of building a barn for goats and pigs,
fencing and veterinary supplies. These animals, as well as a vegetable garden,
will provide nutrition for protein-starved children.
In addition they need a generator to drive a water
pump for the garden because Mae Sot has a dry season of six months with no rain.
Even in rainy season there are long periods without rain, she reports.
Roper lives in the facility that houses the
orphanage. Married to a Karen national, she has one child of her own. Hulme
recently learned that they have adopted Bente. Of the other children in the
orphanage she writes that 14 attend school in Mae Sot, requiring fees, uniforms,
books and supplies.
Hulme began fund raising for the Karen people in
1987 after returning to Niantic from a visit to the refugee camps. He saw it as
a way of responding to the desperate needs he observed there. Poverty was
rampant in the camps. He said that refugees often has only grain bags for
clothing, for example. Parish members of St. John's Church supported projects in
those early years. Money was sent to contacts in Thailand to support people in
the camps. KERF helped a few of the documented Karen refugees who were allowed
to resettle in the United States.
On a visit in August 2000 he met Roper, who also
had a deep commitment to the Karen people. The following January she became
program director for KERF.
Hulme says that last year the organization "sent
$24,950 to aid the Karen refugees and the 20 'Kerfies' -- our orphans." He said
that an additional "48 orphans, who we know of, in the camps and inside the
Karen state of Burma have received assistance from KERF."
Hulme estimates that $350 will support one child
for a year. As the unpaid executive director, he takes pride in the fact that 95
percent of contributions goes directly for aid. The organization office is in
Hulme's home, which cuts expenses greatly.
KERF's board of directors is made up of all
volunteers, largely from southeastern Connecticut, Currently they are President
Greg Rice, Groton; Board members Robert Jennings, Waterford; William D. Moore,
Capt, Richard Goode, Dr. Job Cook, Dr. Joseph Legg, all from East Lyme; SawK'nehLay, Pittsfield, Mass; Ehn Zea,
Hatfield, Pa.; Hulme and Roper.
KERF is urgently seeking the support of additional
donors. Contributions can be sent to KERF, P.O. Box 111, East Lyme, CT. 06333.
To reach Hulme, call (860) 739-3024.
