In 1989, the first big wave of Burmese students fled into Thailand to escape the massive military crackdown that followed student demonstrations for free elections. Dr. Cynthia Maung, a recent graduate of the University of Rangoon medical school, was among them. She thought she was leaving Burma for only a short time—coming to the border to provide medical assistance for fleeing students.

Eleven years later, her Mae Tao clinic still operates in thatched-roof buildings on the outskirts of Mae Sot. In 1989, the clinic saw just over 1,000 clients. By last year the number had risen to 29,000.

As refugees streamed to the border in increasing numbers throughout the nineties, Dr. Cynthia expanded the services of the clinic. The clinic now provides inpatient and outpatient care, including immunization, family planning, and treatment for a variety of conditions ranging from malaria to prosthetics for refugees who step on the Burmese military's landmines as they flee their homeland. The clinic also trains mobile medical teams and midwives, who courageously cross back into Burma to bring medications and treatment to people who have no access to health care under the brutal Burmese military dictatorship… Were it not for Dr. Cynthia’s clinic, the Burmese teenager’s chances for survival would have been slight. As I left the clinic in May, I promised myself that I would find a way to be of use in this tragedy…

Excerpted from Turning Wheel, Summer 2000