By Bangkok News Group (Originally in Thai) Supreme Master Ching Hai’s boundless love manifested in a humble medical clinic on the Thai-Burmese border. After reading an article about the Mae Tao Clinic, which offers a wide-range of free services to Burmese refugees and other ethnic groups, the Supreme Master Ching Hai immediately contributed US$10,000. Thai fellow initiates traveled to the clinic on December 23, Golden Year 3 (2006) to deliver Master’s contribution and an award letter, which were very gratefully received by Dr. Cynthia Maung. ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Dr. Cynthia has received many awards and international recognition, including a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Time magazine title of “Asian Hero”. For her compassion and dedication to helping those in need, Time magazine honored her as a “Healer of Broken Souls”. Dr. Cynthia knows first-hand what it’s like to be a refugee, as she herself fled from Burma into Thailand in 1988. After transforming a barn into a medical clinic, she started to provide free treatment for other refugees with just a few supplies and medicines. The clinic has blossomed into a loving community that now serves over 70,000 people a year, offering patients a 100-bed hospital, operating facilities, a blood bank, an eye care unit, a pediatric and maternity ward, with birth certificates and marriage licenses. Dr. Cynthia has also established a school to educate 4,000 migrant children. On December 23, on behalf of Master, we presented the contribution to Dr. Cynthia, along with some of Master’s publications. When we arrived at the clinic, journalists from BBC World Service (www.bbc.co.uk/burmese) and New Era Journal Company were already there waiting to interview us about Master and Her Association. They had heard about and were interested in Master’s donation which was broadcasted that night. We also conducted an interview with Dr. Cynthia for Supreme Master Television. She answered our questions with great humility and also emphasized her work of educating patients on how to protect and take care of themselves in order to reduce sickness. Since it was late already, we returned the next day, and with the assistance of Mr. Aung Pur, the clinic Administrator, we took video footage and photos around the clinic. It was a wonderful surprise to learn that he has been a vegetarian for 10 years. Almost all of the patients are Burmese, Karen and Mon. The patients pay only 30 Thai Baht (less than 1 US dollar) for the first visit; after that everything is free of charge. During our visit, we learned that many workers from nearby factories come every Sunday to donate blood. This is the biggest help and sacrifice they can offer. We were touched to see their willingness to help the small ethnic groups in Mae Sot. Although the clinic is not big and is less comfortable
than other hospitals, it is still able to help a lot of patients and
save many lives because of the dedication of Dr. Cynthia and her staff.
We very much appreciate the unconditional love and sacrifice of the
staff in Mae Tao Clinic.
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