1. What happened in Myanmar in May 2008? How were people impacted? How many people were impacted?

2. What was the role of the United States in response to the disaster?

3. Why was it so difficult to get aid to the people impacted by the cyclone?

4. Describe the government of Myanmar. How has the government attempted to control the people of Myanmar?

5. How did the government recently change the constitution?

Conduct a keyword search with the terms Bebe, Mae La, refugee, Burmese. Answer the questions

6. What is the ethnicity of Bebe and her family and how did her ethnicity impact her childhood?

7. Where was Bebe raised?

8. When did Bebe move to the United States?

9. How long was Bebe in a refugee camp? What was it like?

1. In 2 May 2008, Myanmar experienced the biggest natural disaster in its recorded history. The Cyclone Nargis passed through the southern part of the country, reaching winds of 165 km/h and releasing enormous amounts of rainfall. This resulted in devastation of tens of towns. Over 84,000 people were found dead, and over 53,000 people ended up missing, with many more people ending up as refugees as they were left without houses, properties, and most importantly - their families. The damage has been estimated to 12.9 billion USD.

2. After the Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, the George Bush administration was quick to react. The United States immediately offered aid for the people that suffered from this natural disaster. The Myanmar authorities were not willing to accept it though initially, but after the pressure from the United States and India, Myanmar opened up its doors to foreign aid. The United States played a crucial role in negotiation and convincing the government of Myanmar to allow aid for the people who ended up in terrible conditions.

3. Even though there were hundreds of thousands of people that were badly affected by the cyclone, and lot of countries offered aid for them, it was initially impossible to deliver it. The main reason for this was the military junta that was in charge of Myanmar. The military junta was not willing to open up the borders to foreigners, thus foreign aid as well, so they resisted it for some time. It was only after negotiations occurred and lot of international pressure was imposed that the junta allowed for the aid to be delivered, though strictly organized and controlled by them.

4. The government of Myanmar was basically a military junta. The military junta had a military dictator as its leader, and they had all the military power in the country. By using force and violence, the military junta was controlling everything in the country, and even when there were elections where someone else was voted for leading the country, the junta was not willing to give up the power, so it continued ruling, while imprisoning or banishing the other political figures.

5. The constitution of Myanmar was changed for the third time in the year of 2008. The change occurred after a referendum, where the people voted for changes. While the military junta doesn't have all the power in the country as it did for most of the independence of this Southeast Asian country, it still has crucial role. The government now is elected by the people, which is good, but the military junta has 25% of the seats in the parliament. Also, the military junta is in control of all of the home, border affairs and defense, and it practically controls the whole military arsenal and personal in the country. One of the vice presidents is too decided by the military junta.

6. Bebe belongs to the Karen ethnic group. This ethnic group has had very big problems as it has been constantly under attack by the military junta in Burma/Myanmar, which made refugees out of most of them. Bebe's childhood was terrible to say the least. Bebe was born and raised in a refugee camp in Thailand, which were not offering the best of living conditions. So in general, Bebe's childhood was a struggle to survive.

7. Bebe was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. The name of the refugee camp was Mae La. This camp was made for the refugees from the Karen ethnic group of Myanmar which was attacked by the military junta. Bebe spend big portion of her childhood in this camp, living in terrible conditions, and seemingly without any perspective in live, until finally she got the opportunity to migrate to the United States.

8. Bebe moved in the United States in 2007, when Bebe was at the age of 22. After spending all of her childhood and early adult years in a refugee camp where the living conditions were terrible, and plus there were constant shootings from the Burmese/Myanmar side of the border, so not even a simple walk was safe as a shrapnel might have hit you. Finally, in 2007, Bebe was allowed to move into the United States along with her two brothers and father and they started a new life.

9. Bebe was in a refugee camp for 22 years, starting from 1985 and until 2007. This Karen girl was actually born in the refugee camp, and she was living in it until the age of 22, when she finally moved in the United States with her family. The life in the refugee camp in Thailand was very bad. Food was delivered on every 15 days, the donations were often late or not complete, and the improvised schools were not offering good education or even the same one, as they were sponsored by different organizations. Because the camp was very close to the border, in a valley, the Burmese soldiers would often get higher into the mountains and shoot down toward the valley and the Karen people in the camp, with the danger always lurking to get shoot and end up dead or injured.