My UGC

So in the last few days of my internship at Causecast, I am supposed to be working on my UGC video (user generated content). I chose to do my video on Aung San Suu Kyi because I didn't know anything about her before coming to Causecast. I will be basing my video on a blog post I wrote for Causecast's blog.

Of course, when I wrote that entry, the verdict of her unfair trial had not yet been announced. Even though I expected her to get five years in Insein prison and she got 18 month of house arrest instead, I feel like this is just another example of how the military junta is trying to suppress opposition while keeping the international community at bay. Since the actual term she is serving is so much "less" than the alternative, people will probably not rise up in uproar. But, the real issue is that she cannot campaign for the upcoming elections while she is in house arrest and neither can her party. So really, this is a way for the military junta to legitimize themselves as the rightful government and negate her landslide victory in 1990 when they had their last election.

I never really thought I'd care so much about Aung San Suu Kyi and her plight, and her people's plight before this internship. If I leave with just this new awareness, I'd be happy but I know I'm leaving with much more than that. My time at Causecast was sometimes hard, sometimes long, but mostly happy, with lots of learning opportunities, awesome projects, great charity events, and really caring people. If everyone cared about something as much as the passionate people at Causecast, then this world would be a better place.

I'm going to be sad leaving this place. But, I feel like I can always come back or join in on their community activities. I'm only across town.

Injustice

Today I got to face many forms of injustice from morning until night. In the morning, I went to Causecast to help film an interview with Aaron Cohen. He's an amazing guy with a lot of history and a lot of heart for saving the innocent children. He's a Causecast leader who support Abolish Slavery.

In the afternoon, I helped film a protest to free Aung San Suu Kyi held in front of the Kodak Theater.

The protest was organized by LA Organizers for Burma along with the LA Burmese community. Aung San Suu Kyi is currently being detained in Rangoon while facing trial on charges for violating the terms of her house arrest. The international community has widely condemned the trial as an attempt by Burma's ruling military junta to keep Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, out of upcoming elections.

Later tonight, I read some bad news of detained journalists I've been following. 2 American journalists have been sentenced to 12 years in labor camp in N. Korea. These reporters worked for current tv. Their names are Laura Ling and Euna Lee. According to this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_nkorea_journalists_held Gore had no comment. According to CNN's article, Gore is slated to go and try to free them after the trial ends: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/08/nkorea.journalists/index.html

This must be really hard on their friends and family as well as current tv but I would have liked to see them address the issue even if it's an acknowledgement on their website.