Does It Make You Angry?

I’m reading the BBC report on the 7 women that arrived in Thailand and I have not felt so much anger since watching 9/11 unfold on the television. This passage got me the worst

Hanah is just 21. She described chronic stomach pain as a child when her family were reduced to eating dumplings made from tree-bark.

From the age of 15 she tried to escape seven times, her young age apparently saving her from severe punishment when she was caught and sent back.

During these escapes she was separated from her parents, who were also trying to flee.

21, that’s my age. While I’m typing in the comforts of a University computer lab, Hanah is in a Thai prison uncertain of her fate while a coup is going on in the rest of the country. While I spent my summer at home or at the beach, she is traversing across China and Laos, battling the elements and hiding in the shadows.

Worse, both countries are willing to send her back to North Korea to die without hesitation. All I could do was to get as many people to hear their story. Is that all I’m capable of doing?

There’s a lot of pent up rage from reading such stories. Frankly, writing on a blog does not alleviate that. My hope is that anyone reading this could do more for these refugees and thousands of others still hiding in China and Southeast Asia than I could. I hope one feels the same way as I do.