When History Resurfaces and Reminds Us Why We’re Returning to Fang

tonytangebirah
Feb 12
5 min read

Last night, I was searching for information when a grainy video from 1997 suddenly caught my eye.

The video described a government offensive that drove thousands of ethnic villagers from their homes. Within a single week, 15,000 fled. By that time, over 80,000 were already in refugee camps across the Thai border.

According to the UNHCR, decades of conflict in Myanmar have displaced hundreds of thousands internally and across borders, with Thailand hosting one of the largest protracted refugee populations in Southeast Asia. Even today, more than 90,000 refugees remain in camps along the Thai–Myanmar border (UNHCR, 2023).

Conflict and instability in Myanmar intensified again after 2021, leading to renewed displacement. The United Nations estimates that over 3 million people are currently internally displaced within Myanmar (UNOCHA, 2024).

The numbers are staggering.

But statistics never tell the full story.

On the screen, families moved slowly along a rough jungle trail, carrying what they could, children clinging tight.

Behind every number is a father who stayed behind to protect his land. A mother who walked through the jungle carrying her child. A community that built makeshift shelters and called it survival. Watching the video stirred something in me.

Not that it changed our plans—our return mission has already been in motion—but because it awakened something in the heart: memory, empathy, and a deep connection to the people we will see in person this March.

A Legacy Still Felt Today

The footage reflected one of the greatest waves of displacement in the region’s recent history, when ethnic villagers fled civil conflict and sought safety across the Thai border.

Many never returned home.

Today, decades later, their descendants continue to live in those borderlands—still resilient, still striving, still waiting for sustained hope.

Thailand is classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income economy, reflecting strong overall growth over recent decades. Yet this national-level indicator masks stark disparities within the country. Despite notable progress, poverty remains concentrated in rural areas, especially in the North and Northeast, where agricultural households and ethnic minority communities live with uneven access to education, healthcare, and basic services.

Preparing lunch for us. Living off the land.

Even as multidimensional poverty has declined nationally, people in remote regions still lack adequate housing, clean water, schooling, or electricity—forms of insecurity that traditional metrics can overlook.

A Community of Faith and Resilience

This March, Gebirah will return to Fang for our second mission visit — this time focusing on a Catholic tribal community centered around Epiphany Church.

The villagers are descendants of those who fled violence decades ago. Many still live in simple huts, vulnerable to harsh weather.

The village is off the electric grid. Access to clean water is limited. Livelihoods depend largely on small-scale farming and fishing.

Yet in the heart of this mountain village stands a small Catholic chapel.

A priest travels monthly — if the weather allows — braving rough terrain to celebrate Mass.

In a region marked by displacement and poverty, faith has endured.

The resilience of this community is not just social or cultural. It is spiritual.

They gather. They pray. They build. They persevere.

Why We Are Returning

At Gebirah, a Catholic humanitarian organisation based in Singapore, we have been accompanying vulnerable communities across Southeast Asia—supporting refugees, displaced families, rural villages, and ethnic minorities with dignity and long-term care.

Our work is rooted in the Church’s mission to love and accompany, not just to deliver aid.

In Fang, our focus is to walk with the community as they continue to chart their future—bringing both immediate relief and sustainable support grounded in subsidiarity, empowering people to draw on their own strengths rather than creating dependency.

How We’re Helping—and How You Can Contribute

Our mission team this March will work closely with local leaders and families on:

🌱 Immediate Needs & Basic Relief • Food, rice, and essential supplies for families with limited access to markets. • Hygiene kits and basic healthcare support.

🏡 Shelter & Water • Repairs to damaged huts and parish facilities due to harsh weather. • Installation of water tanks to harvest safe drinking water.

💡 Practical & Sustainable Aid • Materials for solar lamps to provide light in homes without electricity. • Support for fish farming, sewing projects and regenerative agriculture initiatives that strengthen livelihoods.

📚 Education & Formation • Basic school kits for children. • Expanded access to digital learning through our online education app, helping bridge gaps in educational access.

But more than supplies, we are bringing presence.

Because sometimes the greatest poverty is being forgotten by society.