Give Oprah a break on India

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Oprah Winfrey has been trashed for her recent television special on India, based on a trip she made to the country in January. She’s been accused of reinforcing stereotypes and oversimplifying a complex country.

Yes, maybe the two episodes, part of her prime-time series "Oprah's Next Chapter,” were cheesy. “There is nothing like this country,” she said in the preview. “I am forever changed by the experience.”

But it’s Oprah. Of course she’s cheesy.

Yes, maybe the show provided a slightly simplistic, superficial view of India. She visits the Taj Mahal and meets with Bollywood stars.

But it’s American TV for a mass audience. Of course it’s simplistic and superficial.

Desperate for healthcare in Myanmar

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:06:00 +0000

MAE SOT, Thailand — Maw Lwin Khine lives with her husband in a small wooden home with a thatch roof. They don’t have electricity, running water or a phone. The couple sells flowers, earning roughly 2,500 kyats (US$3) a day.

They were managing fine until Maw Lwin Khine, eight months pregnant, went into labor.

Maw Lwin Khine’s aunts packed up food, loaded her into a horse cart and took her to a hospital in eastern Myanmar’s Karen State. Her husband followed on a bicycle. At the hospital, the doctor determined that Maw Lwin Khin, 28, had high blood pressure and needed a Caesarian section. The doctor performed the operation, but the baby had already died.

The difficulties did not end there.

The government-run hospital charged 200,000 kyats for the operation and another 300,000 for medicine and supplies. The couple pulled together their life savings and borrowed the rest – about 455,000 kyats – from friends.

“We had no money left so we decided to come here.”

~Maw Lwin Khine

Salon.com > Hanna Ingber

Give Oprah a break on India

Desperate for healthcare in Myanmar