AFTER 18 months working with desperate Burmese refugees in Malaysia, former Cheney School pupil Ian Werrett is pounding the streets of Oxford to get back to Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Werrett, 25, from Headington, travelled to Malaysia alone after learning of the attacks committed against Burmese refugees by their country’s military regime.
Now he is back in the city and working as a tour guide for UniGifts of Oxford in the High Street to raise enough cash to get back out there.
And the firm has agreed to donate 10 per cent of his profits to his trip.
Mr Werrett will be leading people around the famous sights of Oxford for the rest of the summer and hopes to chat to them about the ordeal being faced by Burmese refugees.
The Burmese Junta is accused of persecuting all ethnic minorities, wiping out entire villages, systematically raping women and girls, and forcing young boys to become child soldiers. As a result, huge numbers of Burmese people and their children have fled into neighbouring Thailand and Malaysia to escape.
Mr Werrett volunteered at the KL Krash Pad youth centre in Chow Kit, a low income, high-crime area of Kuala Lumpur, providing Burmese refugees with food and medicine and their children with school classes.
Mr Werrett said: “The children yearn for education, while school supplies were treated like birthday presents.”
He also wrote down the stories of many of the refugees, including one who told him how the military would visit his village most weeks to take boys for the army and rape girls and women.
Mr Werrett said: “Being in Malaysia and helping these people wasn’t easy, but it was deeply rewarding and something I want to get back to as soon as possible.
“It seems very fitting that tours of Oxford, will be used to raise funds for Burmese refugees as this city was once the home for (Burma opposition leader) Aung San Suu Kyi.
“I am looking forward to the summer and taking people around the beautiful city where I grew up, then later this year I will be going back to South East Asia to help those who really need me.”
Mr Werrett’s tours are open to all and began on Saturday. Tours can be booked at the UniGifts store.
No comments:
Post a Comment