Leung Yee Tip is a Shan who currently lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he works for the Shan Helath Committee. Among his many projects he supervises an amputee prosthetics clinic in northern Thailand. This is a transcript of a short interview on the subjects with him, February 2010.
Do you have an age in which people are allowed to work?
An age?
Yes, like children, or an age?
We don't use children.
How old are you in Shan to not be a child?
Eighteen. And also in the army too is 18.
How old is too old to be in the army?
Forty-five. Is mean that they can join between 18 and 45, and they can stay until 60 or 65. And also sometime, some of the children when they come with the SSA soldier they want to be a soldier, but we just send them to the school. Because some of their parents have been killed by the SPDC so they want to join the army.
Who is the funder for this farm project?
They is funder from CPI from America. (the anti-landmine organization Clear Path International)
How many amputees are there?
Here at this camp has 37 amputees. And then we choose from them who want to do this farming. And then we form a small company to look after this farm.
How did they become amputees?
Most of them are old soldiers from the MTA (Muang Tai Army, the predecessor to the current rebel SSA).
Land mines?
Land mines, and some in battle.
Do you get many new amputees?
Not, I did see a new one, some of them I think are new.
Does the SSA have people go out to look for land mines like in Loi Kaw Wan?
No here it's dangerous for them. If you don't know technically exactly how to search for land mines.
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