The Mae Tao Clinic is the work of Dr Cynthia Maung and many other volunteers. The clinic is situated on a rented plot of land on the outskirts of Mae Sot close to the Burmese border. The clinic still lacks official recognition from the Thai authorities, however, it is tolerated and there is even co-operation with the Thai hospital. Serious cases are being taken there and their treatment is paid for by the Mae Tao Clinic.

Sick kid laying on the floor

The clinic was started in the year 1989 when Dr. Cynthia started helping her sick and injured compatriots.

The small hut has become a small hospital with some houses. There's an emergency room, a maternity ward, a children's ward, a general medicine ward, a trauma ward and a section where prostheses are being manufactured for the growing number of land mine victims. There is also a blood bank, an eye clinic and a medical school.

Information is considered most important at the Mae Tao Clinic. The clinic has implemented campaigns in the fields of general hygiene, prevention of diseases and family planning. Every Saturday there's immunisation day and many children come to the clinic to get vaccinated.

Over 60 patients in an overcrowded little room

The facilities are very basic. The patients, amputees as well as people suffering from malaria, AIDS victims and people infected with tuberculosis are lying on hard tables in large rooms, without any privacy, mostly nursed by their families. In the children's ward the little patients are lying on thin mattresses on the floor.

The Mae Tao Clinic is treating about 30.000 patients per year. Of course the treatment is for free. The clinic is being financed by donations from all over the world and supported by many volunteers. Most of them have been trained at the clinic. Western doctors, midwifes and nurses are frequently volunteering at the Mae Tao Clinic for limited periods of time, contributing their knowledge and expertise.

The patients are coming from everywhere, many of them have fled across the border to escape the terrors of civil war. Often their condition is appalling, because of the long distances they had to walk and because of infections they have contracted. Patients also come from the villages outside the refugee cams. However, they often hesitate to come, because they cannot afford the travel expenses or are afraid of losing their badly-paid jobs. The loss of one income often means dire poverty and starvation. So often their condition is already very serious when they finally manage to come to the clinic.