By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer
As Betty Shipley goes through the pages of her photo albums, her expression is understandably somber. The faces in the photos are of refugees living in camps along the Thailand and Myanmar border.
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| Betty Shipley runs International Assistance Group, an organization that provides aid to refugees living along the Thailand and Myanmar border. Shipley, seen here at the Mae Rah Moo refugee camp last May, founded the organization with her husband in 1994. |
She flips through dozens of photographs, recalling stories about their subjects, many of whom are children who have touched her life: a boy soldier who lost his hands and eyes in a landmine accident, a young girl she befriended who recently died of cancer.
"A lot of sad stories . . . ," Shipley whispers, her eyes seemingly fixed on their eyes.
Shipley, 59, a resident of Makaha, runs International Assistance Group Inc., or IAG, a nonprofit organization that provides food, medicine and humanitarian aid to remote areas of the world. Shipley and her husband, Ben, founded the organization in April 1994.
"We thought we would just do spot missions all over the Pacific Rim, but when we saw the needs of the Karen refugees (an ethnic group from Myanmar) and we really believed in what they were fighting for, we decided we would just focus on them," Shipley said. "So that’s the only place we give aid to now."
Amnesty International reported three months ago that torture has become institutionalized in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which is ruled by a miliary regime. Torture is used as a means of instilling fear in critics of the military government. The International Labor Organization also recently imposed sanctions against the country’s use of forced labor.
"(The Karen) are not free . . . if they want to stay (in Myanmar), they’re enslaved, basically," Shipley said. "They just want to be left alone and want their own piece of land to live in."
Throughout the years, Shipley has made 11 trips to the Thailand and Myanmar border area. She has traveled with teams of volunteers, sometimes consisting of doctors, teachers and pastors. But since 1997, Shipley has been traveling alone.
Shipley brought donated supplies and money on her most recent trip last May, which lasted for about a month.
"When I am on the Thai side, I buy rice, beans, chilies, dried fish, fish paste, any type of food item, and we can also buy medicines over the counter," said Shipley, who is affectionately known by the refugees as Pee Tah Thoo, or "grandmother bear."
"I traveled up and down the Thailand-Burma border visiting the refugee camps, the ones that I could get into, and I visited six different camps," said Shipley. She then distributed the supplies to the refugees in the various areas.
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Betty Shipley
 Age: 59
Hometown: Tualatin, Ore.; now lives in Makaha
Family: husband, Ben Shipley, 57; children: Lorrie Sams, 38, of Washington; Scott Shipley, 35, of Wisconsin; Robin Huggins, 38, of Mississippi; Shane Unger, 25, of California
Position: secretary and treasurer of International Assistance Group Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides food, medicine and humanitarian aid to the Karen refugees living along the Thailand and Myanmar border.
Accomplishment: Shipley co-founded the organization with her husband in 1994 and throughout the years has made 11 trips to the Karen refugee camps to deliver much-needed items to the refugees in person.
Quote: "I get a lot of satisfaction going in there and knowing that I’m doing something that’s helping someone else." |
Shipley said that one of her most memorable trips was in June 1997, when she helped to distribute truckloads of food, worth about $1,200, to more than 180 refugees living in one compound.
"We had donated funds, and I bought food on the border and then hired a truck, and they made three trips over a three-week period," Shipley said. "That really struck me because the village leaders inventoried everything I brought in . . . they had a complete list of everybody that lived there, down to the child, the sex and the age, and they divided everything up absolutely equally between everybody.
"That was the biggest (distribution) we had ever done, and we touched the most people tangibly."
Traveling to the Thailand and Myanmar border and bringing aid to the Karen refugees is a major part of the organization, but Shipley also keeps busy with other IAG projects that are just as significant.
Shipley started a ministry about a month ago called "Zip the Blessings," where people can donate
Ziploc-type bags full of necessities for the Karen refugees, including personal hygiene items and school supplies. She plans to take about 50 of these with her to distribute to the refugee camps on her next trip, which she is planning for late April.
She also started a pen pal ministry about nine months ago for those interested in corresponding with Karen refugees, as well as a sponsorship ministry that she started four years ago.
"There are four levels of sponsorship, and you can pay to keep a child in school," Shipley said. "Right now we have 32 children that we’re sponsoring."
Mary L. Wright, 55, of Satsuma, Ala., has been sponsoring an 18-year-old Karen refugee named Saw Than Oo since last August.
"It’s something that’s just so affordable to do that it’s just sad not to," Wright said.
In a letter to Shipley, Saw Than Oo wrote in broken English: "Thank you so much for all your hard work for me. I remember you and your family always. Please tell my sponsors they sent the money this year enough for me. Now nearly final exams so I work hard for my study God bless you and your family richly."
Saw Than Oo and Wright also correspond with each other.
"He just tells me how proud he is of being able to go to school and of the grades that he’s making," Wright said. "For most of them, just learning how to read or write is a big, big step and education just seems to be so important."
Shipley said that her work with IAG is all-consuming and is always in the back of her mind. Although she loves what she does, the job can sometimes be a threat to her safety.
"It’s very dangerous there," Shipley said. "There’s fighting going on right now on both sides of the border."
During two trips in 1995 and 1997, Shipley and a small team of volunteers had to be evacuated from their job sites because of the presence of Myanmar troops.
Shipley, who attends Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor, said her Christian faith drives her to do what she does.
"I really think that’s why I’m never afraid when I’m there," said Shipley, who added that she fears more for the lives of the refugees than for her own life. "If I were to lose my life over there, I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, and I would rather do that than get hit by a car not living the way I was supposed to."
Prior to her work with IAG, Shipley was an office manager and lived in North Pole, Alaska. She and her husband moved to Hawai‘i in 1991 and, after turning 50 the same year, Shipley said she realized that she needed to do something more with her life.
"I had a strong faith, but I wasn’t really living a Christian life at that time. So I rededicated my life," said Shipley, who soon after began her humanitarian work.
Don Puschin, an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor, has known Shipley for about four years.
"She is a wonderful person, she is a servant of the Lord and she has a big, beautiful heart," Puschin said. "She treks in the jungle, in the midst of all this danger, and has devoted her life to these Karen refugees."
Shipley realizes that she may not be able to help all of the thousands of refugees, so her goal is simply to make a difference, one life at a time, which is the motto of IAG.
"I get a lot of satisfaction going in there and knowing that I’m doing something that’s helping someone else," Shipley said. "I’ve got a real tender heart, and working with the children and the women, it’s really rewarding."
Do you know someone who has won a major award, given of himself or herself, or accomplished other great things? The ‘Ohana section profiles remarkable people every week. Write: Honorable Mention, ‘Ohana Section, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; e-mail ohana@honoluluadvertiser.com; fax 535-8170.
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