Nobel Peace Prize nominee / Burmese activist to speak in Calgary

Celebrated social justice activist Dr. Cynthia Maung, founder and director of the Mae Tao clinic in Thailand, will speak at a free public forum at 7 p.m. on September 24, 2009 at the Libin Theatre, Health Sciences Centre, 3330 Hospital Dr. NW, next to the Foothills Medical Centre.

Recognized as an "Asian Hero" by TIME magazine in 2003, and considered a front runner for a Nobel Peace Prize, Maung has received many honours for her humanitarian work, including the Ramon Magsaysay award (known as the Asian Nobel Peace Prize) and the John Humphries Freedom award in Canada.

Since fleeing her native Burma during the pro-democracy uprising in 1988, Maung has tended to fellow refugees' health needs. Over the past 20 years, she has built the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand, into a major health care and training centre.

The clinic provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient medical care for three to four hundred people daily. It is a major training centre for health care providers and also offers services in prosthetics and rehabilitation, counselling and child protection. The clinic provides free health care for refugees, migrant workers, and other individuals who cross the border from Burma to Thailand.

The September 24 forum is presented by the University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work and Medical Mercy Canada.

NOTE

Dr. Cynthia Maung will speak to Canadian media on Thursday, September 24, 2009 from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

For security reasons, the location will be given out by telephone only. Call the Medical Mercy Canada Society at 403-251-1300.

WHAT: An evening with Dr. Cynthia Maung (free public forum)

WHO: Celebrated social justice activist Dr. Cynthia Maung, founder and director of the Mae Tao Clinic in Thailand

Dr. Myron & Elaine Semkuley

Co-founders, Medical Mercy Canada Society

http://www.medicalmercycanada.org/

Phone: 403-251-1300