Nearly twenty years ago, she was a student revolutionary fighting the Burmese Army on the Thai-Burma border. Living in a moving camp, on little supplies and being a medic to the wounded. Today, San San Maw is sitting, relaxed, on her couch in her home in an outer eastern suburb of Melbourne. She seems to be able to recall this time as though it wasn't so long ago.
San San, a slight woman of less than five feet, was a fourth year student of Burmese literature in 1988, when there were mass protests by civilians all over Burma. She was a member of the Kayah Student Organisation. "We organised an uprising — we wanted to change the government," she says firmly. "All of the public became involved with us...it was like a whole country movement that came alive."
"When we were meeting we heard they [the military] had taken power and we were too scared to go home." After camping out overnight she returned to her home before dawn. She learnt from her father that the police had been there the night before, looking for her. Concerned for her safety, her father urged her to leave. San San says in bewilderment, "So, I left."
She and twelve other students started a journey, only knowing that other students were gathering somewhere on the Thai-Burma border. They trekked their way through wild jungle, taking a round about route to avoid detection. They travelled up and down mountains, through rivers, without proper clothing or supplies. "After halfway my thongs were broken," she says with a laugh, "we had no idea what we were doing".
They didn't have a map or a compass either. But they navigated their way with the help of rural villagers. At each village a local was chosen to guide the group to the next village. She explains, "They were on our side, they also wanted change." They finally found the large camp of students who had gathered near the border of Thailand, in the Karen province, after nine long days. There were about 400 other students there already.
The camp was constantly under military gunfire and this forced the students to engage in combat. San San Maw and the other women took part in military training alongside the men. The women wanted to fight, she says, but the men wouldn’t allow it. She says with annoyance, "We had the