So I ended up staying in Myanmar a few extra days so that I'd have about two full weeks there...yet I am still far from satiated. I am intrigued by that particular country as well as the surrounding areas. The spirited people, rich land, diverse culture, complex historical and political situations...it is just so intricate and complex, wonderful and harsh, pure and dirty, all at the same time.
In Myanmar, I started my journey in the south where I was taken aback and slightly uncomfortable with the constant attention I was receiving as a white person roaming around. I'd be given the heads up about this, but didn't really get it until I was walking the streets of Yangon, the biggest city in Myanmar, where the sidewalks are scattered with deep holes and the electricity shuts off regularly at random times. Now, the attention you get as a foreigner is not like when pretty women get playful cat calls when passing by a testosterone flooded construction site, nor when Bradgelina and the kids pass by adoring fans and aggressive paparazzi. On a simple stroll through the streets, I received many heartfelt, excited "Hello's!!" and several requests for pictures with me, was approached by multiple energetic longyi-clad kids and robbed monks anxious to practice their limited conversational English, and was even welcomed into the back of a street side teashop, which turned out to be a family's home, to be protected from a monstrous monsoon. Mostly everyone seemed thrilled to see people from the outside world coming to explore their country. To me, they seemed genuinely proud and exhibited what I interpreted as a sense of relief and hope. While it was fascinating and somewhat flattering at times, by the time I reached Mandalay, I was ready for the attention to stop.
By now (back in Northern Thailand, by the way), I thought I'd be writing fervently about things that have grabbed my attention recently (politics, human rights, etc., specifically the sickening realities of the nearly half million internally displaced persons amongst various ethnic minorities in the border regions of the area)...BUT...A) I still have much to learn so my opinions would not carry much weight at this point anyway, and B) I am hopeful I will be returning to the country at some point in the near future and given democracy and free speech has not yet fully blossomed and been accepted there, I will keep my mouth shut and hold off a bit to avoid any potential negative clashes with the government. Instead, I will share some more about the beauty and characters of the country I was fortunate to experience; however, given my growing knowledge and interest in what has been going on "behind the scenes" there, I must say at times I felt I was being forcibly ushered around a very limited portion of the country - far from the outskirts - to specific tourist friendly places flowing with smiling, happy folk, plenty of shops, beautiful sparkling pagodas and more. I sometimes felt I was walking within a meticulously constructed movie set,Truman Show style, and am now even more ravenously curious to pop the bubble and peak behind the curtains...
Anyways, after leaving magical Inle Lake, I continued up North to Hsipaw, a quiet area more or less similar to the trekking town of Kalaw with many Shan villages scattered on the outskirts. I ended up bonding with an extremely fascinating, warm woman from Taiwan who shared her story with me over some scrambled eggs and fresh pineapple at our homestay. Hope, whose name appropriately fits what she's all about, is a renowned University Professor who has come to Myanmar for nearly 5 years now, teaching poor Shan village children Mandarin Chinese and English on her own time. Although some of those villages tend to be somewhat secluded and prefer to be self-sustaining, perhaps a bit "skeptical" and uninterested in the incoming Westernized influences, Hope has managed to build a very tight relationship with one particular village and has loyally returned to instill hope in the form of education for these precious kids. She must have read the extreme admiration, enthusiasm, and interest in my eyes as I listened to her experiences and so she graciously invited me to join her that afternoon for a class with the children.
This was such a rewarding and thought-provoking day. I wish I could repeat it. We walked about an hour along dirt roads to this Shan village just outside of Hsipaw, where we passed hut after hut, ox after ox, rice field after rice field (you get the idea...) and stopped at a beautiful wooden hut on high stilts with some plump pigs and chickens running around in the dirt yard in front. This was the Village Leader's house where she has the children gather on a blanket for a makeshift outdoor classroom whenever she visits. The kids of all ages literally jumped for joy as she walked in, and she reciprocated the excitement and love. I was extremely impressed when a young girl with a baby on her back came straight over to me and asked my name in perfect English. They must be soaking this up! It was really a beautiful thing to watch and couldn't believe I was lucky enough to get up in front for my own little English song/dance thing I made up to play with the kids. Lots of energy and laughing and overall a really special, good time.
One family in the village I met really touched my heart. An older toothless man with a somber smile was standing arm-in-arm with a limping, young, baseball-capped boy, who was clearly not partaking in the lessons. I then approached them and the hand gestures and limited communication between me and the older man began, but then Hope joined me to explain their story and instantly became teary-eyed. I learned that the boy and father had unfortunately been in a rough motorbike accident a few months ago just down the road, and since the little boy was not wearing a helmet at the time, he suffered severe brain damage and is no longer able to talk or interact in a consistent, reliable way. The impression I got from some of the elders (from pointing to his head and then shaking their hand to indicate "no") was that they were not hopeful for the kid, which was disturbing since I know there are options to improve these situations in more developed places in the world, like specialized schooling, speech therapy, etc. Although the small family exhibited optimism, it was easy to see the desperation and worry behind their smiles. I learned that the "moya" bills (doctor/medical bills) they must pay have prevented the boy from being able to attend any type of school and have so far tallied up to 1.5 million kyat, or $1,500 USD. For a family that makes about $1-2 USD a day on average, this is obviously an overwhelming amount of money. I couldn't help but think how the situation might be different and how that boy's future might be changed if he had even some access to special education, decent doctors, a chance to continue to live his life despite some cognitive disabilities from a tragic accident. It was sad for me to see the limited school supplies available to the kids (they were PSYCHED when I handed out pencils and paper to them, like kids on Christmas morning jacked up on sugar) as well as the relatively run-down circumstances they live in; but to see a seriously injured kid within this scene with an even lower chance of a bright future ahead of him really broke my heart.
After being "escorted" hand in hand by the adorable children all the way to the edge of the village, Hope and I discussed potential options on how we could help that family out, even just a little. We threw around ideas of involving Doctors Without Borders and other potential organizations that could help, which I believe she is looking into now, but in order to do something that would provide instant relief to the warm-hearted family, we decided to put together what we could to donate to them directly out of our pockets. So far, best money I've spent so far on this trip. But I want to do more. I need to.
So now I am back in Chiang Mai after some perspective altering experiences in a third world country, filling myself up with whatever knowledge and resources I can get my hands on to learn more, and actively searching for something I can do to continue to provide hope, help, or really anything to those who really need it in this part of the world, even it's just for one person in one random village that I will only see once.
Stay Tuned...
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