During the Anguilla tourist season 2010/11, we continued to receive donations and in June we returned for the second time. It was so satisfying to see that they were making progress, the children looked healthier.
Every day we would spend time there. One morning we arose at the crack of dawn to accompany the children on their daily walk throughout the town to collect their day's food.
The money donated is used towards improved diet, extending the education offered to include "Middle School level, building repairs, a guaranteed wage for the teachers, computers and the possibility to be able to take care of more orphans.
The costs in Myanmar are low, so the smallest donation is welcomed and goes far. Because of your help, these orphans can have a basic education and a healthy childhood so they will be able to support themselves in a dignfied way when they grow up. On behalf of the children on Pylonchanta, we would like to say "Thank-you for your help".
Today
"Many of the things we need can wait but the child cannot.
Right now is the time.
His bones are being formed, his blood is being made and his senses are being developed.
To him we cannot answer 'Tomorrow'.
His name is 'Today'.
In September we flew to Myanmar for one month. After a certain amount of debate on whether or not to go, we decided that to visit as a “traveler” and not a ‘tourist’; by sleeping, dining, traveling & shopping only in small locally owned establishments, it would be benefiting the ordinary people.
It was one of our best trips ever and any-one who wishes to visit Myanmar in this fashion should definitely do so. The people are very friendly and really eager to meet foreigners.
Our first impression was of the friendliness of the people, their calm approach to life and their generosity.
Burma is a very rural country, quite underpopulated and unspoilt.
The transport options were pretty diverse and you definitely had to be in no hurry.
Push bikes, wooden public buses that dated back to World War 2, horse drawn carts, and even the traffic lights were unusual!
It was fascinating to learn about their gold and gems industry when we visited gem cutters studios, a "gold leaf" makers home and Mandalay's Jade Market.
The men manually hammer the pure gold into finer than paper thin leaves and they still cut the tiniest gems with unprotected saw-wheels.
The food was tasty with Chinese and Indian influences.
While we were moving from town to town, the choice of what to eat became limited, so we went according to "when in Rome........." for better or worse....
On the river boat journeys that lasted two days we became even more stuck for choice.
The children were smiling and cheerful and fun.
Many children become novice monks and nuns. Some are orphans and others are put in the monasteries by parents who are too poor to take care of them themselves. They are brought up and given schooling by the monks and nuns.
We visited one such orphanage and met with the head monk who explained about his orphanage. For their everyday needs they get offerings from the village, but their building was badly in need of repair. They were trying to fix it up themselves, but had no money to buy any materials. We donated what we could at that time, but before we return to Burma next summer we plan to organize a special Burmese dinner event at Hibernia one evening as a fundraiser for this orphanage.Here are some videos.....
We met Monks everywhere. They were very friendly could often speak english. They gave us much of their time & even took us around on the local bus to visit secluded temples, a Nunnery and a Pali school. It added a lot of enjoyment to our trip & we gained better insight into the Burmese culture and the country's dificulties.
One often hears about the Burmese monks, but as well as the 500,000 monks in Burma, there are about 200,000 nuns. They have a few less rules but basically lead a life similar to the monks; living in nuneries, meditating, collecting alms, studying Pali, etc...
The most important temple for the people of Mandalay is The temple of the Golden Buddha of Maha Muni.The Maha Muni image was cast in metal but the "lumpy" appearance (now almost 15 inches thick)of the lower part of the statue today is due to the generations of devotees who have adhered offerings of small squares of gold leaf to the image that only men are allowed to touch.
The ceremonies were very much a part of everyday life.