A priceless birthday gift

May and June spun into one.  Both months were filled with a constellation of events and activities.

In early May, Kevin and I arrived in Yangon for a 2 week training orientation; to experience, to get a taste of Myanmar whilst partaking and familiarizing ourselves with invaluable information about Myanmar before we were sent-off to our placements. Nay Pyi Taw for us.   

Nay Pyi Taw, the new government capital city of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and centrally located,  is situated north of Yangon and lies southwest from Mandalay.    SuSu , an extremely helpful Cuso staff accompanied us by  bus to our endpoint and,  together with a local taxi and a handy man in every aspect of the word, who  met us at the Thebagon bus station, drove us to our new home.   

After a comfortable bus ride from Yangon to NPT, we were pleasantly surprised to find that NPT is more developed than expected (some areas more than others), and appears to be an agreeable place to live in, provided that one has their own transportation and is free to come and go as they please.  Equally pleasing, was to find that our new home is in the heart of a local community; and, that the Swe Ja Bae local market is within walking distance.   After living out of suitcases and backpacks for 2 weeks, we were glad to unpack and air out our ‘musty’ clothes –let alone to finally indulge in cooking our very own wholesome food. 

That evening and all the next day, a well-seasoned volunteer, Carol, who only had a week left with her placement, took the time to show us around the city; to show us where the shops and some of her favourite local restaurants were in NPT.  We also ended up having lunch with her at Santinos – her favourite place to eat.

Monday morning, on my arrival at the Parliament, on my first day of work,I was introduced to the partners.  Unlike Mondolkiri, Cambodia where I was greeted with open arms, where the education director had gathered all staff together outside the education complex (to introduce the new primary education advisor) to deliver  a speech with his horn, to tell them that I will be sharing office with primary education staff to learn the Khmer language, to learn from each other,  I was instead shown to my new office (shared by another NGO and her interpreter), to my desk.  Shortly after my initial disappointment, rather, what was I thinking?,  the same older woman came in with several cleaners to my new office to instruct them to move my desk exactly in line with the others, where my desk would firmly be placed.  The same individual then proceeded to take the place of my assigned Line Manager, (who was evidently new in the field,) and promptly signed my document  (instead of my line manager who appeared to show little interest in the situation? - was he nervous too ?).   At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it all.  However, things improved quickly!

A week later, the new line manager took hold of the reigns. I moved office.  (My original office was reorganized and taken over by a number of staffs from another department) .  I was given the choice of having two offices with 2 desks:   A shared office with a group of foreign NGOs and/or move in with the Research parliamentary staffs where my Line Manager and his assistant were based.  I chose the latter.  To me it made perfect sense to work among helpful Burmese staffs , learn the language,, to learn from each other as I did in Cambodia,  to learn about the parliamentary system … and much more. 

 

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June

Before we new it, June came and went!   Throughout the month of June, it seemed I had ongoing birthday celebrations; from birthday cakes to dinners to outings.  My daughter, who had just returned from a canoe trip with her partner and colleagues, had sent me a priceless birthday gift!

"Happy birthday maman;
I hope your next year brings you so much life, laughs and adventure.

I took this photo on your birthday while I was on a trip thinking of you. It was taken at Cow Bay in Cayquot - Was a magical experience.

Sending you one million hugs,   So much love - love you lots xoxo  Léah"

June was a month where the locals repaired and prepared our dusty road for the much-needed-anticipated rain.  All the potholes on our little dusty lane were filled with a variety of rocks and of different sizes. Once filled, every pothole was coated with loose gravel.  Our neighbour in charge of this process, instructed the neighbours with a specific task.   Children, in twos and in fours, ran back and forth to the dirt pile , outside our neighbour’s home, filled either their buckets or stretchers with enough gravel  to neatly smooth out the holes done by the elders. 

Heavy rains did come.  Only for a short while!  The ground is bone dry, and at the Parliament, the grass is watered every day to upkeep the well manicured grounds.  July is near and there seem to be no sign of rain.

Elsewhere in NPT, though we‘ve raved to some people how lucky Kevin and I were to live in our own house, instead of a hotel, we did have a bit of a scare.  One morning, without warning, while I was at work, , 2 immigration officers and a local chief pounded on our front door.  They wanted  to know why a foreigner lived in a house instead of a hotel?  Kevin was promptly asked to show our passports and visa papers.  All the while, throughout the commotion, awaiting for clarification; awaiting for some type of response from the Cuso Mayanmar office, Burmese chatter between the 3 men buzzed around Kevin's ears, wondering if  their may be a slight possibility of being evacuated from our house to a hotel.  In the end however, after lengthy discussions between Cuso SuSu and an immigration officer, Kevin was told that we could stay.  Within 24 hours of this mishap, Cuso had contacted the immigration department in Yangon to straighten things out and to confirm our stay in our house.  Thank goodness! 

A couple of days later, 3 anti – malaria health –care providers with the same village chief (that came with the immigration officers) appeared at our house to place anti-malaria dissolving (tiny brownish) pebble bags  (that everyone pocked holes in) in our water harvest.  They told us that this was a normal yearly procedure done throughout the communities in NPT to prevent mosquitos from building larvae in still water – thus eradicating, preventing malaria or dengue fever.  To solve our problem, we decided to leave the faucet open, draining the water completely out of the water harvest when it rained. 

As for work, I thoroughly enjoy working together with staffs, MPs and my class.  I have an open door policy where my students come and go as they please.  Some have early morning commitments but still manage to attend my class.  When I prepare for the next day, some students will pop in to ask if they can help and or simply hang out!  I love my students – they’re so humble and hungry to learn.  

As for my line manager and I, together we're learning the ropes - making lemonade out of two lemons ... He's understanding: he's a breath of fresh air to work with.     I feel so lucky!

More later … : )   In the meantime,  Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter  for the next coming month.