Small mangoes, hundreds of them now
maturing from our 5 mango trees in our little courtyard are strewn everywhere, some
dropping-down like bombshells on tin roofs, the well to be exact, orchestrates the
crashing of a tambourine-like sound when mangoes fall and smash to the ground each day. 2 days ago, heavy winds brought down 2 heavy
large mango branches across the driveway.
Neighbours from every household immediately came to our aid with their
machetes to cut down the heavy branches to clear the driveway. Like the well-orderly maintained roads of
NayPyiTaw, our driveway and courtyard was methodically done in an systematic
fashion where everyone seemed to know his well-defined ‘duty’! The son’s next door’s duty was to pick up the
debris for a bomb fire to be had on our front lawn.
On the way to the market, throughout the
month of March, small white, red and blue flags lined the dirt roads to the
open field behind us where a large stadium was built to raise funds for the Monks. Each day, deafening music for everyone to
hear bellowed throughout the neighbourhood.
Rejoicing this occasion, Thanakha
locals from the various communities, walked with friends and family to the
stadium to pay their respect and to donate food and or small amounts of money. This celebration is done every year
throughout Myanmar to raise funds for the Water Festival in April.
Through the last part of March, Kevin and I
spent a week in Yangon at the printing shop for the formatting of the
Curriculum. It turned out to be a more
complicated exercise than expected because, their software programming didn’t
have the Myanmar 3 (or any other Myanmar number) Language installed on their
computer, and the company was not prepared to install it. To compound the problem further, the designer
had never designed or formatted a book and I ended-up doing most of the work, showing,
helping the designer where the icon tools were located on the computer. He didn’t speak English and we seemed to play
charades for on-going comprehension … :)
On a sunny beautiful clear blue sky, a day
where I thought we were progressing well with the book, and with one of my many expeditions to the
outside bathroom, their guard dog that normally is placed in a shady spot well
away from the printing factory was let loose on that particular day and bit me!
This
dog had several dog bites from other dogs in the neighbourhood and, had also recently bit other
western foreigners.
The people took good care of me and immediately took me to the hospital
for a rabies shot. What concerned me more was not the dog bite, but the
blasé comportment from Cuso Myanmar. They didn’t bother reporting this mishap, concern for the safety of volunteers, to
Cuso Canada. This is an on going problem that is very real in developing countries to
warn Cuso volunteers of this problem. In
my opinion, it is critical for Cuso Volunteers to be well aware of dog bites in
developing countries, so that not only are they well prepared for this inconvenient mishap that may happen, but to be
inoculated against rabies before the start of their placements and while in
placement if necessary!
March
was a month that could have been Christmas everyday or Ground Hog Day, where
something, a day is repeated over again or caught in a time loop. In this case, in room 5, Everyday was gift day! I was either showered with several gifts or a
significant gift of some sort each day from my 2 classes. After each gift giving, my parliamentary
students sat me on a chair, preceded in taking their flip-flops’ off, formed a
semi circle around me and in unison knelled down and bowed 3 times to the
ground saying a prayer. At first, I
wasn’t sure what to make of it all. My
parliamentary students explained that, ‘Teachers
are one component of the Five Infinite Venerables in Myanmar. After
the Bhudha, the Monks, I was like their parent, their mother, their teacher of
love, of a higher order. They said that they, 'Wanted to
pay their respect, gratitude and love for me.’ At these words, I relented and began to
weep. They wept of joy with me! My
students indeed, opened up their hearts,
gave their love and their friendships … Naturally, I too reciprocated and fell in love with my students. We had become family. In my class their was never any right or wrong answers. The goal is to bring people together for fun and easy learning. It is to generate insights, ideas, questions for conversation ... I feel truly honoured!
Below is a letter from my parliamentary students explaining the meaning of gift giving, honouring and paying respect to their teacher.
'Dear Alice,
Teachers are one component of the “Five Infinite Venerables”, along with the Buddha, Dhamma (teachings of the Buddha), Sangha (the order of monks) and Parents.
U Aung Thin, a retired teacher from Yangon University, said Buddhists consider their teachers almost like parents. In Myanmar, this kind of ritual (pay homage to their teachers) has a much longer history.
Below is a letter from my parliamentary students explaining the meaning of gift giving, honouring and paying respect to their teacher.
'Dear Alice,
Teachers are one component of the “Five Infinite Venerables”, along with the Buddha, Dhamma (teachings of the Buddha), Sangha (the order of monks) and Parents.
U Aung Thin, a retired teacher from Yangon University, said Buddhists consider their teachers almost like parents. In Myanmar, this kind of ritual (pay homage to their teachers) has a much longer history.
Every year at Thadingyut (in
October) , present and former students pay homage to their teachers at
ceremonies across the country. Especially it is a way of remembering
and honouring those people in society who (teach) pass on their skills
and knowledge to others.
“A good teacher is like a family member
to students. They mean a lot to their pupils – they’re a guide, leader, mentor,
parents and friend,” To address someone as Sayar (male
teacher) or Sayama (female teacher) means you consider
them not only a teacher in the conventional sense but also as a “life mentor” –
someone who guides their students through the ups and downs of life. We pay homage to our teachers by kneeling before
them and paying obeisance with joined hands, and bowing, in order to show gratitude and
reverence and an opportunity to ask for forgiveness ( Example : If we make a
mistake to you or annoy to you) , often involving gift-giving.
Love You Alice,
Phyo, the Senior and Junior voices of Myanmar‘
Other news in room 5 where all the learning happens, an American teacher who was instructed to teach English to the same students for more than 6 hours a day for the month of March, approached me half way through his term and admitted that his students were falling asleep because 6 hours of English was too much, too long! He observed my class 3 times and invited me to his class for some suggestions. One of which, I suggested that he use the 'people centred' approach in order to keep the students engaged with their learning. That afternoon, we simply got the students to form themselves in groups of 5, to brainstorm insights and ideas on chart paper their morning lesson. Tape they coloured written charts on one of the 4 corners of the room (Room 3 is a large room). Each group to rotate every 5 minutes to read and share within each group what other groups had said about their morning lesson. This activity lasted approximately 25 minutes. Students were smiling, full of energy, had a glint in their eyes for approval and wanted more ...
March 28, 2018, 7 days after former president U Htin Kyaw stepped down due to poor health, a new elected president (former Pyithu Chamber NLD MP speaker) U Win Myint was appointed by the counsellor. The 10th president was inaugurated, swore an oath in office today, March 30, 2018, together with the 2 vice-presidents: The 1st vice-president, U Myint Swe from the military group who acted as president for 7 days until a new president was elected, was appointed by the Tatmadaw chief. The 2nd vice-president is Henry Van Thio from Amyotha Chamber NLD MP group, was elected by the people.
Other news in room 5 where all the learning happens, an American teacher who was instructed to teach English to the same students for more than 6 hours a day for the month of March, approached me half way through his term and admitted that his students were falling asleep because 6 hours of English was too much, too long! He observed my class 3 times and invited me to his class for some suggestions. One of which, I suggested that he use the 'people centred' approach in order to keep the students engaged with their learning. That afternoon, we simply got the students to form themselves in groups of 5, to brainstorm insights and ideas on chart paper their morning lesson. Tape they coloured written charts on one of the 4 corners of the room (Room 3 is a large room). Each group to rotate every 5 minutes to read and share within each group what other groups had said about their morning lesson. This activity lasted approximately 25 minutes. Students were smiling, full of energy, had a glint in their eyes for approval and wanted more ...
March 28, 2018, 7 days after former president U Htin Kyaw stepped down due to poor health, a new elected president (former Pyithu Chamber NLD MP speaker) U Win Myint was appointed by the counsellor. The 10th president was inaugurated, swore an oath in office today, March 30, 2018, together with the 2 vice-presidents: The 1st vice-president, U Myint Swe from the military group who acted as president for 7 days until a new president was elected, was appointed by the Tatmadaw chief. The 2nd vice-president is Henry Van Thio from Amyotha Chamber NLD MP group, was elected by the people.
More later ... in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for April 2018….:)
