Sunday 19th April 2015
I'd visited the Mon Ethnic Monastic School a year before (described in the post Visiting more Drop In Centres) when the wooden temporary school was still in use and the builders were completing the brick and concrete permanent building. The new building is now in use but, since our 2015 visit coincided with the school summer holiday, there were no pupils but one of the lady teachers showed us around. The building now has a concrete floor, entrance steps and a block of toilets connected to a septic tank.
Arriving at Mon Ethnic School.
As is quite common, there is a single, long teaching area where a number of different classes are held simultaneously. We looked at a series of moveable, folding partitions which are being added, to give some isolation between the different classes.
Mon Ethnic School, showing moveable, folding partitions in use.
Leaving the school, we drove to the nearby fishing village on the Winyaw river to take in the attractive scene. I'd visited this village briefly on my previous trip. We watched a small passenger ferry bring a group of people across the river.
Ferry arriving at the fishing village.
There was no quay so the passengers had to clamber out into a foot or so of water, carrying their belongings.
We next went to the monastery of the head monk responsible for the Mon Ethnic school. He was actually in a review meeting with local people but we were invited in for a few minutes, where we sat on the floor in front of the head monk on his carved wooden chair. After Doctor Hla Tun had briefly discussed the support he'd provided to the school, we left so that the meeting we'd interrupted could continue.
The meeting we joined was in the upper floor of the 2-storey building in the centre of the picture.
We then drove back to Ko Dut, this time to the Drop In Centre itself where we were to sleep. My first experience of sleeping on the floor at Ko Dut was during my visit in 2014 (described here). Since last year, the upper floor of the building has been added, thanks to assistance from the RTM Social Contribution. They had apparently chased up the builders so that the addition would be complete in time for our visit. The new upper floor formed a separate bedroom for Emily and I, approached by a rather vertiginous staircase. The usual sleeping mats were provided and a mosquito net.
The new upper floor at Ko Dut D.I.C.
During the evening, the volunteers sorted the items for the distribution we were to make the next day, labelling each backpack with the intended type of recipient. By the time the task was completed, the ground floor was covered in blue backpacks.
"... By the time the task was completed, the ground floor was covered in blue backpacks ...".
We all then went to the house of the manager of the Drop In Centre for our evening meal.
Evening meal at the manager's house.
Monday 20th April 2015
After a reasonable nights sleep, we assembled for breakfast before the children started to arrive outside for the distribution of stationery, umbrellas and school uniforms, all packed into a traditional fabric school bag. As more children arrived, the excited chatter intensified.
Children patiently waiting to enter the Drop In Centre.
The children were then admitted and were arranged seated on the floor. While they were waiting for the distribution, we gave them various snacks to keep them occupied.
Distribution of snacks to the waiting children.
By the time a few hundred children were seated, it was quite difficult to move around. As each child was presented with their distribution, they were encouraged to try on their new uniforms, turning the view into a sea of white and blue.
The distribution in progress.
Of course, distribution to the large number of children present took a little time. There was great excitement!
The children in their new uniforms.
When the distribution was complete, we all moved outside for the formal 'group shot' recording the event.
The children pose for photographs outside Ko Dut D.I.C.
After all the morning's excitement and loaded down with the things they'd been given, the children then went home on foot or by other means. I photographed one of the motorcycle and sidecar style of three-wheel taxis loaded with an improbable number of children.
Children leaving the event on a well-loaded motor-cycle taxi.
A number of volunteers are involved in the operation of the Drop In Centres so the lady who manages Ko Dut, Ma Yu Mon ('Ma' is an honorific, like 'U' for a man) had a meeting with all the assistants present, after which there was a 'Lucky Draw' where each assistant selected a rolled-up coil of paper inscribed with a number indicating their gift. This caused much amusement.
A meeting of volunteers at the Drop In Centre.
We then moved on to a smaller Drop In Centre at La Mine about 7 km east of Ko Dut where the distribution was repeated. We'd also been to La Mine in 2014, briefly described here. There may have been fewer children here, but their enthusiasm was undiminished.
The distribution at La Mine Drop In Centre in 2015.
After the children had changed into their new uniforms, we all lined up in front of the building for photographs to record the happy event. It's hard to over-estimate the importance of this sort of 'special event' to children who have very little.
The children, in their new uniforms, at La Mine Drop In Centre.
The Orphans and Vulnerable Children projects seek to help children who have lost one or both parents through AIDS or other causes or in cases of extreme poverty. Sometimes the children themselves are HIV Positive. In addition to orphanages often run by monasteries or nunneries, it is sometimes possible to place children with foster carers and we visited two such 'O.V.C. Houses' in the area where the Doctor made donations. When these children can be placed in a normal home environment, this surely offers them the best chances in life.
Visiting an O.V.C. House.
As the previous year, when we arrived back at Ko Dut Drop In Centre, it had been decided that all the staff and the Doctor's party would go to the beach, so we set off in convoy, the Toyota 'Alphard' driven by the Doctor's friend and numerous motor cycles with the volunteers. After a few miles on sandy tracks, we arrived at the beach. I'm afraid the Doctor's friend drove a little too far and managed to park in deep sand. When he tried to move, we were stuck fast and it took some time to get out, using the tried-and-tested method of finding wood to push under the wheels to give them 'purchase'.
Releasing the car from the soft sand.
The tide was out so I wasn't able to paddle but we decided to take the track which leads across the beach to a monastery which I presume becomes an island at high water. The track was firmer than I expected, except for one short, sandy section where a small stream crosses the track as it nears the sea. The monastery was a peaceful place.
The monastery by the sea.
We climbed down onto a rocky section of foreshore and explored for a while as it grew dusk.
Sunset at the monastery.
The, we returned to our vehicles and drove back to the beach where the Toyota had become stuck. We all settled into the open beach restaurant nearby and food was ordered. It was becoming dark so the proprietor fished out a rechargeable battery light with a rectangular matrix of light emitting diodes to illuminate our meal. After an enjoyable time at the beach, we drove in the dark back to Ko Dut, where Emily and I had our second night on the floor of the new upper storey, with the rest of our party on the floor downstairs.
In the night, I awoke to a violent storm. Wind was gusting through the building, heavy rain was making quite a noise as it lashed our 'tin' roof and periodically the whole sky, from horizon to horizon, would be lit brightly by sheet lightning. I stood at the window for some time, in awe at the sheer power of nature. When the storm had abated a little, I happily went back to sleep.
Go to next post.
My pictures
Around Mon State, 2015
Mon Ethnic School
Monastery in Ko Dut
Ko Dut D.I.C. 2015
Distribution at Ko Dut D.I.C. 2015
Distribution at La Mine D.I.C.
Around Ko Dut, 2015
My posts on this trip
All my posts on this trip to Myanmar can be found here.
[Actually posted 02/05/2015 03:01, but timestamp amended to place posts in event order. Revisions to text and pictures added 17-May-2015, 26-May-2015, 19-June-2015]
