Wednesday 22nd April 2015
After a refreshing night's sleep, we had a good breakfast in the hotel restaurant, overlooking the beach.
View of our hotel from the beach.
Setse has a broad, sandy beach, flanked at each end by small headlands. The rooms of our modern hotel, grouped as a series of separate 'cottages' extended for some distance along the beach. Further along the beach, we could see bamboo houses and temples. There were already a number of people enjoying the beach, including one motor cycle being driven in a surprisingly restrained manner and a horse with its keeper apparently selling beach rides. The horse seemed to be enjoying the morning as much as the father and young son riding. A group of three dogs were also checking out the interesting scent trails on the sands. At the water's margin, small waves were breaking and, just offshore, a number of small fishing vessels were gathered.
Setse Beach.
We checked out of the 21 Paradise Hotel, loaded up the car and set off for Mawlamyine. At Mawlamyine, two Distributions were planned - the first at the large Drop In Centre at Hlaing, the second at the smaller Centre called 'Future Generation'. I'd been to both locations before in 2014 (described here).
During my visit in 2014, the Drop In Centre at Hlaing had been bursting at the seams with over 400 children attending for the Distribution. This time, to better accommodate the numbers at the ceremony, a large covered area had been temporarily erected in the field outside the permanent building, comprising a series of collapsible, steel-framed canopies supplemented by bamboo-framed extensions. The school uniforms and stationery had already been made up into labelled 'kits' in school bags by the Centre's volunteers and placed on a low 'stage'. At the rear of this 'stage' a large banner, in English and Burmese, declared "7th Donation Ceremony for the students who need aids in 2015-2016 academic year at Hlaing area by the support of Dr. Hla Tun and Group".
All the children were patiently waiting in the temporary covered area, seated on the ground which had been covered with a series of mats. To one side, a table with a range of refreshments had been set up in front of a row of chairs intended for Doctor Hla Tun and his team.
A view of part of the temporary covered area at Hlaing, viewed from the permanent building.
First, in the Drop In Centre, Doctor Hla Tun made donations of financial support towards the education costs of five senior girl students.
The five senior girl students who received assistance.
A television news team from the local Sky Net station's 'Up to Date' programme were recording the event and conducting interviews, as they had on my previous visit.
The Sky Net cameraman at work.
Then followed the usual fairly frantic period when the visitors presented the gifts to the children, with volunteers from the Centre ensuring that each child received the right 'kit' appropriate to the age and sex of the recipient. The children then changed into their new school uniforms for the 'group shot'.
The smartly-attired children display their new school bags.
It was decided to take more informal pictures of the group in the field so we all lined up again whilst pictures were taken on numerous cameras to adequately record this important annual event.
"Everybody wave": The Drop In Centre (and the temporary covered area) can be seen in the background on the left.
The work of the Drop In Centres is only made possible by volunteer staff and Doctor Hla Tun made donations to support these volunteers.
Donations to volunteers at Hlaing D.I.C.
Hlaing Ward, with a population of around 20,000 is one of the poorer Wards in the Township of Mawlamyine. To gain a better idea of conditions in the area, we went on a walk around the Ward, calling at a number of 'O.V.C. Houses' which provide accommodation for some of the children who are without families. Once again, Doctor Hla Tun made donations to support this work.
An O.V.C. House. The young boy is proudly showing off his new school uniform and school bag, presented to him earlier at the Drop In Centre.
We then returned to the centre of Mawlamyine where we stopped at a large, busy cafe to take lunch. All the waiters were boys, some looking very young. Young, male waiters seem very common in Burma, as is a tendency for them to shout instructions across the cafe at the top of their voices.
Lunch in Mawlamyine.
Our car then look us to the 'Future Generation' Drop In Centre. Once again, we were made very welcome and, for me, it was a chance to see once again staff I'd met the year before.
The Manager of 'Future Generation'.
The Distribution proceeded with the usual air of joyful chaos, as the children changed into their new uniforms for the obligatory group photograph.
After the distribution, the children pose with their school bags wearing their new uniforms.
Not far from the 'Future Generation' Drop In Centre, we made a visit to another O.V.C. House where Doctor Hla Tun also made donations. I believe it's thought that the problems of HIV/AIDS particularly affecting Mon State are due to the area's proximity to Thailand, which has experienced major problems with HIV/AIDS. Even where children themselves do not carry HIV, the incapacity or death of parents can have a devastating effect on the life of children, hence the importance of O.V.C. Houses and the availability of Drop In Centres. In the 'Future Generation' D.I.C. I'd notice a poster, largely in Burmese, but framed in English "Where there is Care, there is Hope". The 'Road to Mandalay' Social Contribution and Doctor Hla Tun became involved in Mon State to help to provide this care. I discussed some of the background to this in the post 'Road to Mandalay' co-operation with other organisations.
Visiting an O.V.C. House near 'Future Generation'.
Doctor Hla Tun had arranged another hotel for the night so we drove to the centre of Mawlamyine and checked into the rather oddly-named 'Cinderella Hotel'. The staff were very friendly, the facilities quite good and the prices modest. After we'd settled in, we went by car to Strand Road, overlooking the water, for dinner. Strand Road (as I commented last year in my post last year here) "takes on a holiday atmosphere at sunset" and there were lots of people around, strolling and relaxing. Along one section, there was a very broad pavement which accommodated a series of open-air cafes where we look our evening meal. Some aspects of Western 'civilisation' being introduced into Myanmar are not appreciated by the writer. Looming over our pavement cafe was a huge advertising hoarding - a wide, tall steel tube supporting a massive large-screen T.V. which bathed our meal in flickering light whilst we were deafened by the insistent sound track. The food, however, was good. After our meal, we drove along Strand Road where, in the twilight, I spotted a ship moored just offshore involved in some sort of dredging operation.
Strand Road at sunset, looking west.
Then, it was back to the Cinderella Hotel and bed. On the following day, we were to head back north to Yangon.
Go to next post.
All my posts describing this trip to Myanmar can be found here.
My pictures
The following albums (on Flickr) include pictures relevant to this post:-
Setse Beach.
Hlaing Drop In Centre, Mawlamyine.
Around Hlaing Ward.
Around Mawlamyine 2015.
'Future Generation' D.I.C..
All my albums for this trip (except purely 'technical' ones) can be found here.
[Actually first posted 8th June 2015, but timestamp amended to place posts in event order. Text and pictures added 19-June-2015]
