Visit to Chin State

Monday, 30th April 2018

Roused by the wooden 'bells' at 4.00 a.m., we saw the monks taking breakfast and performing their ablutions.


Sel-Taw-Oo Monastery: The wooden 'bells' which announce the start of the monastic day: 30th April 2018


Sel-Taw-Oo Monastery: Monks taking breakfast. The curtained area on the left was our sleeping quarters: 30th April 2018

Befire we left Sel-Taw-Oo Monastery, we looked at the local rice mill. This was a delightful 'Heath-Robinson' affair and it will take me a while to understand the pictures I took. Outside the mill itself, there was a huge pile of rice husks. Even these can be used as a fuel, instead of wood.


Sel-Taw-Oo Rice Mill: 30th April 2018

Then we headed along a minor road through paddy fields of mainly sunflower. In 2015 unusually heavy rain caused serious flooding and many villagers had to evacuate to higher ground. The Doctor said the aftermath was 7 feet of mud which damaged crop growth.

We passed through a number of villages, each with a Christian church. Many of the Chin people are Baptist (of one or other of the many ‘flavours’ of this denomination). Eventually, we came to the main road into Kalay and stopped at a Tea Shop where various items of pastry were being prepared in woks or griddles, all wood fired. I thought that this was one of the cleanest tea shops I’d seen in Myanmar and we took breakfast here.

Breakfast in preparation at a Kalay Tea Shop: 30th April 2018

Having stopped in Kalay for petrol we then met up with a charming lady, Hlaing Hlaing Htay, her husband Ko Thein Shwe and her children who were waiting in their pick-up for us to pass. Everybody we met was a friend or relative of our Monk from Bagan, but I wasn't able to sort out the details. In convoy, our car and the pick-up took a left turn onto the mountain road which generally heads west. When we were a few hundred feet above the plain on which Kalay is built, we stopped at a viewpoint. I was fascinated by all the memorials there, partly because they were all Christian, partly because, although there were fragments of English, most were written in the Chin language which uses the Roman alphabet, rather than the characters used to write the Myanmar language.


Memorials in the Chin language, overlooking the plain.

Our route then continued into the mountains. Sometimes the road followed the contours of the hills, snaking left and right, sometimes machines had cut a ledge for the road where the mountainside was too steep. As well as twisting left and right, we were often going downhill but the overall trend was upwards, upwards.


Visit to Chin State 30th April 2018: The road we were on threaded its way through the mountains.

There were frequent signs of the road improvement programme being provided by the Japanese organisation J.I.C.A. under its friendship programme. Since there was normally a precipitous drop on one side of the road and a rock face on the other, modern 'Armco' style barriers had been installed on the side with the drop, periodically fitted with coloured metal markers, red on one side, yellow on the other. The rock face showed the signs of having be shaped by a large excavator. Sometimes a retaining wall had been built, extending upwards from the roadway and there was often a substantial concrete channel to run water downhill to the nearest natural channel running down the mountain side. Each channel was culverted to cross the roadway, necessitating retaining walls on both sides of the roadway.

We passed a number of villages. Their approach was heralded by coming across large woodpiles neatly stacked at the roadside. The buildings themselves were generally of a different style - wooden-framed, clad with horizontal planks and sometimes windowless. The ubiquitous 'tin roof' of galvanised corrugated iron sheeting provided a durable roof. This was a design adapted for the much lower temperatures encountered at higher altitudes, and remined me of parts of Tibet. The Chin people, too, differed in appearance from the typical Burmese, being darker-skinned and often with a rather fierce appearance.


Visit to Chin State 30th April 2018: Typical wooden housing, built on wooden piles on the mountain side, with the woodpile on the left.

Then, we stopped at the end of a queue of waiting vehicles. Up ahead, I could see a large excavator gouging the cliff face and blocking the road with mounds of stone in the process. Apparently, the roadbuilders are given 30 minute 'slots' to work on gouging the cliff face. Next, loading shovels clear a path through the excavated rock for vehicles then finally one-way traffic is instituted over the narrowed section. While we were waiting, the Doctor chatted to a group of male and female roadbuilders laying rocks to widen the carriageway.


Visit to Chin State 30th April 2018: An enforced wait as a blue-painted excavator gouges the mountain side during road improvements.

Eventually, we were let through and we continued until 11.30 a.m. when we stopped so that the monk could eat his second, and last meal of the day, which had been pre-prepared and packed in metal multi-section food containers and a plastic basket. The family from the pick-up squatted on the ground nearby to eat their picnic.


Visit to Chin State 30th April 2018: A roadside packed lunch high in the mountains.

When we reached Tedim, our elevation was 5,600 feet above sea level so we made a photographic stop at a viewpoint next to a petrol station.


Hlaing Hlaing Htay and her children at Tedim.

We continued but the tarmac road soon gave way to graded and rolled rock and the ride wbecame significantly less comfortable. After a while there were signs of problems with our vehicle and each bump in the road triggered a slow up and down motion which could throw passengers quite violently around. We stopped and a failed suspension air bag was diagnosed but we were in a remote location so there was no alternative to carrying on although nobody enjoyed it. I ended the day was in a fairly bad way, aching and bruised.

We crossed a river on an imposing yellow-painted suspension bridge and eventually came to Rihkhawdar where a rusty truss bridge on a side road led to the other side of the river, which is in India. Our journey from Kalay had been around 119 km.


Visit to Chin State 30th April 2018: Doctor Hla Tun, his wife and Jan on arrival at Rihkhawdar.

We paid a brief visit to a small monastery but as there were no monks present, our visit was confined to talking to a group of men working around the monastery garage. Our final destination for the day was a few miles away at a small, pretty lake called Rith Lake. There was a cafe and a number of chalets.


Visit to Chin State 30th April 2018: The chalets overlooking Rith Lake.

Apparently, with the border so near, it's a popular spot for Indian tourists. The Doctor secured two rooms, one for me and one for himself and his wife. Later the pick-up arrived so there was an extensive picture-taking session. The chalets themselves were typical guest house standard with wooden beds and a hard mattresses about 30 m.m. thick. A small extension at the rear of each chalet featured a Western-style flush toilet, although washing facilities were confined to the usual large plastic bucket which the guest re-filled as required from a cold water tap mounted above. After a meal in the cafe, the owner started his petrol electric generator so there were electric lights and I was able to re-charge my various electrical items. I was very content.

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar.
The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports

My pictures

Visit to Chin State 30th April 2018

All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.

[Pictures linked 10-May-2018, pictures inserted 31-May-2018, minor changes and more pictures inserted 7-Jun-2018]

Bagan Medical Clinic and on to Chin State.

Sunday, 29th April 2018

On Sunday morning, there were about twenty patients carried forward to a 'short' Sunday morning list.


Bagan Medical Clinic 29th April 2018

However, there seemed to be some more complex issues amongst them and it was after 2.00 in the afternoon before the Doctor completed the last case and took a light lunch.

Bbr> Lunch at Bagan Medical Clinic before departing for Chin State

During the morning, the Doctor's wife had arrived from Yangon, for we were about to start a sightseeing trip to Chin State. Earlier in the year, when I told the Doctor I was planning a trip to Chin State, he insisted he would make arrangements on my behalf. The kind monk who manages the clinic has friends in Chin State so it had been decided that the monk, Doctor Hla Tun, his wife and I would make the visit in the Monastery/Clinic car, with one of the monastery drivers.

The Doctor made up a large box of medication to take with us and we set off on the familiar road to Nyaung Oo. After Nyaung Oo, we headed north east on the Myitnge Road and the road was new to me. Photography from a moving car is rarely satisfactory so I confined myself to making shaky notes which I still have to decipher. We crossed the Ayeyarwaddy on the Pakokku Bridge, a long multi-span truss design which I'd sailed under when aboard 'Road to Mandalay'. Before Pakokku itself, we turned left onto the road to Kalay, some 376 km distant.

It was dark before we arrived at our destination for the night which turned out to be Sel Tan Oo Monastery where our monk had arranged accommodation overnight. In the large assembly room where monks have their meals, a corner had been temporarily screened-off and two large mosquito nets had been erected, one for me, one for the Doctor and his wife. A pillow and blanket had been provided for each of us.


Our sleeping accommodation in Sel Tan Oo Monastery, with Mosquito nets deployed.

The only problem? Monastery life started at 4 a.m. the following morning with the sounding of a deep-toned wooden bell just outside.

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar.
The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports

My pictures

Bagan Medical Clinic and into Chin State

All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.

[Pictures linked 10-May-2018, pictures inserted 28-May-2018]

Bagan Medical Clinic (2)

Saturday, 28th April 2018

I slept well and decided to walk around the monastery compound. I found a large party of Japanese tourists arriving by pony cart to visit the historic wooden monastery of Nat-Taung Kyaung at Taung Be.


Bagan Medical Clinic Saturday 28th April 2018: Japanese tourists arrived in pony carts to visit the old wooden monastery, Nat-Taung Kyaung.

The previous year, I had only been able to survey the outside of this 200-year old building but I knew from the internet that repairs were in hand so I was pleased to find that it was possible to go inside and determined to make a visit myself later.

As usual, I found the Abbott checking on the preparations for the free lunch. Two young monks were ‘dicing’ vegetables with scissors whilst an older man was tending the wood fires.

Bagan Medical Clinic Saturday 28th April 2018: Lunch preparation

In the Doctor’s consulting room, I observed the variety of patients for a time. Mobility problems and joint pain are common, particularly amongst the elderly, but all kinds of ailment present themselves.

On Saturday, the free lunches were being presented by a relative of the Taung Be Abbott who is Abbott of a monastery in the Mandalay area. In addition to the 330 registered patients, lunches are given to accompanying relatives and friends so the stream of eager diners seemed endless.


Bagan Medical Clinic Saturday 28th April 2018: Free lunches, ready for distribution.

In the afternoon, I visited the richly-carved wooden monastery of Nat-Taung Kyaung which lies just a few yards beyond Bagan Medical Clinic.


Nat-Taung Kyaung Monastery: Saturday 28th April 2018

Tired by my perambulations, I returned to the Doctor's Consulting Room to watch, although from time-to-time, I found myself falling asleep briefly, much to the amusement of the Doctor's female assistants.


Bagan Medical Clinic Saturday 28th April 2018

The Doctor carried on to 7.30 p.m. and then took dinner with his assistants and the writer before continuing. I went to bed not long after dinner, thoroughly shattered, and I'm not sure what time the Doctor eventually finished but I think there were about twenty patients carried forward to a 'short' Sunday morning list.

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar.
The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports

My pictures

Bagan Medical Clinic Saturday 28th April 2018
Nat-Taung Kyaung Monastery, Bagan (includes pictures from 2017)

All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.

[Pictures linked 10-May-2018, pictures inserted 28-May-2018]

Bagan Medical Clinic

Friday, 27th April 2018

The Bagan Medical Clinic opens every weekend of the year except for Thingyan, the Water Festival celebrating the Lunar New Year and the following weekend. In 2018, Friday 27th April represented the first day that the Clinic would be open after the two week shutdown. The previous evening, the Doctor had been told by telephone that 150 patients had already arrived and registered and that 60 of those were from Chin State.

So the Doctor and I were aware, as we left his house in Yangon by taxi at 5.30 a.m. for the airport, that he was in for a busy weekend. The Doctor is always keen to save Clinic expenditure, so he had taken advantage of a special, reduced air fare to Nyaung Oo available to him. But, if I had accompanied him, my fare, as a foreigner, would have been expensive so, instead, he had booked me with a different airline on a flight ten minutes later.

Another sign of the changes since my first visit was that we left from the modern Domestic Terminal, similar to hundreds of airports world-wide, in marked contrast to the rather eccentric arrangements of 2008. I counted twelve ATR-72 turbo-props from various competing airlines on the Domestic Apron.

Both flights were on time and I met the Doctor in the Baggage Hall at Nyaung Oo. Simpler, manual arrangements for handling passenger’s luggage still suffice here. We were met by one of the Clinic staff and driven to the Clinic. Even in the few months since my last visit, a number of new hotel building projects were evident. Unfortunately, the rise in planned accommodation has coincided with the collapse of foreign visitor numbers following international consternation at around 750,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh in what has been characteristed by the United Nations as ‘Ethnic Cleansing’.

The Clinic was buzzing with activity and I was able to greet many old friends. The Doctor immediately started Consultations. During Friday, a further 230 patients arrived and registered. The first 160 arrivals were added to Friday’s list, making a commitment to 310 consultations for Friday. The remaining 70 patients formed the start of Saturday’s list, but this number was expected to swell with more patients arriving on Saturday.


Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018: The main waiting area faces the original clinic building of 2011, now provided with an illuminated LED sign.

I toured the busy compound, noting the changes and examining the progress of various building works although there were no builders at work that day.


Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018: The 28-bed recovery unit is nearing completion.

I found the Abbott in the open-air kitchen area and we greeted one another warmly, although he has no English and I have no Myanmar language. He was checking on the progress of vegetable preparation and cooking (over wood fires) for the free lunch which would be given to patients and their companions.


Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018: The Abbot, checking on progress of lunch for the patients

For long periods, I sat-in with the Doctor observing, as always amazed at his ability to process three patients at a time with his lady assistants, together with frequent telephone calls and review of patients returning with test results or E.C.G. printouts.


Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018: Doctor Hla Tun.

At 11.30 a.m., the Doctor suggested I go to see the lunch donation. As soon as the announcement was made over the public address, a long queue of patients formed at the donation point where a number of staff were rapidly making up meals on stainless steel plates.


Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018: Queuing for the free lunch.

The final handing of each plate the recipient was being done by the Abbott. After dealing with, as I thought, the majority of lunches the Abbot invited me to take over whilst he observed benignly. But the people kept coming, until we were literally scraping the saucepans to complete the last few meals, with a small number of ‘seconds’ where requested. A wonderful, joyful event illustrating one of the Buddhist tenets I admire.

Then I spent more time in the Doctor’s consulting room as the ‘tide of humanity’ passed through.


Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018

With so many patients to see, the Doctor did not stop for lunch but just ‘snacked’. His assistants took it in turns to break for a quick meal, and I was summoned for my ‘special menu’ of congee, plain omelette and Coca Cola.

During the afternoon, there was a brief thunderstorm. Shortly afterwards, at 4.40 p.m., the electricity went off. It was restored a minute or two later and, when I went outside to check, I was delighted to find the package generator running the site, as intended.


Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018: The vital Standby Generator was donated by a local hotel.

After half an hour, the mains electricity must have been restored and there was a brief ‘blackout’ as we switched back to the mains.

At 7.0 p.m.the Doctor paused briefly to take dinner with his assistants and the writer before continuing until after midnight. I’m afraid I took to my bed much earlier.

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar.
The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.

My pictures

Bagan Medical Clinic Friday 27th April 2018

All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.

[Pictures linked 10-May-2018, pictures inserted 28-May-2018]

Interlude in Yangon

Wednesday, 25th April 2018

On Wednesday, I'm ashamed to say, I never left the Doctor's house. However, you probably wouldn't believe how long it takes to back up my pictures, try to update the blog posts, deal with a few e-mails and recharge my battery-powered equipment. I admit to resting for a while.

I've commented before that, in general, Myanmar people enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner and that I can never believe the sheer volume they enjoy, since their frames are usually much smaller than mine. Because I'm bigger than they are (they always politely say 'strong', not 'fat') they think I should eat more than them. My protestations that half their portion size is right for me fall on deaf ears: they are a very hospitable people. Whilst at the Doctor's house, a consensus emerged and I enjoyed splendid meals tailored to my tastes.


A splendid meal, tailored to my rather conservative tastes, at the Doctor's house in Yangon.

So the combination of the heat, over-eating and (admit it) being old makes me sluggish in these circumstances. So that was Wednesday.

I had some difficulty getting to sleep Wednesday night with itchy skin and slight heat rash. What I learned is that Myanmar people are not immune to this and a plastic bottle of calamine lotion was passed around the household. However, once I dropped off I slept soundly until the alarm, no doubt helped by the air conditioning being set to take the 'edge' off the heat.

Thursday, 26th April 2018

After breakfast on Thursday, the Doctor had arranged a meeting with Eddie Teh, General Manager, Hotels and Cruises (Belmond Governor's Residence, Belmond Road to Mandalay). We discussed the Belmond Myanmar Foundation (of which I am a trustee). This is a British registered charity which helps to fund the work carried out by Doctor Hla Tun.

In the ten years since my first visit to Myanmar, the country has changed rapidly. One change is the advent of ATM machines. When I first came, there were none and banks were not very helpful. Now, there are kiosks everywhere where cash can be obtained on demand, often with the choice of U.S. Dollars or the local Kyat. So, on the way back to the Doctor's house I drew some funds as readily as in my own country.

I spent most of the rest of the day dealing with e-mails and trying to update the blog. Tomorrow morning the Doctor, his wife and the writer fly north to Nyaung Oo then go by road to the Bagan Medical Clinic where the Doctor expects a heavy list of consultations. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get internet access again but there are lots of existing posts on the Bagan Medical Clinic. You can find them (in reverse date-of-posting order) here. The Clinic will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday then we are planning a side-trip to Chin state with the Monk who looks after the Clinic.

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar. The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports.

My pictures

All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.

[Pictures linked 28-May-2018]

Final Distributions in Mon State

Events of Tuesday, 24th April 2018

After a pleasant breakfast at the hotel, the charming man from Care Myanmar picked us up to take us to the distribution at Hlaing Drop In Centre. With almost 400 children attending this distribution, there is insufficient room for them inside the Drop In Centre itself so, in previous years, collapsible sun shelters have been erected in the field adjacent to the D.I.C. building. But, in 2018, the shelters had been erected on the narrow concrete road outside the D.I.C., leaving a narrow space at one side to allow pedestrians and motor cycles passage. The expectant children were quietly waiting on groundsheets laid under the shelters which were topped with green woven plastic sheeting as a sun screen. I was amused to note that, to prevent the sheeting from sagging, a number of 'U'-shaped lengths of rebar (steel reinforcing bar) had been laid across the framework. Staff and volunteers were busy distributing snacks to the children.


Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C.

There were a number of Outstanding Students who were presented with a modest extra reward of stationery by way of encouragement.


Distribution to Outstanding Students at Hlaing D.I.C.

We then moved outside for the main presentations. A 'stage' had been built at the front, filled with shoulder bags containing the items being distributed. Each distribution comprised school uniform, exercise books, pencils or pens placed in a colourful shoulder bag. However, the exact contents depended upon age and sex of the recipient. The uniforms differ between boys and girls and differ with age (primary school boys start with short trousers but then move to the male version of the longyi). Primary school children only use pencils but older pupils use ballpoint pens.

A sound system with a radio microphone had been provided but did not seem to be working correctly so we switched to a battery-operated bullhorn. The Doctor invited me to give a short address so, using the bullhorn, I delivered my homily on the importance of education (in short sections, pausing to let the Doctor translate before continuing).


Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C. - the Doctor translates Jan's address.

Next, we had the actual distribution. Volunteers were on hand firstly to check the 'admission ticket' of each child, then to ensure that the Doctor and I placed the correct type of shoulder bag over the student's head. Where children were still clutching the snacks they'd been given, we tried to add them to the shoulder bag to prevent loss. Each child was then allowed to select a lottery ticket which they then examined to look for the all-important 'tick' which indicated that they'd won a towel. In a few rather hectic minutes, we'd handed out most of the 386 bags.


Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C.

There was then a much quicker presentation of towels to the winners. Because the staff had been included in the lottery, a few of the towels went to delighted staff.


Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C. - lottery winners receive White Towels.

As the children left, all the staff assembled on the steps of the D.I.C. for the staff group picture.


Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C. - Staff and volunteers

We then moved inside the D.I.C. where a group of mainly elderly local residents had assembled for the selection of reading glasses from a collection which had been donated. This wasn't a very scientific process - the local people simply picked a pair whose style they liked which improved their ability to read one of a number of newspapers provided.


Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C. - selection of reading glasses

By this time, the 'stage' (actually a series of long benches) had been dismantled and loaded onto a motor cycle taxi which was just setting off the return them, probably to a school.

Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C. - a motor cycle taxi removes the 'stage'

Hlaing is a very poor area and there are a number of noted 'Poor Houses' where elderly and disabled people eke out a subsistence with the help of charity from local people. We visited a number of very basic bamboo shacks where the Doctor and I made donations of clothing and money. There is no Social Care 'safety net' in Myanmar.


Visiting 'Poor Houses' in Hlaing District of Mawlamyine

We were then driven to our hotel to check-out before moving on to the Care Myanmar offices. The staff kindly placed a sleeping mat and pillow on the office floor so that I could lie down for a while and that revived me.


Care Myanmar Offices, Mawlamyine

Our last distribution was at the 'Future Generation' Drop in Centre in another part of Mawlamyine.


Distribution at 'Future Generation' D.I.C.

Again, the staff and most of the children were unchanged since the previous year. I gave a short address, translated by the Doctor then we made a few presentations to outstanding students. The lottery for towels followed, as always causing great amusement.


Distribution of White Towels at 'Future Generation' D.I.C.

At this D.I.C., the distributions had been packed in plastic bags, so I generally only had to present the bag to each student.


Distribution at 'Future Generation' D.I.C.

The students then changed into their new uniforms for a series of 'Group Shots', taken in the street outside, lit by the late afternoon sun. As always, it was a very jolly affair.


Distribution at 'Future Generation' D.I.C. - the Group Shot

We enjoyed dinner at a tea-shop with two of the local staff.



Evening meal in Mawlamyine

There was then just time to pay respects at the Kyaik Thote Pagoda in Mawlamyine before heading to the Bus Terminal to catch the 9.0 p.m. bus to Yangon. With one stop for toilets and refreshments, we were back at Yangon's Eastern Long Distance Bus Terminal by about 3.30 a.m. on Wednesday. A taxi took us to the Doctor's house in less than half an hour. Despite having slept well on the bus, I happily slept for a few more hours at the Doctor's house after a wonderful but very tiring few days in Mon State.

Total Distributions in Mon State 2018

Drop in Centre	Number
Ko Dut (total)	341
Mudon (total)	191
Hlaing	386
Future Generation	130
Total	1048

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar. The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next post.

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports.

My pictures

Distribution at Hlaing D.I.C.
Distribution at 'Better Futures' D.I.C.
Kaung Myat Hotel, Mawlamyine (2017 pictures)
Care Myanmar Offices, Mawlamyine (2017 pictures)

All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.

[Pictures linked 10-May-2018: Pictures inserted 28-May-2018: Naming corrected 25-Feb-2019]

Distributions in Mudon

Events of Monday, 23nd April 2018

After our second night sleeping at the Drop In Centre, we said 'Goodbye' to our friends at Ko Dut. There was time for a final 'group photo' with the staff present before we set off by taxi.


Ko Dut D.I.C. - leaving on 23rd April 2018

Our first destination was Khaikhami Yele Paya Pagoda, built over the sea. I've visited this important shrine a number of times, mentioning my last and earlier visits in the post here.


Khaikhami Yele Paya Pagoda

Our first distribution was at the Drop In Centre at Ka Mar Wet. I'm afraid in earlier reports, I may have confused some of the names but I hope I have it correct this year. Some of these places are quite difficult to find unless you are local. As arranged by mobile phone, we were met on the main road by a man on a motor cycle in a silver crash helmet who conducted us through the narrow streets to the D.I.C.


Our motor cycle guide conducting us to Ka Mar Wet D.I.C.

I may confuse the names, but not the people and warm greetings were exchanged. I can't claim to remember each child but some are firm in my memory. When the Doctor enquired, the majority of the children remembered our last visit - long-term commitment to this type of programme is essential. Once again, the Doctor held a lottery to determine who received one of the limited number of white towels. I admit to initially having doubts about the lottery idea but these were dispelled by the sheer sense of fun created. I was pleased that the staff were included in the lottery and the winners from this group seemed even more excited than the children!


Ka Mar Wet D.I.C. - White towel winners proudly show their prize.

Then the distributions to all the children took place - a new school uniform and items of stationery.


Ka Mar Wet D.I.C. - the distribution.

The children proudly donned their new uniforms so that photographs, including the 'group shot' outside the building, could be made to record the event.


Ka Mar Wet D.I.C.

The children were then able to leave but, finally, the Doctor refunded certain other agreed expenses to the manager.


Ka Mar Wet D.I.C.

I was wearing the longyi they'd given me the previous year (described here) and, before we left, they presented me with another longyi in a beautiful Mon pattern.

Our motor cycle guide then conducted us to Mu Don Drop In Centre for our second distribution of the day. The journey concluded in a baffling series of narrow alleys barely suitable for a motor cycle, let alone a taxi. We started with a special presentation of stationery items to a number of Outstanding Students.


Distribution to Outstanding Students at Mu Don D.I.C.

Then, we conducted the lottery for the limited number of towels which created great amusement.


Distribution at Mu Don D.I.C.

Finally, the serious business of equipping each child with stationery and items for the forthcoming year. I was presented with a lovely decorated cotton blanket. Everybody then trooped out into the sun for photographs.


Distribution at Mu Don D.I.C. - The Group Photograph

I watched with interest as a group of children from one particular area departed in a covered pick-up with seats. With about eight children in the luggage rack on the roof, there must have been about 30 passengers!


Happy students leaving the distribution at Mu Don D.I.C.

Once again, our guide conducted us to our final Drop In Centre of the day at Kot Kha Pon. By this time, the combination of the heat and an infection which the Doctor was treating had exhausted me, but I did the best I could. Instead of repeating the address to the children I'd been using on this trip (a rather Victorian-sounding tale extolling the virtues of education, hard work and being good to one another), the Doctor paraphrased its content for me.

>br> Dr. Hla Tun addresses the students at Kot Kha Pon D.I.C.

Three Outstanding Students received a special presentation of stationery, then we had the fun of the lottery for the presentation of towels and finally the distribution to all the children. With a smaller number of children at this location, we were able to take the group pictures inside the building. The staff kindly gave me a blanket in appreciation of the support for their work.


Distribution at Kot Kha Pon D.I.C.

The taxi then headed north on Route 8 for a little under 30 km to Mawlamyine, where the Doctor had booked rooms in the Kaung Myat Hotel.


Kaung Myat Hotel, Mawlamyine

On arrival, I was happy to 'hole-up' in my room after a fairly strenuous day, with food and drink provided by the Doctor to keep me going. I backed up my pictures to the computer and found the hotel's Wi-Fi was working so I was able to receive a few e-mails and deal with them and convert a Word document I'd been working on into a blog post. The following day, we would be making distributions at two Drop In Centres in Mawlamyine.

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar. The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports.

My pictures

Khaikhami Yele Paya Pagoda and Ka Mar Wet D.I.C.
Distribution at Mu Don D.I.C.
Distribution at Kot Kha Pon D.I.C.

All my pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.

[Pictures linked 10-May-2018, Pictures inserted 27-May-2018]