As per the map you can see that the delta region of the Irrawaddy is just low lying fertile mud flats divided by lots of rivers and canals. To get to my destination I went from Yangon (Rangoon) by fast boat for 6 hours. The boat travels along the Yangon river and then I think (there are no roadsigns) by a canal via Dala, Twante. Then on to Kyaiklat, Bogale and finally Mawlamyine Kyun. As you travel on the river you get a real sense of just how low lying the whole place is and nothing is more than a few feet above the water level. There are no hills in the whole area.
A002 shows the riverside houses at Bogale and if you look closely you will see the taupalins and the patches of new sheet metal on the roofs. As you travel along it is hard to find any building that has not lost parts of it roof from storm damage.
A003 is looking back to the rice mills which are on the opposite bank of the river from the town of Mawlamyine Kyun. A004 shows the berthing point for our ferry.
My trip was aimed at visiting a buddhist monastery that looks after orphans of the cyclone. But when I got there I found out the monastery was far more than just that. (A005) The monastery is primarily home to 60 monks and novices and is a study monastery, it also accomodates about 12 orphans from the cyclone (A007), has a free medical clinic with one full time doctor open for anyone (A010) gives free education for over 1000 students from 1st to 10th Standard, lastly the monastery also has been given funds to build homes for needy families whose homes where destroyed in the cyclone.A005 top right shows construction of two of these homes which will each house 4 families in 4 rooms.
To give some idea of what the orphans have been through. One of them was from Laputta he was the only survivor of his family which consisted of father and mother and 8 children. He survived by swimming. Hard to think what that means in real terms and I didnt want to push for more info because he looked distressed as the Sayadaw recounted this much about him to me.
In the aftermath of cyclone Nargis up to 1000 refugess lived and were fed in the monastery, it became a distribution point for food in the area and also a point of support for five other villages in the area through each of their respective village monasteries.
When I got there it was the school holidays so that none of the 1000 students were there but, there was a UNICEF sponsored training course for school teachers taking place (A008). Normally they run a morning and afternoon shift of 500 students each.
You should be asking yourself why so many kids need free education? This is not because education is expensive in Myanmar it is because a lot of people are so poor that they cannot afford to pay for their kid's books for school. This may amount to the small amount of $2 to $10 US. for one year. Remember also that villagers may have 4 to 8 children. Also in the villages there are no high schools and so if you want your children to complete 8th to 10th standard then they have to be sent to a bigger town. This involves relatively high costs for daily transport by boat, or boarding in the town. By Myanmar govt. law each child must attend school for a minimum of 4 years. So the majority of farmers have a 4th standard education, but many have done only 3 years or less. For each of the people reading this I would like them to think of what they would have missed out on learning if their education had stopped at 4th grade. So if you are a poor farmer or even poorer labourer with no land and you have 4 or 5 kids it is likely that the eldest child will be pulled out of school after 4th standard to help the family on the farm or to make some income. Then the other children might get some more education and go to 6 or 8 standard. Then if one of the youngest is really bright he or she may get to stay at school till 10th standard with the support of elder brothers and sisters and parents. I hope this helps to explain the situation and also gives an understanding of why education either monastic or secular is highly regarded here.
The monk who oversees all these programs is U. Cintitalankara (A024). He has an enviable record of achievement in monastic education and I would like to put in a little about it. He was born in Sagain division 5th of September 1950 and became a Buddhist novice at age 14. Before that he had attended school in a monastery school till 4th standard. He studied in Mahagandayone monastery in Amarapura and also Mahavisuddhayone in Mandalay. When he was 18 he got the highest score in the whole country in the exams as a novice for the sasanalankara degree and at 22 he also got the highest score in the whole country in the government monastic exams. He has other degrees as well and also had memorised by heart the 3 books of the dighanikaya by the time he was 25. He has received numerous awards from the government including Aggamahapandita and has written text books for monks studying in his monasteries.
Having been a monk myself I can tell you that this is a very rare achievement and can only be achieved by someone who has a really sharp mind and when I met the Sayadaw I found he is very sharp indeed and also a really kind man who is working for the betterment of society around him. He feels that he has enough and would like to share what he can with others around him. The few days I spent with him left me with a deep sense of his intellect and kindness
The cost of education for the students are $2 per year for Primary School, $5 per year for middle school, $10 per year for high school. For the orphans it cost about 50 cents per days to feed each of them.
A009 shows some ceramic water filters that are being distributed by the UN for use in the area to supply bacteria free drinking water. It is simply a clay basin that fits into the top of a plastic bucket the clay basin is filled and the water filters through to the bottom leaving the bacteria behind and supplying clean water.
Simple and effective technology.
A011 onwards show a trip I took with the Sayadaw and a civil engineer from Mandalay to inspect the progress of construction of school buildings in 5 surrounding villages.These buildings are being built to expand the education in each of these villages so that students can study to 10th standard without having to leave their own village.
A013 shows a composite of 4 images from one village monastery. The top left is a bridge over the canal storm surge waters came up to the level of the waist of the man crossing the bridge. The top right is a school built by a German group. Bottom right is an old temple whose roof was destroyed by the cyclone. A014 is meeting with the village leaders. A015 shows the rice paddy fields nearby in the background.
A016 is a group of school children greeting our party for the inspection of construction of their new school building. A017 is a water buffaloe dance as greeting. A018 shows the villagers digging the trenches for the foundations of a new school building. In the background is the monastery, if you look at the roof you will see the new sheeting replaced from storm damage. The pagoda in the foreground had the top broken off it by the storm.
A019 shows a meeting of the engineer and school teachers to discuss requirements for furniture etc for the village school. A020 is an 1887 Queen victoria jubilee ceramic water jug I found in a cupboard in a monastery. A022 is inspecting another village school under construction.
Finally A024 is a reminder of what I went there to do, make donation to support the efforts of the Sayadaw in his work to give education and medical support to the area in which he lives. The plate holds 1000 X 1000 kyat notes which is about $1000 U.S. Thanks to all the other people who have contributed to this and I hope that it is able to provide the children here with support and education in their lives.
I am planning to go back to this place again in June this year to make another donation and also next year to maybe teach some english there for a few months. Will see what happens.
great post Greg, I've sent your blog to lots of friends around the world.
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