Thread: Simon43 surprises everyone (or maybe not!) by ending up in Myanmar (again)...

Enjoy Shan State. Stay safe.

Interesting

Let me know when you hit Roxas, it will be an excuse for a visit.

Good luck Simon & God Bless you.

Good luck Simon. Have a great Christmas.

Well, I had a humbling experience today visiting 3 orphanages that I last visited some years ago. At the first orphanage, I was happy to see my vocabulary posters from years ago pasted on the walls and in good use. I updated my software on their laptop and installed my Android learning app on the teacher's phone. The orphanage only has electricity for 3 hours per day, and their inverter battery is dead. (See photo of antiquated electrical system). I'll try to buy a new one tomorrow for them. These kids are from ethnic regions and most only speak a little Burmese, but they do attend the local government school and can speak a little English.

The next orphanage used to have about 50 boys - now it's 137... they have no computer or mobile phone and no real teacher, so all the boys learn ..er.. nothing except Burmese from the monks. But a charity that I work with (Childrendomatter.org) donates beds and pays for 2 women to look after the boys. But I found that they all drink unpure water from an old well! Tomorrow I travel to the city of Taunggyi (1 hour away) to check on the cost of a water filter.

The 3rd orphanage usually only has about 16 kids, but now the building is overflowing with refugee families who have escaped the fighting in the town of Loikaw. So it was a bit hectic..

Tomorrow, off to Taunggyi to visit at least 3 more orphanages

are there no shan restaurants around? Best food in Burma

You are a genuinely kind hearted person Simon. I think you have the planning and foresight abilities of a headless chicken, but nevertheless, a very kind hearted person.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

You are a genuinely kind hearted person Simon. I think you have the planning and foresight abilities of a headless chicken, but nevertheless, a very kind hearted person.

Well, my long-term life planning is not so good! But my willingness to endure some hardships in order to help others can't be questioned.

Today I was in Taunggyi (photos to follow). 165 mentally and physically disabled kids at one orphanage, another 100 orphans at another and no less than 300 young students at yet another Buddhist orphanage, all without teachers or school resources My free Android app was very well-received and now I need to plan to get it back onto Google Playstore (easier to download) and to expand the pronunciation videos.

My Xmas present for 1 orphanage (that I visited yesterday) was a hefty 150 amp-hour battery for their ailing solar panel/battery system to provide lights after dark, $168 USD....

Good luck, Simon.

And Merry Christmas!

Safe travels, Simon. Wish you all the best in your charity & volunteer efforts.

I think Roxas City will be a good fit for you. It has a promenade, airport, sea port, SM mall, hospital. It's not too famous yet, so prices of houses (and rents) should be lower. Suggestion: stay on a tourist visa for 6 months to try PH out first. Then if you like the country, then apply for the SRRV. Knowing you, you have a tendency to switch places every 6 months or so. For the police check, if you stay in PH for 6 months or more, you won't need an international police check - you can get one from the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation).

Happy holidays!

Bless you Simon the best quality HAM

Well, I just got back from a long day in Taunggyi. My first visit was to Daw Gyi Daw Nge Orphanage which was actually established in 1905 by the grandmother of the present owner (there were 2 sisters, but the last time that I visited 6 years ago, only 87 years old Daw Gyi was alive). Today, I had no idea if she was still in the land of the living, but there she was at 93 years old, still in good health. Unfortunately (for me), I arrived just as they started on a marathon Xmas Eve Christian concert and prayer session, so I had to politely endure the preaching from the (sorry Katie!) Filipino priest for more than an hour, until I made my excuses and left



Here's a short video of one of the orphan boys singing an appropriate song for Burma:



Then it was on to the home for disabled kids and adults. This home is run by catholic nuns, and they do a great job of caring for all the residents. Some of the kids that I met previously had sadly died from their disabilities, as has some of the oldest residents from old age. I chatted with a young nun who had fled to Taunggyi from the fighting in Lashio town (now under pdf control).

Finally, my driver managed to track down a large monastery orphanage with 300 kids of all ages that I was unable to locate on my previous visits. As I was chatting to the monks and helping them to install my app, a young boy approached me with his proud Burmese parents. His English was remarkably good for a boy of 11, and he told me that he had learnt his English from YouTube

Last stop was at the battery shop to buy the battery for the orphanage that I visited the previous day. Tomorrow I will visit a monastery school just outside Nyaung Shwe and then back to Mandalay on Thursday.

I have a lot of follow-ups to do. What was emphasised to me was that my posters and app recordings did make a difference to those who used them. This is especially so because of my clear and slow pronunciation. (Many Burmese speak a sort of English that I do not recognise - having morphed from local teacher to local teacher, like Chinese whispers).

Anyway, onwards and upwards! My stomach quickly recovered from the custard tart, so I'm in good spirits. I'm beginning to smell because there is no hot water and the climate in Shan State means that the shower water is like ice!

Simon, you're a saint.

Top man Simo, thanks for the info. Some of it is hard to digest.

Originally Posted by Simon43

The orphanage only has electricity for 3 hours per day

:/


Trying to add a bit of lightness.

If you haven't already, please please name your English pronunciation app 'Simon Says' Thank you.

Merry Christmas Saint Simon!

Originally Posted by Edmond

Top man Simo, thanks for the info. Some of it is hard to digest.



:/


Trying to add a bit of lightness.

If you haven't already, please please name your English pronunciation app 'Simon Says' Thank you.

Thanks! In fact, I will add a section called 'Simon Says' with 5-minute audio stories/word practice, together with animated gifs to illustrate the story. Eg - 'I have a cat' and then simple sentences about my cat, description etc. It's simple stories like this in clear, slow English that the students can use to perfect their pronunciation

As to the lack of electricity, it's been off all night at my hotel. It's Xmas morning (6.45am), and I'm replying to your post now because I have electricity!

However, the military have given an xmas present by switching off all mobile networks right now..... I'm using the hotel's wifi only.

Great effort Simon. Its humbling, both your charity and the sad state the kids are reduced to. Safe travels.

PS i'd happily contribute some cash to the cause

PPS wet wipes

It's the final day of my short visit to southern Shan State.

The morning started well with a return trip to the orphanage by the lake to hand over the new 150 amp-hour battery that I purchased yesterday in Taunggyi. This was quickly connected up to the electrical system and confirmed as working correctly, thus providing 12 volts for night-time lights and 5 volts for USB connections.

I was also happy to see that the teacher had already pasted some of my donated vocabulary posters onto the classroom wall

After that, we made our way to Htet Eian monastery school, just north of Nyaung Shwe town. There are some caves at this location, and foreign tourists would occasionally visit some years ago.

The last time that I visited this school, there were about 70 impoverished young boy monks. The classrooms were bare and dilapidated. I donated books and posters at that time.

Today when we visited, we were somewhat shocked to find no less than 700 boys and girls, all being cared for by the monks and local helpers. Most of these extra children had fled from the fighting in northern Shan state, (so they were not orphans). They were surviving on a diet of white rice (donated by the townsfolk), supplemented with locally-grown vegetables. The children did have enough food, although very basic.

There were 2 young local teachers whose job was to teach these 700 kids. So they followed the government school curriculum (I mean the 'real' government). That includes learning English, although these 2 English teachers didn't seem to possess one word in spoken English between them! They very much appreciated when I installed my English learning app on their mobile phones

In summary, my short trip has really only made a tiny scratch on the surface of the education problem in Myanmar. (Of course, there are all the other problems, such as medical and health care). I can see that if I improve my Android app and make more aware of it, AND get it back on Google Playstore to enable easier download and installation, then that might make a small but positive difference.

I have a lot of thinking/planning to do when I get back to Mandalay.

Oh! My Christmas present was a thick slab of 'sugar cane' toffee, freshly made by the orphanage from the locally-grown sugar cane

Originally Posted by Simon43

connected up to the electrical system

You are a braver man than I, touching that.

Top bloke, is Saint Simon... But...

Don't be a wuss. Take a shower using cold water! Just grin & bear it, and be fast. Else you'll be raising the flag for the soap-dodging Poms!

Safe travels & happy holidays. (Hope the Filipino priest in the hinterlands of Myanmar has access to balut!)

Originally Posted by katie23

Top bloke, is Saint Simon... But...

Don't be a wuss. Take a shower using cold water! Just grin & bear it, and be fast. Else you'll be raising the flag for the soap-dodging Poms!

Safe travels & happy holidays. (Hope the Filipino priest in the hinterlands of Myanmar has access to balut!)

I don't have a big issue about taking a cold shower. But I am mindful of the source of the shower water. At my rented accommodation in Yangon, I found out that the shower water came straight from the nearby river. And where were my number 2s going from my toilet? Straight into the nearby river.......

Damn that's brutal