The National l’Huttaw Parliament

The National lHutaw Parliamentary Assembly in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar was the place that I worked at for a year.

Living and working in Nay Pyi Taw for one year, and driving to and from its location daily: passing through shops, a group of monks line up the streets to receive food from the locals.  Before approaching the first set of traffic lights, a policeman stops the traffic to allow a convoy of pearl white minivans to take precedence over the traffic and directs them to the main road. These minivans filled with elected MPs from different constituencies throughout Myanmar are taken to the parliament to attend a very important meeting.  Reaching its destination, its immaculate surroundings, here and now,  its surroundings, it is probable that the parliament  was built on shrubbery land, with locals displaced to make room for its monstrous mortar buildings, to make room for officials and their large monstrous homes, to make room for the tidy 20 lane roads that lead to the Parliament buildings, to make room for the yellow and red brick pavements, careful to bear no history.

The sweepers , women sweepers covered from head to toe, to protect themselves from the sun, blend in with the traffic to sweep the already eerily clinical streets of Nay Pyi Taw where history of any sort seem to be forever swept away. They sweep in unison, the clinically immaculate streets that bear no newspapers, no cigarette buds, no coffee cups,  no history of any sort or any memories. Gardeners cut from the same cloth, groom the flawless yellow and black; red and white curbs of NayPyiTaw’s highways and side streets.  A leaf falls in the hand of a masked Tanaka face sweeper before it’s allowed to hit the ground!  They hoe away new weeds that now and then have a habit to creep through the cracks.  A guard, every meter or so, walk up and down the neatly manicured boulevards, the grounds to ensure that history is no more, that all memories are washed away!

Myanmar is home to the BARman that make up the majority of the population in Burma. More specifically, cut from the same cloth, it is also home to the135 ethnic groups dotted  throughout the country, plus the Rohingya people, which equals to 136.  According to the Myanmar organized body, this particular ethnic group is not considered part of the system. Why, you may ask?  However, they too, the Rohingya, Muslim minority people that were persecuted and driven out of their homeland 2 years ago today, August 25, 2017, are considered, (in my opinion, and, in the opinion of many others throughout the world), CITIZENS of Myanmar!

I waited a year to write about this place, because I wanted to have a more objective point of view, of what to say about it, without prejudice! Once I was removed from my own  emotional feelings that I felt for the people that I worked with, that I grew to know and to  love, this place gave me a tiny glimpse of what this grandeur like palace that represents it’s people, or should I say, for its Burmese citizens, was about.

Sitting under the Bougainvillea tree for tea

…. A Tapestry of my inconceivable experience

Kevin and I were in Myanmar 1 year today. May to May!

Canada: Rewinding the clock back to Canada,  I had a Skype interview with a Cuso Myanmar staff, Luca whose main focus was to place someone with governmental and parliamentary experience at the National Parliament in NayPyiTaw, Myanmar.

Throughout the interview, despite my lack of governmental and parliamentary experience, Luca kept emphasizing how crucial it was to place a well-seasoned volunteer with the Myanmar National Hluttaw Union Assembly in Nay Pyi Taw.  Unlike my interview with a Cambodian VSO staff where we had more of a casual chat about this and that to assess whether I’d be a good fit for my post in MondolKiri, my conversation with Luca, this time around, was formal and direct and with a note of urgency in his voice that appeared to echo the restrictive, conforming governmental rules that I was soon about to experience? (For example, The Burma official Secret Act written April 2, 1923 that was used against the 2 Reuters journalist who were jailed in Myanmar: The Secret Act that was conveniently never amended nor revised for this purpose or otherwise.  Today, the NLD ‘democratic’ government still prosecutes peaceful speech and protests, because it has failed to revise old oppressive laws). Indeed, a stark contrast to the little cozy, Sen Monorom town, Mondolkiri Province that, in our 3 years there, we grew to love and got to know so well …

Within 12 hours of the interview, I was congratulated!

A new blog was soon set-up.  This time with WordPress.  However, we still kept our Cambodian blog active.

http://aliceandkevin.blogspot.com/2018/05/uk-education-roles.html

Cuso training exemption in Ottawa … The general rule of thumb is for Cuso International to give a 3-year grace to former Cuso volunteers, once in home country, to be exempted from attending either or both the Assessment Day and/or the SKWID  week training (unless previous placements’ didn’t work out).  Luckily we fell into the ‘exemption’ category where we didn’t have to attend either training or assessment.

Now, only 3 months to go and a number of things had to be done.  From Immunizations,  Medical forms to fill out,  obtaining an international driver’s license, to renting our home in Canada, and, through Luca, to organizing housing in NayPyiTaw, Myanmar.

Kevin and I, though we had both our Japanese Encephalitis and rabies shots done for Cambodia and were still valid for Myanmar, we were required to be inoculated against meningitis.   As for our medical forms and obtaining an international driver’s license we did it without a hitch!

Now renting our home to the right people … ! Because we were leaving in May, instead of September, a better time to entice university students, couples or families to rent our home, it felt that we were clutching at straws. Our neighbour and former tenants helped us with posting an ad of our house on their Face Book, Parent Magazine, and University websites to reach potential renters throughout the country. Let alone having to announce our ‘dilemma’ by word of mouth.

A month to go and NO bites!

At the last minute, 3 potential renters, 2 families and a couple did finally answer our ad and were interviewed on Skype. Unfortunately, they were (all) away overseas, on sabbatical! As a result, No one came to view our property, a lesson well learned for another time. Blindly, without a further ado, we chose a family that we thought was a good fit for the neighbourhood, schools and neighbours whose children were close in age with theirs.

In short, during the 1-year we were away in Myanmar, unlike Cambodia, where things went smoothly for 3 years with our renters, we went through a rough patch, to say the least.   We had 3 sets of renters, lowering the rent each time our home was advertised. Subsequently due to unforeseen events, it ended up costing us.

At the same time of trying to rent our house, we also had hit a snag with housing in Myanmar. A new Cuso Myanmar staff manager (who had just replaced Luca) gave us the choice of either sharing a home with another couple in NayPyiTaw or to be placed in Mont State, Moulemein, a more desirable place to spend a year in. We chose the latter in a heartbeat!   Alas, within 11 hours, 46 minutes and 30 seconds of my response, The Cuso Myanmar coordinator, Lisa answered for Ei Ei Lin, a common theme throughout my placement in Nay Pyi Taw, to confirm that it was a false alarm, stating ‘the National Hluttaw Union Assembly, Phyidaungsu in NayPyiTaw were awaiting impatiently for my arrival’.

Myanmar

ICO in Yangon …  We had a two-week ICO (in-country orientation) in Yangon with 6 other fun Cuso volunteers to learn about the general local life in Myanmar:  From basic Myanmar language with some added field trips to various Pagodas and to the famous Shwedagon Pagoda, to Myanmar history, culture, ethnic cuisine, and the Myanmar people home to 135 ethnic groups (statically confirmed by the NLD government) or is it 136 counting the Rohingya Muslim Minority who have lived in Myanmar for countless generations?

During our 2 week ICO, Kevin and I stayed at the Hledan Centre in a nice Asian style apartment with 2 other Cuso volunteers from our cohort. As luck would have it, we were just doorsteps away from the ‘wet’ market (wet meaning outdoor market) where fresh produce, from fish to vegetables, to an array of fruit is abundant. What a treat!

Throughout our time in Yangon, we found the Myanmar people to be friendly, humble, helpful smiley ‘Thanaka’ faces echoing a chorus of ‘Mingalabas’ (hellos) in the Myanmar language.   The locals were curious about us, as we were just as curious about them. They often stopped to speak to us, to practice their English with us on buses, streets, trains and markets, and, anywhere and everywhere Kevin and I were spotted.

For more details of our 2 weeks in Yangon click on this post ‘One day in the life of a local’: https://myanmarvoices.wordpress.com/2017/06/03/one-day-in-the-life-of-a-local/

Nay Pyi Taw …   Before we knew it, we were whisked away to our volunteer placement destinations. Nay Pyi Taw for us!  Though we were still a little apprehensive about what we were about to find in NayPyiTaw…  We had decided to keep an open mind with our new adventure!

Grand 20 lane entrance to the Hluttaw National Assembly, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

We arrived in NayPyiTaw mid afternoon behind the Swe Kya Pae (shwe ja bay) market, a deserted area where the ‘Elite’ bus had dropped us off. It was sunny and unbearably hot with little shade. Thank goodness for our umbrellas that protected us from the burning sun while we waited for the NayPyiTaw-Cuso driver Ko Aung and Su Su Mon, a Cuso staff to pick us up.

Bougainvillea tree for our afternoon tea …Though everything was new and different, there were no particular transitional stages of getting settled. A house (for Kevin and I) was already set-up for the year.  Our house was nestled in the Swe Kya Pae local village surrounded by humble woven bamboo homes, banana trees, with an array of bushes that endlessly flowered and emitted perfume in our little courtyard throughout the time we were there. And, off course the bougainvillea vine (intertwined around the mango tree) that I grew to love and appreciate for the abundance of shade it gave us. A perfect place for Kevin and I to sit under the bougainvillea tree for our afternoon tea!

Transport was sketchy in terms of who would have the Cuso car during the day. Whilst a DRD staff member driver drove the other Cuso couple to work, I ended up with the car to drive to and from the Parliament.

Kevin the housewife … a very important assignment!  Typically, every morning, we leave home at the same time and head opposite directions. Kevin walks to the ‘wet’ market and I drive to work, a time for reflection. Sometimes reflecting on the politics, the unknown and uncertainty of the country … What counts, are the local people that teach us and direct us with the countless things that we are yet to discover… What’s more, is to keep an open mind.  The leaders, the parliamentarians, parliamentary staff are incredible people that I closely work with.  That’s what keeps me here.  When I think of what we’ve experienced and have shared and have together, helping to strengthen, empower the people’s voices, it makes me smile.

Milestones and successes ... Throughout the course of the year there have been successes and milestones with both Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff.  Together we wrote the parliamentary English curriculum, because such an invaluable resource did not exist when I first arrived at the Hluttaw.   Both MPs and parliamentary staffs are more confident with their English.  Armed  with ample innovative tools, they, MPs,  junior staff and staff officers now experiment with their new practical resources and new initiatives to share and to use at work: in their constituencies, at the parliament and too, they have disseminated these invaluable tools with their colleagues, friends and family.

Challenges … As for the challenges, salaries are low and do not exceed a certain quota for either MPs or staff, despite rent-free governmental housing stipulated by the leaders.  Through a range of network, MPs (with only 1,000 Kyats per month) seek higher paying jobs either in their constituencies or in more prosperous cities throughout Myanmar. By the same token, Parliamentary Staffs who are academically better equipped and who’s English is more proficient than their neighbour, not only do they tend to prematurely break their contract with the Hluttaw and accepts the penalty of forfeiting ever to work for the government again in the future;  they often seek jobs with private local enterprise or international NGOs who in turn are looking for well trained professional locals with both Burmese and English as an asset.

Myanmar is restrictive in every sense of the word. Though now an allegedly democratic society where one is told that they can freely express themselves, Everyone is however, watching Everyone like the ‘Big Brother is Watching You’ analogy (George Orwell).

A well-established, profitable tailor business for example, operated by a mother with a young son, who serves both the locals and international expats, was told by the police to dress appropriately, like a local and not like a Westerner!  Further, to dismount her large lucrative business, trimming away every inch of her business as a way downsizing  her shop.  More specifically, to move it to a different location to deter potential new clients to join her profitable business.

The tailor obeyed!

Her Myanmar traditional attire, her  image now conforms with those of her neighbourly friends. Her new shop is indeed smaller,  less enticing and moved to a less desirable location. However, her lucrative business is still in place, safe and sound in the privacy of her house away from lurking envious neighbours.

Diamond in the rough …  At home in our little diamond in the rough, as luck would have it, we have fabulous helpful neighbours who go out of their way for us and does it with a smile.  What’s more, we are often invited to join them for tea and for some unusual local Myanmar food. And, for a touch of Burmese words that we’re beginning to recognize!

Notably, compared to the humble woven-bamboo homes that surround us, our home slightly more palatial with a corrugated tin roof and plastered walls is placed in the centre of our courtyard.  The ground of our home shaped in a perfect square is framed by a tangled garden in some places and is neat and tidy in others. Throughout the year in Myanmar, our garden is endlessly transformed from lush green to a riot of colours.  Ceramic flower pots overflowing orchids are either hung in a wired line under the mango tree or are hugged together in one corner shaded under the frangipani tree sucking left over moisture from the rain. Beyond our little courtyard stands a humble home shared by this blossom bloodline made up of 3 different family members:  mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers and sisters … On the front line, it is the children that we often see playing with sticks on sand piles, for instance. Organically letting it happen, radiating warmth by way of emulating their parents with this and that with their defined roles, influence and tradition, instilling those values on to their offsprings.

Added to the quirky magic of our neighbourhood, a gentle-looking tailor sits in front of her shop with 2 other professional tailors. Haute couture made to measure their work is done with perfection.  And, at a bargain too! The head tailor who runs the shop works primarily with the locals.  It was by sheer accident that I found her. I eventually stopped going to the lucrative tailor, whom I mentioned earlier, because she was very busy, charged a lot, and made a lot of mistakes. No doubt a busy place for one person to manage her couture alone. I was looking for someone more reliable, someone more local and une haute couturière that I could trust. Rather befitting, I say.

As far as our Nay Pyi Taw outings go, within a 5-minute drive from our place we often land up at a Western restaurant where the local manager at Santino’s is always courteous and charming too.

In terms of speaking Burmese – well that’s another story…

Over this past ‘incredible’ year in Myanmar, not only have we become more familiar with the tropical fruits, vegetables and lush vegetation that appear at different times of the year in our very own little courtyard:  green and red chilly peppers, guava, mangoes, and pomegranates; we’ve also had an opportunity to meet and talk to the local people that we wouldn’t otherwise had the chance to encounter:  to hear their stories, their dreams and their hopes, their laughter, to experience special moments together …  The parliamentary leaders, MPs, staffs at work and the locals in our neighbourhood are smart, witty and fun to be around with.  Their love, joy, camaraderie will be greatly remembered ….

Something about Me …  Someone once told me, not so long ago, that one cannot write in a vacuum.   Over the years, a number of people have read my blog and have asked me where do I get my ideas or get my information from? That’s a fair question!

Most times, I write from personal experience. I write because I enjoy writing about the people I meet and those I work with. Simply, I write from the heart!  What do I do? I usually keep a journal and jot down ideas from simply observing, listening, sharing, participating and so on … In all honesty, writing for me has always been hard.  It is harder than climbing a mountain, I imagine …

As a volunteer both in Cambodia and in Myanmar, the common denominator for the well being of the people is to share, strengthen, empower voices.  Whether it is with teachers, school directors, cluster chiefs, POE officials in MondloKiri, Cambodia; with parliamentarians and parliamentary staffs in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and / or  with the local people in general.

In a nutshell, I weave a tapestry from my inconceivable experiences derived from the every day lives of the local people that I bonded with, that I closely worked with.

My ideas come from the local people’s experience and their endless possibilities  that through time, have led them to a higher place:  I stitch together their words of joy and dreams and hopes, the milestones and successes, their laughter and special moments that we’ve have woven together … throughout my time with them, I have attempted to stay open minded and have valued the possibilities they have shared with me.

Consequently, their aspiration are very much reflected in the 2 books that were published in Cambodia (The Road to Prosperity ~my education ~my life) and in Myanmar (English Voices of Myanmar) that my colleagues and I worked on: we talk about the value of education, social inclusion and gender equality and human rights and freedoms for a better tomorrow …

Indeed the builders of the future are here to stay!

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for June 2018….:)

Education Roles

by Claire Gilderson

‘The road to prosperity’ changing lives through education …

In May 2017, ALICE CHANDLER flew off to Myanmar to volunteer again. This is her second placement with Cuso International. She briefly recalls her first adventure in Cambodia and her second time in Myanmar following a long teaching career in Canada.

During her long teaching career as an educator, mentor and adviser, Alice worked in Canada, Anguilla, China, Cambodia, and Myanmar “I decided that it was time for me to embark on more stimulating expeditions,  so I leapt half way across the world to volunteer for three years with VSO – Cuso Cambodia and  for a year with Cuso International Myanmar.  ‘I wanted to be in a developing country, this time as a long-term volunteer where I could be part of the community and work for the well being of others’.

In 2013, Alice was placed as a Primary Education Adviser at the Provincial Office of Education in the beautiful hills of Mondulkiri • the poorest rural province in Cambodia. There she worked with teachers, school directors, cluster chiefs and POE senior and junior officers to help improve the quality and access to basic education ‘I fell in love with this amazing place and I was fortunate to get my placement extended until 2016. Despite the challenges, I found that Humour is an important part of facilitating positive change’.

‘In May 2017, I was placed at the parliamentary Union Assembly Hluttaw, Phydaungsu Chamber in NayPyiTaw, Myanmar.  There I worked with both parliamentarians and parliamentary staff to strengthen their English voices to use both in the workplace and with friends and family. Attendance was high everyday and throughout this yearlong project, English Learners became increasingly confident with their English and had fun in the process. Laughter became contagious and learning became easier’.

While Alice was both in Cambodia and in Myanmar she and her colleagues published 2 books.   In January 2016, The Road to Prosperity ~my education ~my life was published in Mondolkiri, Cambodia. The book is of a collection of interviews and short stories of local men and women about the value of education, social inclusion and gender equality.

English Voices of Myanmar was recently published in March 2018. The book is a practical  Resource Activity Parliamentary Curriculum for anyone to use and to disseminate with colleagues, friends, family … It’s about expanding the boundaries of the English language  using a higher level of thinking through the use of problem solving, critical thinking, analytical thinking to spark questions for conversation …  This English parliamentary curriculum is also about social inclusion, gender roles, and human rights and freedoms …

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for the rest of May 2018….:)

 

5 Minutes with Phyo Wai Win

The following parliamentary Senior Officer (student)’s case study is on page 190 in the English Voices of Myanmar Parliamentary Curriculum that was published in March 2018.

“The highlight for me was Questions for conversation …

“My name is Phyo Wai Win and I’m from Zigon Township , Bago West Division situated in the lower part of Myanmar bseside Bago-Yoma mountain area”.

When did you first take English? “I first learn very basic English language when I was in ‘first standard,’ known as primary school. I was 5 years old. But I did not speak English. Not really”.

When did you begin to speak English? “I began to speak English when I was 25 when I joined the English class with my friend and studied English at a higher level”.

What is interesting about the Cuso English class? “By joining the Cuso English class, I have many opportunities to speak English fluently with a native speaker and my classmates, and I understand more about the language, the structure group work methodology, critical thinking, problem solving, debates and questions for conversations with confidence”.  In our class, Alice gives us a chance to participate fully with the topic presentations everyday. Topics could be review, fashion, family life in Myanmar, Myanmar culture, parliamentary work, my hero, global citizenship begins with me that we have just learned in the Road to Gender Equality and the ASEAN Citizen units.

I think that the most interesting thing in the class is that we get to choose the writer which is a Scriber; Brainstormers who are really critically thinkers, Presenters who has to listen deeply to everyone’s comment; Audience who has a chance to listen carefully to the presenter and to ask the right questions for conversation that make sense to show that we have carefully listened to the presenter. According to the topic we participate our parts, we have a chance to collect a lot of facts and it is really excited to work with my group and   with others groups, because we have the facts to share with each other and good relations with my friends to participate with questions for conversation that Alice has taught us”.

How has Cuso English helped you with your parliamentary work? “My Cuso English class has helped me significantly with my parliamentary work by applying the writing briefing paper research work . I Write Burmese briefing papers that I translate from English to Burmese. This information, I use from my Cuso English Class and collect data from the Basic Health Staff website from different countries. I create subheadings from a variety of International newspapers that becomes the Current Affairs Digest newsletter for MPs. This, I delegate to my junior staff to write and make sure that they understand that they need to think critical instead of copy paste directly from the web.   This is where I use a lot of questions for conversation model that I learned from Cuso class. I also use with my staff solving the problem in the work with critical thinking that I keep in mind that Alice always remind us to think about when we negotiate with others in class

Would you recommend Cuso English training? Off course, I recommend Cuso English training to my friends, and my colleagues, my parliamentary junior and senior staff, also my brother and sister and my family. I think that they will have a chance to speak with a native speaker with many different topics to discuss about current issues, healthy living, language acquisition, leadership and make questions for conversations with a lot of critical thinking that we do in class. I like most Alice class because she encourages us to always ask “questions for conversation. She could handle the class well and she knows how to manage the class with Stop, Look and Listen. it is also important to mention that Alice is fun and makes us laugh, so we don’t want to be absent from the class.

What was the highlight of Cuso English class? The highlight or me is that I now use both ‘questions for conversation’   and the ”group work methodology concepts” with everything that I do with my parliamentary work and with everyone that I work with; my colleagues, my friends and even my family!

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for the rest of May 2018….:)

 

 

Thida Aung~Parliamentary Junior Officer

The following student’s case study is on page 188 in the English Voices of Myanmar Parliamentary Curriculum that was published in March 2018.

‘The highlight for me was extensive vocabulary and circle discussions… ‘

‘My name is Thida Aung. My hometown is Yangon. I now work at Amyotha Hluttaw Office in Nay Pyi Taw’.

When did you first take English? ‘I started learning English as one of the school subjects since primary school when I was 5 years old. Reading and writing are the skills we used a lot in learning English subject when we attended primary, middle and high school’.

When did you begin to speak English? ‘I began to speak English language in my University student life. When I attended a diploma course of English language proficiency, I got a chance to speak English language with Myanmar Teacher who speak English language. I took a weekend class and the course took about 2 years’.

.What is interesting about the Cuso English class? ‘By attending cuso English class, I have a chance to speak English with a native speaker .So my listening skill is improving a lot. I have noticed that my speaking, listening and presentation skills are improving than before. Now, I don’t feel panic to speak with foreigner and I can do presentation in front of the people without being nervous because in a class, we have to present about the topic that are relating to the lessons every day. We have to share the knowledge with each other in group works. By doing that, we can make friends with each other and we can create a lot of ideas and questions to generate a conversation concerning with the topic we discussed.

I have realized that working together in a classroom is the best way to understand lessons and cooperation.’

How has Cuso English Class helped you with your parliamentary work? ‘The topics of the lessons are very interesting and useful for my work. I am a visitor service team member in my office, so I have to explain about the hluttaw to visitors who are from foreign countries. Because of doing the presentation on a daily basis, I have more confident to speak with foreigners. In a class, we have to discuss and present about the functions of Hluttaw so it’s very helpful for my work. We also learnt about ASEAN Citizens, Global Citizens Gender Role and Human Rights. I think those are very important to understand well not only for parliamentary staff but also for all citizens’.

Would you recommend Cuso English training? ‘Exactly yes, because I do like the teaching methodology and style, active and friendly teacher, the topics we have learnt and we can make friends who are from other hluttaw offices. I would say that it’s a great opportunity to speak English better. And we also got the critical thinking skill through our lessons and the teacher can make us to be a responsive class. Sometimes we arrive to class late or sometimes we leave class early due to work demands. The teacher doesn’t force us to come to class on time. She is very warm, understanding, flexible and kind-hearted teacher and she gets on well with all the students and all people’.

What was the highlight in Cuso English class? ‘There are many highlights for me!

• The highlight for me was extensive vocabulary and circle discussions.
• The highlight of Cuso English class for me is that I can use vocabularies effectively in the work place and social interactions with accuracy.
• The highlight for me also are many Discussions we have in class that contributes new ideas and sharing knowledge with teacher Alice and classmates’.

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for the rest of May 2018….:)

Hnin Htet Phyu: Parliamentary Officer

The following student’s case study is on page 188 in the English Voices of Myanmar Parliamentary Curriculum that was published in March 2018.

“The highlight was Training for critical thinking , for teamwork, lots of group discussions and presentation for my work”.

English for Senior Officers 2017-2018

My name is Hnin Htet Phyu. I am from Tarmwe township, Yangon Division, Myanmar

When did you first take English ? I first learn English language in basic education primary school , when I was in primary class. I started Learning English when I was 5 years old . But that learning was very basic.

When did you begin to speak English? I began to speak English when I was 27 years old. Because I am very shy and I am more interested in reading than speaking.

What is interesting about the Cuso English class?    I am attending CUSO English Class for three months. This class gave training for critical thinking , for lots of group discussions and presentation . So , I was got more vocabularies , knowledge (about other countries and about Canada). I could thinking more widespread in English , from critical thinking , group discussions.   And then I got confident to speak in english by do presentation much times.

Our class teacher , Alice gave duties to us . We had to act like brainstormers , writer, presenter every day, every lesson. So we got best outlook of team work . And then I am a shy person . I was not brave to present in front of class. But now I got confident to speak with the help of Alice. Because she is very kindly and she is skillfull to teach speaking. She rejoined by a long way on our presentation.

We present about review, fashion, family life in Myanmar, Myanmar culture, parliamentary work, my hero, global citizenship everyday. CUSO learning style is very freely . We all liked this teaching style very much .

How has Cuso English Class helped you with your parliamentary work?  Our abilities of speak in English be well. We got confident to speak from our CUSO class. So, we are not shy to speak with other persons . So , we can help our MPs for their parliamentary work when they need to speak to Foreigners. And then we can search some English data from website , daily English newspapers , English news program from TV for translating to Myanmar language.

Would you recommend Cuso English training?  I would like to some recommend for CUSO English training. That is keep on “group work methodology concepts” and “ Do presentations for many topics” . Because of we need to be brave to speak English very well and have nothing any shy”. In Myanmar some people are very shy person . So we need to do practice for speaking skill with native speakers. However , we are happy and satisfied to learn English from CUSO English training. So, I would like to say thanks for all.

What was the highlight in Cuso English class?

• Training for critical thinking , for lots of teamwork for group discussions and presentation for my work.

• Questions for conversation much me think deeply

• I got confident to speak with my group for brainstormers and presenters and tospeak English much times

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for May 2018….:)

Room 5

… paving the way …
Success!

Today, a year later, my 60 parliamentary students received their certificates, together with a recently published Parliamentary Resource Curriculum that magically arrived at the Hluttaw Union Assembly, Phidaungsu on the morning of the closing ceremony.  Like the house of cards, U Bhone Kyi Aung, a high parliamentary official and others like him that were reshuffled somewhere a mile away in the grandeur of the parliament, was leaving for the UK the morning of the closing ceremony, and, still had set aside, his time and energy to honour my students at the ceremony.  With his usual grin, his usual firm handshake, he said, ‘I wouldn’t miss the closing ceremony for the world’.   The Myanmar people opened their hearts, gave their love, their friendships …

Before the Change …

A year earlier however, it was a rough start!

Monday morning, on my arrival at the Parliament, on my first day at work, I was briefly introduced to the line manager and swiftly ushered away by a parliamentary staff to an empty office, to my desk!   Several cleaners soon followed, as per instructed, to move my desk exactly in line with the other 2, where my desk would firmly be placed!  What’s more, the same staff proceeded to take the place of my assigned line manager, (who evidently was new in the field) and promptly signed the 3-way agreement without discussing it with him or me?   The new line manager appeared to show little interest in the situation or in me?   Was he nervous too? Did we get lost in translation along the way?

At the start of my placement there were several glitches that needed to be ironed out.  From establishing a classroom for English formal and informal lessons (to on job support); from the number of instructional formal hours I would teach, to discover whom my real boss was, at it appeared that I had many bosses? More to the point, I was intrigued at the lack of respect I was receiving by some people.  Parliamentary staffs would ask me how long I had planned to stay at the parliament? Others ignored me and didn’t want to have anything to do with me. There were times that I was included to some events by some, and promptly excluded or disinvited by others.   At first, isolated in my office, I wasn’t sure what to make of it all.  Everything was new to me.  However, I felt it important to make it work through trial and error and to go with the flow.  Looking back now, it appeared that I had an ambivalent role as an international employee who did not represent Cuso Myanmar. As a result, they seemed confused and didn’t know how to handle the situation ….

What did we do?

Weeks later, after submitting a proposal for the 1^st set of parliamentary students and waiting for approval, U Bhone Kyi Aung the big boss, the new line manager’s boss soon took hold of the reigns to clarify the status quo, and eventually some things began to improve! U Bhone Kyi Aung is forward thinking, highly accommodating, fair-minded and very supportive.  He evidently is the backbone of the parliamentary system that supports the English programme and the role I was to play.  He wanted success.  With each parliamentary class, we had an open ceremony at which time he’d address my students about the significance of the English language, an important skill for them to use proficiently and competently in the workplace. Bhone Kyi Aung took me under his wing and became my mentor, my advocate …. 🙂 Throughout the year at the Hluttaw, we worked closely together to share ideas, to discuss my work, the book (a work in progress) and the next steps.  And, in the process we developed a close bond!

With the backing of U Bhone Kyi Aung, I moved office. He gave me a choice of having two offices with 2 desks (one office with air-con and the other without).  I chose to move to the Research department, without air-con, where parliamentary staffs and the Line Manager were based. To me it made perfect sense to be in a congenial atmosphere where I was no longer isolated from the Myanmar people.  More to the point, I felt it important to play a pivotal role in the workplace where our skills, our culture, language, trust, friendships was aligned with U Bhone Kyi Aung’s belief.  Connecting through the hearts, minds of my comrades, meant that I’d also be in a situation where I could observe la vie quotidienne, the everyday ins and outs of my colleagues, the parliamentary staff’s general work function (in our shared office).  Working alongside each other, also meant, that through their lenses, a puzzle of intricate pieces at first, that I’d have the opportunity to learn something about the Hluttaw parliamentary system to better help the Myanmar people.  I did.

Room 5 …

How did I end up with Room 5?  U Bhone Kyi Aung stepped-up to the plate once again

to overrule the case that Room 5 was a better choice (than the small class that I was initially assigned to), to comfortably house 20 students, the instructor, unforeseen guests, such as himself and to welcome other parliamentary officials, staff and/or anyone else at the Hluttaw that either wished to observe or to take part in my class at any time.

Our verbal contract also entailed my formal teaching hours.  U Bhone Kyi Aung gave me the choice to teach either 8 hours a week Monday to Thursday or 10 hours per week that included Fridays.  I chose the latter.  Sensitive, anticipating to the needs of the people, I wanted to have Fridays as catch-up days.  I wanted to give personal attention to my students that wanted extra help, conduct informal English discussions, nurture and support them in anything else that would help strengthen their English voices.

As for my afternoons, U Bhone Kyi Aung and I agreed that Room 5 be converted to an informal on-job support venue sessions for small group training with parliamentarians and staff. That is to say, to help MPs and staff alike to effectively carry out their roles in the workplace and anything else that benefited the Myanmar people for a better tomorrow. This included IT, questions and answers addressing enquiries during council meetings, informal English conversational lessons, group discussions with Women MPs that represents, serve, work with marginalized groups in their constituencies, help staff in their department to respond to a proper English email from Burmese translation, to creating a parliamentary job posting (related to staff’s specific job responsibilities), which didn’t appear to exist at the Hluttaw when I first began working with them.

6 weeks later, I met my first set of 20 parliamentary students in Room 5!

What is different today?

Typically, predictably so, as I enter the grandeur of the parliament first thing in the morning, my day begins with a chorus of laughter that echoes throughout the corridors of the ZhaBuThiri Phyidaungsu building that bounces into the parliamentary staff offices.  As I reach the shared research staff office at the end of the hall, a bubbly wave of more chatter and laughter resonates all the way to Room 5 with words of contentment that speaks back to me.

Room 5 is a place that Assessment begins from the moment my awe-inspiring, talented students enters my class.   As they enter Room 5, I mentally ask myself, ‘Are my English Learners feeling well, excited with full of queries?’ Are they nervous and unsure of the unknown with today’s lessons?  Are they enthusiastic, engaged and motivated? Is the class culture shifting from being once a cautious to a more confident and vibrant community of English learners?’    Each day is a different day with full of ‘magical’ possibilities’, with new insights and ideas.   Indeed, Room 5 is a room where my students thrive and surprise me with something new each day!

Throughout my teaching at the Hluttaw, there has been a positive change of pace in Room 5, a magical sense of transformation and successes in my students.  My students are excited to come to class and over time they have gained more confidence.  Shy students that appear to be more self-assured, are now talking, and even volunteer to share our morning introduction to the start of the day’s lesson: either to give a brief account of the daily news, discuss the lyrics of a song, review the day’s work, talk about Myanmar culture, ethnic traditional dress and or fashion, … and anything else that is of interest to them.  Once a month, together we typically celebrate our successes in the very grounds of the parliament.

Parliamentarians are also feeling more confident with their Oral English skills and are even laughing at their own mistakes!  Conversational English with MPs is a fun and most interesting job one can ever hope to have and whom I have learned much from. These MPs come to the parliament with a wealth of knowledge.  Back home in their villages, in their constituencies, they have regular jobs like you and me.  They are teachers, farmers, artists, entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers …

During my placement, outside Room 5, I also visited Parliamentary staffs in their designated workplace. This is to address what is it that they want to know and how to strategize ways to strengthen there English skills further in their jobs.   Their skills are brought back and addressed in Room 5 for teaching and learning prospects.  What’s more, we have also focused on the different creative writing interests, skills that were revealed in my talented students.

The change

Despite the political problems I experienced throughout my placement, despite the last minute bid to deny the closing ceremony for my parliamentary students, despite the rough start, success prevailed!  My motto: Keep an open mind, observe, listen, wipe the slate clean, be objective and be receptive to new ideas …

I have been asked several times by a number of people at the Hluttaw, ‘what is your secret in keeping your students?  They come to your class everyday.’   I tell them ‘I have an open door policy where my students come and go as they please.  Some have early morning commitments and still manage to attend my class.  Some, who are unwell, still come to class, because they tell me that they don’t want to miss new ideas or a new ‘exciting’ unit.  When I prepare for the next day, my students will pop in to ask if they can help me and or simply hang out… I say, my students are intrigued, curious and hungry to learn’!  I answer, ‘I’m flexible, a team player, open to ideas and mindful of my students needs. Therefore, I have a back up plan to change the lesson at the last minute if need be’.  I tell them that ‘my students are in a safe environment to freely discuss and express any issues that they want within the walls and safety of Room 5’.

English VOICES of Myanmar

When I began working at the Hluttaw Union Assembly, a parliamentary curriculum did not exist.  Part of my job was to create a Parliamentary Resource Curriculum book that made sense to the parliamentarians and parliamentary staff.  Consequently, my students were very much involved and included in the process of developing the book.  They also got to brainstorm the different types of units that they felt needed to be included in the book.  Throughout this yearlong mammoth project, the ‘global village staff’, the parliamentary staff together made ‘lemonade from 2 lemons’.  They diligently developed, typed, translated the English text to the Myanmar language and gave everything they had: their souls and their might to help out with every bit of the book from the grassroots up!

‘English VOICES of Myanmar’ was recently published in March 2018.  This practical Resource Activity Parliamentary Curriculum has become part of the ‘first’ Cuso collection, encased in the 3-Chamber libraries: Pyidaungsu, Phyithu, Amyotha for anyone to use at the Hluttaw, NayPyiTaw or anywhere else in Myanmar.  This also includes all sub-national Hluttaws throughout Myanmar.

What is the book about? The book is about expanding the boundaries of the English language using a higher level of thinking through the use of problem solving, critical thinking, analytical thinking to spark questions for conversation …  Some units include ASEAN Citizens, Our country ~ Our Parliament, Education (with a gender education section included), Healthy Living, Family Life in Canada and in Myanmar.   This book is also about social inclusion, gender equality, human rights and freedoms.

Since the book was published, the Hluttaw parliamentary leaders printed 35 more copies.  And Cuso Country Office Myanmar also printed more copies.

It is worth noting, that the curriculum draft was temporarily put on hold to print.  However, the parliamentary leaders overruled the case to continue with the process of completing the final details of the book and to have it published. What’s more, some units became a controversial concept, such as Gender Equality that I was initially asked to remove from the curriculum. Some parliamentary administrators claimed,  ‘we have NO issues in Myanmar.  Everyone is equal, this includes all ethnic groups in our country’.  However, after much discussion, the Gender Equality unit was changed to ‘Gender Roles, which the leaders approved of’.   Further, though the ASEAN Citizens Unit remained status quo, Global citizenship Begins With Me however, became ‘Part 2’ of the ASEAN Citizens Unit instead of a unit of its own, because it too, became controversial.  As a result, there are 11 units, instead of 12 units.

Befitting with some of our controversial units, Room 5 was a safe environment for freedom of expression.   My parliamentary students (MPs and staff) freely discussed and expressed anything that they wanted within the secured walls of Room 5.  With trust, together, we talked about ethnic controversial issues and conflicts of their much-loved homeland. Myanmar.  This included the Rohingya crisis that they spontaneously had chosen to speak about. Though initially removed from the Myanmar map (at the back of the book), with much discussion however as to whether the word Rohingya should remain on the map or not;  In the end, we unanimously decided that it was imperative to put the word ‘Rohingya’ back on the Myanmar map, where it belonged, where the Muslim Rohingya people ‘rightfully’ belong. In Myanmar!

News travel fast!  Since the book was published, since the closing ceremony event took place last week, people that we don’t know, boldly come up to us Cuso volunteers, introduce themselves, shake our hands, and with a smile say, ‘You must be Cuso’.   ‘We hear good things about you, about the great work that you’re doing here’.  ‘Your English book is one of a kind. The first ever to be published in Myanmar!’
Did we just put Cuso on the map?

Alice Chandler,  ESL Cuso Volunteer,  May 2017 – May 2018

Hluttaw Union Assembly, NayPyiTaw, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Volunteers for the world ~ un monde de voluntaire

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for May 2018….:)

NayPyiTaw in Bloom …

… A day of Silence …
April was a month of festival holidays: a New Year’s celebration both in Bali and in Myanmar. April was also a month that spun into a wealth of brilliant unexpected inspiration moments in room 5, surprising news, unexpected turn of events, closing ceremony and wrap up in NayPyiTaw.

New Year’s Celebration in Bali, in Myanmar: Nyepi a public Hindu holiday in Bali …
The Myanmar parliament in NayPyiTaw, is closed for 2 weeks, however we were away for almost 3 weeks, which includes wellness days away from the ongoing Cuso Myanmar’s drama. For example, instead of receiving a constructive response, dialogue, we are either told ‘It’s classified information (when it’s not and may be looked upon as a legacy that was left behind to share and disseminate among volunteers), OR, solve it, and if we don’t like it, Leave!’  Of course this is Old news , I’m afraid. This thread of old news, I understand has traveled to various Cuso volunteers whose placements throughout Myanmar haven’t worked out. As a result, dissatisfied with their placements, dissatisfied with lack of support, transparency, and no one to turn to, they have left their placements prematurely.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018, Kevin and I arrived in Bali, Ubud to be exact, for a well-deserved holiday with lots things to do to distract us away from the misery, from endless unethical political situation at work .

Ubud is dotted with a myriad of temples, shops, cafés, restaurants … and yes, Western people that we can talk too … 🙂

As you may have well guessed, we’re not really museum or temple goers, instead, we’ve relished the cappuccinos, café lattés, good Western food and a good 2 – 3 hour walk early in the morning while Ubud still sleeps. A spa with a good massage and or a healthy lunch awaits us each day, before having an afternoon snooze. Just what the doctor ordered!

We also toured the island where we swam, read, slept a lot and did day tours. Considering that April is the hottest month of the year in Southeast Asia, Bali, on the contrary was comfortable in every aspect of the word …

Saturday March 17, 2018 was a public holiday in Indonesia. Marked on the Balinese Saka calendar, the Hindu community that mostly lives on the island of Bali celebrates Nyepi, the Day of Silence a.k.a. the Hindu New Year. Nyepi is a day of reflection for the Indonesian Hindu community. As a result, all activities come to a complete standstill from 6 in the morning to 6 at night! This means that Hindus are not allowed to cook, work, eat, talk, use their cell phones to communicate with the outside world, nor are they allowed to listen to music, or use any type of transportation … In other words, locals stay home with their families for a day of silence.

While we were in Bali, Myanmar celebrated the Water Festival known as the Thingyan Public holiday or Myanmar New Year. The Thigyan holiday, an auspicious day that last 3 days, is a time to wash away sins and to begin anew. Unlike the day of silence practiced by the Balinese people however, the Myanmar people, sing, dance on streets and use trucks with heavy water pipes to either hose people down or use water buckets to throw water at each other …

For us, for me, like the Balinese people, it too, was a time of reflection of our year in NayPyiTaw, Myanmar. It was a time to try and make some sense of some things that worked, and some things that still nagged me at the core. Things that still needed to be ironed out, especially now that the big boss was no longer in sight to bat for me.

U Bone Kwi Aung had been conveniently shuffled a mile away, so it seems, to another Chamber, the Phyitu Lower House. Now that he was no longer working with me, for instance, Parliamentary staffs had been told that they were no longer allowed to help with the Myanmar translation or to help out with the last minute details of the book. However, ignoring the risks, the requests, the staff felt it important to complete their project and consequently went ahead with it. What’s more, the bid of the closing ceremony orchestrated by the same two expat individuals who disputed with the leaders, that it was of no importance for my students (whom I had for the year), to have a year end celebration, despite having gone through the proper channels for approval …. However, in the end, on our return from Bali, miraculously things fell into place.

NayPyiTaw in Bloom … Unexpected turn of events at the Parliament
Every tree, bush, plants, tall, thin, fat are in bloom. With multi-coloured flowers lining the NayPyiTaw boulevards, a new wave of young, eager–looking potential recruits have been invited to the Myanmar Hluttaw Union Assembly, Pyidaungsu Zabuthiri building to be tested in law, economics, and IT skills. Results will be posted in the large white board in the open hallway , just outside the library. Like children, they gently place their right hand on the back of the person’s shoulder (in front of them) to form an impeccable row. The rainbow longys, mostly women with few men, stand in row upon row to answer to the roll call, to their names, while there is much shuffling back and forth (from some leaders) to oversee that each row is in a perfect line. Shouting and excitement and clarification continue throughout the roll call as par for the course; to ensure that all requirements are met before testing, oral interviews begins.

On our return from Bali, U Zaw Hen, Director General of Pyidaungsu, (once ordained as a Buddhist Monk), had returned to work, the parliament in NayPyiTaw with a shaved head (from his time away at the Yangon Monastery) to mark the Myanmar New Year 2018. With a smile, a nod, hands firmly pressed together in a prayer, he said ‘I spent 3 days praying in a monk’s monastery to wash away my sins and to give hope to the people of Myanmar’. Now ordained, he also said, ‘I will be spending much time caring for my ill-health mother in Yangon’.  He too, with his other colleagues had arrived to work early to tests the kaleidoscopic-looking newcomers. Later that day, despite testing, interviewing and dealing with a backlog of urgent matters that needed to be attended to, U Zaw Hen took care, took the time in dealing with the unresolved ‘closing ceremony’ issue. In the end, he and other leaders of the Myanmar Hluttaw Union Assembly, Pyidaungsu Zabuthiri building overruled the 2 expats and approved the go ahead with the closing ceremony … 🙂

Surprising News
Nwe Nwe Soe: April was month with surprising news. Nwe Nwe Soe, who eagerly tried to reach me while we were away in Bali, bounced-in with joy into my office first thing Monday morning to announce that she had been accepted to join the 6 months’ Parliamentary Institute of Cambodia (PIC) Fellowship Programme: July to December 2018.  Whilst in Phnom Penh, Nwe Nwe Soe, 6 colleagues from Myanmar together with Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand will also join the Regional Fellowship Program in Parliamentary Research. She is absolutely thrilled and couldn’t believe her luck after having applied with PIC 4 times. With this unbelievable news, Nwe Nwe Soe, also told me that she and 4 other parliamentary staff were invited by Myanmar Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) to spend the first week of May with the UK House of Commons Parliament to learn and observe some of their strategic plans, tools to take back with them in Myanmar.  Later, I learned that U Bone Kyi Aung was too, one of the chosen invitees for this UK trip.

Kyaw Nain Tan: Remember, the line manager that in so many ways appeared to be agitated, obligated to drift wherever the wind blew because he was managed by so many people, including the 2 expats ? Remember how he had arrived at the Myanmar Hluttaw Union Assembly, the same time as me? Well, NayPyiTaw is indeed in bloom with surprising news! With a wide grin, from ear to ear, he too bounced in to my office to say that he was finally leaving the NayPyiTaw Parliament and joining the Yangon Ministry of Education at the end of May where he could be with his wife and son. Since this surprising news, Kyaw Nain Tan became friendlier, transparent, and more respectful toward me. A ton of weights fell off his shoulder as he spoke to tell me that he was no longer working with Cuso Myanmar or had to answer to the 2 expats. Throughout the rest of April and May whilst we worked parallel to each other, Kyaw Nain Tan seemed happier, his shoulders lighter, more erect as he walked with an air of confidence around the office.

Ni Ni Aye: When I first arrived at the Hluttaw, I was greeted by a stern-unhappy looking woman, who not only escorted me to my office, to my desk, after barely meeting the line manager, but to tell me how I should dress for work: long skirt with a long sleeve blouse. This revelation was made only to Cuso Volunteers. However, paid international business partners’ attire, although (some) came to work dressed inappropriately, nothing was said. Ni Ni Aye, like Kyaw Nan Tan, had been demoted, transferred from department to department throughout the Hluttaw with a bad reputation attached to her name. Unfortunately, any one with a bad reputation ended up working in one of the busiest department in the Hluttaw, the Research department where I was base.

Despite this however, Ni Ni Aye had some very good attributes to her name. She spoke English very well and spoke it better than most in the parliament. As a result, for a short while, she was based in the International Relations department where she dealt with international expats’ entry work visas and general documents for Myanmar. She later, joined the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) department and, at the end of May will take over Kyaw Nan Tan’s position at the Research department, where she was, alas,  originally posted.

Once I really got to know the real Nyi Nyi Aye, I found her to be professional, efficient, and extremely effective in her work! Some parliamentary staff would say that despite her bad temper, sometimes offensive and abrupt disposition, she’s ‘open and direct and a really good manager and knows the Hluttaw inside out’. To say that she is a hard worker is an understatement! She is competent, skillful, capable, talented officer. I found her to be warm, fun and easy to deal with. In the end, it was a pleasure to work with her.

At the end of my placement, Ni Ni Aye was frank with me and revealed that it was the 2 expats who instructed she and Kyaw Nain Tan to follow their orders. Through them, as messengers, they’d oversee that no parliamentary materials was shared with Cuso Volunteers. They’d cancel Cuso Volunteers ‘ requested meetings with the JCC, cancel invitations to events for Cuso volunteers (democracy day), excluded Cuso from social events and so forth.  Ni Ni Aye personally apologized in the end for 2 expats’ unethical behaviour. She also wanted to let me know that her hands were tied and that her job was on the line if she spoke up. In short, she didn’t have a voice to bat for others.

Thet Oo Zaw was one of my students who didn’t like to miss my class. As a shy student, a man of few words, he hardly spoke in class, let alone comment on anything that was discussed in class. Today however, was different. There was a break through with Thet Oo Zaw! For the first time, during one of our many-heated discussion, he got up from his roller chair to announce that he too, had something to say. Mindful, careful of what he was about to say, ‘though this is my opinion and we are in Room 5’. He and others talked about the role of wealthy Myanmar’s businessmen, the rich powerful retired Tatmadaw generals; from terrorism, persecution and inhumane treatment against the Rohingyas to corruption and greed … Indeed, that day our discussion turned into a wealth of brilliant unexpected inspiration moments in Room 5, both from Thet Oo Zaw’s perspective and from other students who had built up the courage to express their thoughts about the sad state of affairs of their country.

Closing Ceremony
Despite the political problems I experienced throughout my placement, despite the last minute bid to deny the closing ceremony for my parliamentary students, despite the rough start, success prevailed! My motto: Keep an open mind, observe, listen, wipe the slate clean, be objective and receptive to new ideas …

Today, a year later, my 60 parliamentary students received their certificates, together with a recently published Parliamentary Resource Curriculum that magically arrived at the Hluttaw Union Assembly, Phidaungsu on the morning of the closing ceremony. Like the house of cards, U Bone Kyi Aung, a high parliamentary official and others like him that were reshuffled somewhere a mile away in the grandeur of the parliament, was leaving for the UK the morning of the closing ceremony, and, still had set aside, his time and energy to honour my students at the ceremony. With his usual grin, his usual firm handshake, he said, ‘I wouldn’t miss the closing ceremony for the world’. The Myanmar people opened their hearts, gave their love, their friendships …

Sadly, Cuso Myanmar staff were not interested in taking part of the ceremony, despite the fact that they were invited by both the Hluttaw Union Assembly, Phidaungsu parliament and me to attend.

‘Good afternoon to all you;
Letting you know that I’m about to write to JCC, who arranges our activities and the rooms, to request Room 3 to hold a closing ceremony for 90 people on April 27, 2018. Will one of you be able to attend the closing ceremony – is it customary for a Cuso Myanmar to attend such an event? I have also invited both Geoffrey and Francois to attend this event, which they have already accepted. Will keep you posted with updates re the closing ceremony .’

Cuso (LF) Myanmar’s response ‘… I know that our travel budget is very much diminished this coming (new) year so she (Cuso administrator) will have to see if it is possible.’ ‘…. pomp and ceremony mean nothing!’ For my parliamentary students and me, it’s about celebrating the successes and milestones together with the people whom they got to know and to love.

Wrap up in NayPyiTaw                                                                                                                     Once the ceremony was done, and books, the parliamentary curriculum was disseminated among parliamentary staff and leaders, I spent Monday at work to wrap up loose ends, to say goodbye over luncheons and dinners with close staffs, friends, where we cried, laugh and cried again …

News travel fast! Since the book was published, since the closing ceremony event took place last week, people that we don’t know, boldly come up to us Cuso volunteers, introduce themselves, shake our hands, and with a smile say, ‘You must be Cuso’.   ‘We hear good things about you, about the great work that you’re doing here’. ‘Your English book is one of a kind. The first ever to be published in Myanmar!’

What’s more after reviewing the book further, after the ceremony, the Hluttaw parliamentary leaders printed 35 more copies for the parliament. And Cuso Country Office Myanmar also printed more copies.

More later …in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for May 2018….:)

Myanmar has a new president

March news: everyday is Christmas

Small mangoes, hundreds of them now maturing from our 5 mango trees in our little courtyard are strewn everywhere, some dropping-down like bombshells on tin roofs, the well to be exact, orchestrates the crashing of a tambourine-like sound when mangoes fall and smash to the ground each day.   2 days ago, heavy winds brought down 2 heavy large mango branches across the driveway. Neighbours from every household immediately came to our aid with their machetes to cut down the heavy branches to clear the driveway. Like the well-orderly maintained roads of NayPyiTaw, our driveway and courtyard was methodically done in an systematic fashion where everyone seemed to know his well-defined ‘duty’! The son’s next door’s duty was to pick up the debris for a bomb fire to be had on our front lawn.

On the way to the market, throughout the month of March, small white, red and blue flags lined the dirt roads to the open field behind us where a large stadium was built to raise funds for the Monks. Each day, deafening music for everyone to hear bellowed throughout the neighbourhood. Rejoicing this occasion, Thanakha locals from the various communities, walked with friends and family to the stadium to pay their respect and to donate food and or small amounts of money.  This celebration is done every year throughout Myanmar to raise funds for the Water Festival in April.

Through the last part of March, Kevin and I spent a week in Yangon at the printing shop for the formatting of the Curriculum. It turned out to be a more complicated exercise than expected because, their software programming didn’t have the Myanmar 3 (or any other Myanmar number) Language installed on their computer, and the company was not prepared to install it. To compound the problem further, the designer had never designed or formatted a book and I ended-up doing most of the work, showing, helping the designer where the icon tools were located on the computer. He didn’t speak English and we seemed to play charades for on-going comprehension … 🙂

On a sunny beautiful clear blue sky, a day where I thought we were progressing well with the book, and with one of my many expeditions to the outside bathroom, their guard dog that normally is placed in a shady spot well away from the printing factory was let loose on that particular day and bit me! This dog had several dog bites from other dogs in the neighbourhood and, had also recently bit other western foreigners.  The people took good care of me and immediately took me to the hospital for a rabies shot. What concerned me more was not the dog bite, but the blasé comportment from Cuso Myanmar. They didn’t bother reporting this mishap, concern for the safety of volunteers, to Cuso Canada.  This is an on going problem that is very real in developing countries to warn Cuso volunteers of this problem. In my opinion, it is critical for Cuso Volunteers to be well aware of dog bites in developing countries, so that not only are they well prepared for this inconvenient mishap that may happen,  but to be inoculated against rabies before the start of their placements and while in placement if necessary!

March was a month that could have been Christmas everyday or Ground Hog Day, where something, a day is repeated over again or caught in a time loop. In this case, in room 5, Everyday was gift day! I was either showered with several gifts or a significant gift of some sort each day from my 2 classes. After each gift giving, my parliamentary students sat me on a chair, preceded in taking their flip-flops’ off, formed a semi circle around me and in unison knelled down and bowed 3 times to the ground saying a prayer. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it all. My parliamentary students explained that, ‘Teachers are one component of the Five Infinite Venerables in Myanmar. After the Bhudha, the Monks, I was like their parent, their mother, their teacher of love, of a higher order. They said that they, ‘Wanted to pay their respect, gratitude and love for me.’ At these words, I relented and began to weep. They wept of joy with me!   My students indeed, opened up their hearts, gave their love and their friendships … Naturally, I too reciprocated and fell in love with my students.  We had become family.   In my class their was never any right or wrong answers. The goal is to bring people together for fun and easy learning. It is to generate insights, ideas, questions for conversation …    I feel truly honoured!  

Below is a letter from my parliamentary students explaining the meaning of gift giving, honouring and paying respect to their teacher.   

‘Dear Alice, 
Teachers are one component of the “Five Infinite Venerables”, along with the Buddha, Dhamma (teachings of the Buddha), Sangha (the order of monks) and Parents.

U Aung Thin, a retired teacher from Yangon University, said Buddhists consider their teachers almost like parents. In Myanmar, this kind of ritual (pay homage to their teachers)  has a much longer history.

Every year at Thadingyut (in October) , present and former students pay homage to their teachers at ceremonies across the country. Especially it is a way of remembering and honouring those people in society who (teach) pass on their skills and knowledge to others.

“A good teacher is like a family member to students. They mean a lot to their pupils – they’re a guide, leader, mentor, parents and friend,” To address someone as Sayar (male teacher) or Sayama (female teacher)  means you consider them not only a teacher in the conventional sense but also as a “life mentor” – someone who guides their students through the ups and downs of life. We pay homage  to our teachers by kneeling before them and paying obeisance with joined hands, and bowing, in order to show gratitude and reverence and an opportunity to ask for forgiveness ( Example : If we make a mistake to you or annoy to you) , often involving gift-giving.  

Love You Alice,

Phyo ‘

Other news in room 5 where all the learning happens, an American teacher who was instructed to teach English to the same students for more than 6 hours a day for the month of March,  approached me half way through his term and admitted that his students were falling asleep because 6 hours of English was too much, too long!     He observed my class 3 times and invited me to his class for some suggestions.   One of which, I suggested that he use the ‘people centred’ approach in order to keep the students engaged with their learning.  That afternoon, we simply got the students to form themselves in groups of 5, to brainstorm insights and ideas on chart paper their morning lesson.  Tape they coloured written charts on one of the 4 corners of the room (Room 3 is a large room).   Each group to rotate every 5 minutes to read and share within each group what other groups had said about their morning lesson.   This activity lasted approximately 25 minutes. Students were smiling, full of energy, had a glint in their eyes for approval and wanted more …

March 28, 2018, 7 days after former president U Htin Kyaw stepped down due to poor health, a new elected president (former Pyithu Chamber NLD MP speaker) U Win Myint was appointed by the counsellor. The 10^th president was inaugurated, swore an oath in office today, March 30, 2018, together with the 2 vice-presidents: The 1^st vice-president, U Myint Swe from the military group who acted as president for 7 days until a new president was elected, was appointed by the Tatmadaw chief. The 2^nd vice-president is Henry Van Thio from Amyotha Chamber NLD MP group, was elected by the people.

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for April 2018….:)

 

Something magical about the sea …

February news …  

There is something magical about the sea … the ocean, about the way it moves.  How the moon pulls high tides and low tides in and out at certain times of the day.  Each day the sea is different, the landscape changes from champagne sand to aqua oceanic  sea, to a spectacular orangey-red sunset.  This makes the day magical with full of possibilities!

In mid February we had a Cuso Annual Volunteer Conference, some 15 hours bus ride from NayPyiTaw.  The conference was held at GnweSaung Beach, where all Cuso volunteers from various ‘pockets’ of Myanmar met to share their experiences in their field.   Evidently, we talked about the successes, the milestones, the challenges, the next steps …   At the end of the conference, instead of travelling back with the Cuso group to Yangon and on to NayPyiTaw,  Kevin and I used our 2 day travel departure time to stay in GnweSaung Beach. We moved to Eskala resort for a couple more days to enjoy a small holiday by the sea. Aside from enjoying Cuso’s volunteer company at the conference, Kevin and I had a lovely time soaking up the sun, swimming in the sea, strolling on the beach.  All we had to think about was ‘how we wanted our eggs done … ‘  Just what the doctor ordered!

It is clearly the dry season.  As I step on every stone, slightly raised on dirt lanes in our neighbourhood, on the way to the market, mound firmly in the ground on the way to the market,  I’m reminded of the time  when local Thanakka men, women, children collectively worked together, racing against the anticipated monsoon to fix the pot-holes with soil and stones of different colours, shapes and sizes.  With the dry season, children are now home from school for the next 3 months and return to school mid May.   On our return from Gnew Saung Beach, Kevin, at the market, was greeted with a pleasant surprise.  The main area where he normally buys produce, the bamboo poles were raised approximately 2 feet higher, above Kevin’s head so that he wouldn’t bang his forehead against the pole.  The locals were quite delighted with themselves, making a point of letting Kevin know that the bamboo poles were raised up for his benefit … 🙂

February was month where more shuffling occurred among parliamentary staff and officials.   Like the House of Cards, officials and staff are conveniently, regularly shuffled to different departments throughout the Hluttaw – the parliament.  The big boss, whom we, developed a close relationship, whom I worked with throughout my time at the parliament, he too was moved to another department, a mile away from HR department, so it seems, without any explanations. The HR staff that I’m connected to went on with their business as per usual. One of the parliamentary staff, a few days later, had quietly and discreetly placed a tattered note in room 5,  in my class, on my desk with instructions of the big boss’s whereabouts.

The following day, the big boss approved, the people’s book that we created from the grassroots up, to have it printed in late March, before the end of the Cuso fiscal year.

Elsewhere in the parliament, an official celebration of a 2-year term at the Hluttaw took place at the large parliamentary-dining hall.  The Tatmadaw, the MPs, Cuso Volunteers, Officials, some parliamentary staff and expat business staff were invited for the luncheon to hear the Lady give a speech on peace, in Burmese.  The Tatmadaw, MPs and expat business staff sat at the front, while Cuso Volunteers Officials with some parliamentary staff sat at the very back of the room.

February ended with some confusion for some. Though it ended with both the EU and the UN jointly imposing sanctions against the government for the ongoing atrocity, others are not in sync and are  turning a blind eye to all available queues:  2 expat business staff, a branch of the UN are still providing lavish lunches in lavish hotels for workshops that could easily be conducted at the parliament for $0 – zero dollars.   Could it be that the $2million funds, (which these expats are receiving per month) be redirected where it counts?   Another competitive expat business tourism staff also placed at the parliament is planning in mid March to take a group of staff to Germany for a tourism experience. They too, like the 2 aforementioned expats blindly go about business as usual.

Cuso as always, step up to the plate where things are done in a timely way and successfully with spending $0 dollars at the parliament.   Oronie managed to merge the 3 chambers on intranet within 2 hours and yours truly was able to produce a curriculum that make sense to the people from the grassroots up.

More later … in the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for March 2018….:)

 

Fresh bananas from our tree

January news … Happy New Year!

This morning we were awakened to a fresh bunch, a hanging cluster tier bananas to eat with our muesli.  All in courtesy of our humble neighbour!   With a smile and a nod, he came around our house this morning to deliver bananas, while we sat on the porch with a hot cup of coffee in hand to ward off the early morning chill of 13℃ .  (yes, it gets that cold!).    Last night, our humble neighbour, who endlessly goes out of his way for us, had freshly harvested bananas  from our tree for us to have for breakfast this morning.  What a treat! Banana fruits develop from the banana wine colour heart in a large hanging cluster, made up of tiers known as ‘hands’, with up to 20 banana fruit to a tier.

Shortly after our banana harvesting adventure, we’ve since noticed that 3 new banana shoots are already sprouting from our old banana plant that was recently cut down to the ground.

It is clearly the dry season.  As I step on every  stone, slightly raised on dirt lanes in our neighbourhood, mound firmly in the ground on the way to the market, I’m reminded of the time when men, women, children collectively worked together racing with the anticipated monsoon to fix the pot-holes with soil and stones of different colours, shapes and sizes.

Here on the home front, Kevin and I take advantage of cool January temperatures to take a stroll either in the Herbal Garden grounds or within the neighbourhood. The soft breeze almost engulfs us with whiffs of snowy-white perfumed flowers that guard the Iron Gate.   Our humble neighbour, on one fine day, aware of the heavy scented gust that too gushes his household, demonstrates the process of what the white flower seed can do. The benefits.   White flowers, some already in seed clustered on stems, our humble neighbour seems to perform a crushing  magical motion for us to see; his hands pressed together with a plant seed between his hands, he shows us how seeds can easily soften into a powdery form. Proud of the outcome, with a heavy throaty chuckle, he announces how this fresh powder is unique to Myanmar and how readily available it is for anyone to use and how good it is for a woman’s skin.   With this wealth of information, I offer him to pop by our little courtyard to harvest them at any time he so wish to share with his wife and eldest daughter … J

Interestingly enough, one of our individual speaking presentations at the parliament is to do with ‘fashion’ that defines who we are as a person. What compels us to be who we are and to do the things that we do? Is it environment, our upbringing, our culture, the language we speak, I ask? Questions for conversation are what we highlight regularly in the classroom.

Talking about highlights, at dinnertime in January, a black Mercedes drove in to our parking lot to request our passports and updated visa. The 2 official immigration officers and the dual role individual: driver and English interpreter, stated, after scrutinizing our official documents 3 times over, that  our papers were in perfect order. Despite the fact, that the interpreter  had assured us that we no longer needed to show our papers at the NayPyiTaw immigration office the next day, Cuso SuSu had already warned us of our immigrations visit, that it was indeed necessary to go through the immigration official procedure through KoAung, our go between person who ended it up looking after things for us.   Naturally, this was another immigration routine check –in to ensure that our papers were in order!

When it rains, it pours, or better yet, there’s never a dull moment to be had!   That same evening, the right-hand hinge of the iron-gate rusted off its hinge. However, nothing could be done with it immediately, because we were leaving for the dentist in Yangon. As a result, the Iron Gate was left open at the discretion of the humble neighbour who looked after things for us during our absence.

Elsewhere in NayPyiTaw, at the parliament, the parliamentary leaders met with us Cuso volunteers, Geoffrey and I and other International Business staff to welcome us to the New Year, to recapitulate some of the good work that we were doing for the parliament and what were our next steps?

The 3^rd week of January brought us another Cuso Volunteer. In courtesy of Cuso SuSu , we dined at the Tai Restaurant just outside the SweKyaBae township to welcome the new volunteer François. Naturally, at the parliament on Monday morning, I was disappointed to move out of the parliamentary Research ~ HR office to join Geoffrey and François in the old JCC room sandwiched between the Research and International parliamentary offices.  Rationale: Parliamentary officials felt it best that we Cuso volunteers share a room separate to parliamentary staff.

Yes, we thought long and hard about our wish for all you to ring in the New Year in.  Together with good health and happiness, we’ve added an extra hope for 2018, another wish for you to experience, something extra. We wish you wonderful friendships, a skill that captures your imagination, a job that offers fulfilment, and, of course, new things in your life that will make your heart sing like the 2 birds who sing to us every morning at the wake of dawn, preparing a bird’s nest on one of our mango trees.

On that happy, joyful note, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for February 2018….:)

 

Looking through the lens of a foreigner

December News – a point of view

December consisted of weddings, luncheon celebrations to Christmas gatherings; Instructing a new set of ESL classes to making some progress with the Resource Activity Book known as ‘English Voices of Myanmar’. From looking through the lens of a foreigner over the last 6 months in NayPyiTaw to our usual theatre of humanity in our local neighbourhood.

Our neighbours across the road continue to endlessly entertain us with the usual theatre of humanity. What with the older sister and brother holding, dropping their large woven garbage bamboo basket, alternating between picking- up  fallen garbage to racing behind the navy blue garbage truck with other children teasing one another, while Kevin right behind them watch the ins and outs on the way – taking part of the charming chaos; To grandpa’s new diverting scheme in keeping his grandson busy with this and that, taking a risk in cajoling him only to find that his family has already left for school, quietly, wide eyes watching them drift by from a distance… While mom still bellows Myanmar words that we still don’t understand.  This time not at her son, who by this time is at the end of the dirt road far from her, but hollerss at another family whom they share their little compound with … 🙂

December began with a luncheon celebration to welcome new parliamentary staff, bestowed and organized by parliamentary officials, which I gladly attended with the office staff. Everyone raved about the Indian chicken curry with chapatti especially prepared by talented parliamentary staffs for this special occasion.

On the weekend, in early December, we celebrated another special event. Kevin and I attended my colleague’s wedding at the SweShiDaw restaurant where, on our arrival, arm in arm with one of the hostesses, we were ushered to the parliamentary officials’ tables rather than having the opportunity to sit with my colleagues, which I would have preferred; simply, to reconnect with them and to introduce them to Kevin. The bride and groom, fixed smiles, were donned in beautiful attire and tirelessly walked from table to table for snapshots. We had a lovely time and food delicious.

For Christmas, we  Kevin and I had a festive BBQ dinner party with friends and had a delicious decadent unique meal. Definitely mouthwatering range of flavours and textures that consisted primarily of several meat dishes: Italian sausages, pork chops, steak, spareribs with wine, beer, cocktails to ring the New Year in – the 2018 count down …The company, the food, and relaxing ambiance was more than I can say. We’re so lucky!

As for work, my old class, though previously agreed by the officials that I were to have them for one full year – 2 terms, was dissolved for reasons I will never know and 2 new sets of ESL classes were constructed. However, something good always comes from something that one may naturally be disappointed with at first.

Initially with this sudden change, it meant that I had little time to hold my small parliamentary group or my MPs’ English conversational group or in developing the Resource Activity Book that my former students and I began to write from the grassroots up. However, my new classes are just as smart and geniuses and talented as my former 2017 parliamentary class!

That is to say that although the Resource Activity Book ‘English Voices of Myanmar’ is progressing at a slower pace, with the consent of the big boss, I was able to touch base, reconnect with some of my former students for the Myanmar translation. I have also been given the consent to work with some of my present students to work on the book.

As for looking through the lens of a foreigner over the last 6 months in NayPyiTaw, we had some very good times and some challenging ones.

We feel very fortunate to have landed in a local community, living among the locals to experience the special things that we would never otherwise have experienced, if we had stayed in a hotel where other expats are expected to stay . By day end, a surge of excitement rushes over me, down my spine as I enter our little dirt road and pass children squealing with delight, neighbours waiving and chatting and Kevin sitting on his red chair awaiting for my arrival from a hard day’s work.

Though we have a TV with one channel, TV is the last thing on our minds.   To date, I’ve read 19 books (different genre). Normally, at home, I might be lucky if I read 6 – 7 books the most in one year.   As soon as I finish reading one, I’m already excited to start working through another; another story of people’s lives, love, friendship, their hopes, wants, etcetera.  That’s when you realize how lucky you are to have the life that you have. I’m in the process of reading ‘Hotel on the Corner of Bitter Sweet’ , Jamie Ford.  Look it up – it’s a good read about love and friendship between an American-Asian couple.

Yes time has indeed past quickly. NayPyiTaw, often referred to as the perplex city from bystanders, after a time, does grow on you: the gentle people, their warmth, support   has had an optimistic effect on my work and me.  So far for us, collaborating, building the capacity of both parliamentary staff and parliamentarians have been most encouraging.  We’ve seen progress and milestones.   My new students, as my former ones were, are wonderful, respectful, eager to learn and super smart.

More will be posted at later time ….:)  In the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for January 2018….:)

 

Happy Holidays !

Wishing all you in Cambodia, Myanmar and around the World a very Happy, Healthy Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year 2018 – We wish you a year filled with love,  joy and much more  !

We miss you and often talk about the good times that we had together …

Kevin, (my accompanied partner, my husband) and I have ventured off once again across the Ocean.  This time to Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar … !

We look forward to sharing our ongoing adventures with you.

More will be posted at later time ….:)  In the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for the rest of December …. Alice / Kevin Chandler xo

Yamin Mg Mg

About Me – Brief Biography

 I am Yamin Maung Maung. I was born in 27^th of March, 1991. I have five family members. My father is an officer working at the Myanmar Railway station at the Ministry of transportation. My mother is a good housewife. I have three siblings including me. I have two younger brothers. They are University students.

As my saying childhood, I started school at the age of 5. I was a primary and high school student at the No. (3), B.E.H.S Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township, Yangon. The schools are located on the Upper Pansodan Road and a school for only girls.

In 2007, I passed the matriculation exam and received an A.G.T.I Diploma in 2009. Then I joined the Eastern University of Yangon and specialized in Physics starting with 2^nd year. I didn’t need to attend from the 1^st year as I got the A.G.T.I Diploma.

In 2011, I graduated with a Bachelor Degree of Science in Physics. In 2013, I got this job as a Lower Divisional Clerk at the Speaker’s Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw. After my 1^st year, I was promoted to as an Upper Divisional Clerk 2 years later I was again promoted as a Deputy Staff officer on 2^nd June, 2017. I still work at the same office with 4 years experience at the parliament here in my section.

More will be posted at a later date … 🙂 In the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for December and the New Year ….

ကိုယ်ရေးအကျဉ်း

ကျွန်မ၏အမည်မှာ ယမင်းမောင်မောင်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၁၉၉၁ ခုနှစ် မတ်လ ၂၇ ရက်နေ့တွင်မွေးဖွားခဲ့ပါသည်။ ကျွန်မ   တွင် မိသားစုဝင် (၅) ဦးရှိပါသည်။ ကျွန်မ၏အဖေသည် နိုင်ငံဝန်ထမ်းတစ်ဦးဖြစ်ပြီး အမေသည် မှီခိုသူဖြစ်သည်။ ကျွန်မတွင် မွေးချင်းမောင်နှမ ၃ ယောက်ရှိပါသည်။ ကျွန်မအပါအဝင် တက္ကသိုလ်တက်နေဆဲဖြစ်သည့် မောင်လေး ၂ ယောက် တို့ဖြစ်ပါသည်။

ကျွန်မသည် ကျောင်းနေအရွယ် အသက် (၅)နှစ်မှ စ၍ မူလတန်း၊ အလယ်တန်းနှင့် အထက်တန်းများကို အ.ထ.က (၃) မင်္ဂလာတောင်ညွှန့်၌ တက်ရောက်ပညာ သင်ကြားခဲ့ပါသည်။ ကျွန်မတို့၏ ကျောင်းသည် အထက် ပန်းဆိုးတန်းလမ်းမပေါ်တွင်တည်ရှိပြီး အမျိုးသမီးများသာ တက်ရောက်ရသည့် မိန်းကလေးကျောင်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။

၂၀၀၇ ခုနှစ်တွင် တက္ကသိုလ်၀င်တန်းစာမေးပွဲ အောင်မြင်ခဲ့ပြီး ၂၀၀၉ ခုနှစ်တွင် A.G.T.I (IT) ဒီပလိုမာ ရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။ ၂၀၁၁ ခုနှစ်တွင် သိပ္ပံဘွဲ့(ရူပဗေဒ) ကို ရန်ကုန် အဝေးသင်တက္ကသိုလ်မှ ရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။

၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ်တွင် အငယ်တန်းစာရေးအဖြစ် ပြည်သူ့လွှတ်တော်ရုံးတွင် အလုပ်စတင်ဝင်ရောက်ခဲ့ပြီး တစ်နှစ်ကြာသောအခါ အကြီးတန်းစာရေးအဖြစ် ရာထူး တိုးမြှင့်ခြင်းခံခဲ့ရပါသည်။ အကြီးတန်းစာရေးလုပ်ငန်းတာဝန် များကို ထမ်းဆောင်ခဲ့ပြီး ၂ နှစ်ပြည့်သောအခါ ၂၀၁၇ ခုနှစ် ဇွန် လ ၂ ရက်နေ့တွင် ဒုတိယဦးစီးမှူးအဖြစ် ထပ်မံ၍ ရာထူး တိုးမြှင့်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ကျွန်မသည် ပြည်သူ့လွှတ်တော်ဥက္ကဋ္ဌရုံး တွင် လွှတ်တော်ရုံးဝန်ထမ်းအဖြစ် တာဝန်ထမ်းဆောင်နေသည် မှာ ၄ နှစ်ကျော်ခန့်ရှိပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။

 

Haute couture made to measure …

November news

The rain has stopped!  It’s the dry season and it’s turned cool, cool enough to enjoy (wearing) a cardigan in the evenings and early mornings.  One might even think about getting another blanket to warm up from the 17℃  evening chill.     By noon, by day however, with the warm sun,  temperatures quickly rise-up to 30℃ to 35 ℃.

With the dry season,  each morning, straw hat ladies and men  beside our house, lay 3 large heavy plastic sheets, green, blue, red tarps across the narrow dirt road, covering both sides of the road to spread, arrange dried rice on them .  Every 15 to 20 minutes or so, in unison they rake the rice, sit around the raked rice to pick out unwanted husks and then begin the same meticulous raking motion over again, taking great care not to miss any gap, to erase footprints of any sort. Families of roosters, mother hens and their young curious of this new event, looking for a bit  of action,  for a bit of rice for themselves, manage to walk across the sets of freshly raked rice to pick out a morsel or two when no one’s looking … 🙂

November was a month of weddings and haute couture made to measure …Talented couturière are busy stitching beautiful wedding dresses, longyis for the guests. Equally special, wedding invitations are forever beautifully adorned in colourful Myanmar glitter letters wrapped in ribbons, sequences; typically a reflection of the bride and groom’s attire.   It’s been a month where weddings are now in full swing with loudspeakers plunked in the middle of roads everywhere in town, blocking and redirecting traffic.   Loudspeakers of course are set up for everyone to hear the throbbing ‘loud’ music, for anyone to take part in this unique experience …?

As for work, parliamentarians have returned to their constituencies, to their villages for six weeks and are expected to return to the NayPyiTaw parliament next year – the second week of January 2018.   As a result of the MPs absence, all cafeterias are again closed and will re-open on their return.  Further, during the MPs absence, parliamentary staffs here at the parliament spend endless time going through more files to rip and shred.   Could it be that highly talented, skilled and highly qualified parliamentary individuals, with law, economic, IT skills and much more, could be of benefit to each other: MPs to parliamentary staff and vs ?   Instead of spending countless, mindless time shredding files?

MPs could potentially hire highly qualified parliamentary individuals to work directly with them for vital administrative support:   Parliamentary staff, with their skill set could potentially  make some or major political decisions etcetera that will evidently positively effect and profit both parties in their jobs and keep them both in this highly profile, profitable business instead of quitting early?

Before the MPs went home, for 2 weeks, I had the opportunity of working with 3 MPs , 2 women and a man who had sought me out for conversational English and to play catch-up in general. They said that ‘they missed me and enjoyed talking with me in English. It was good practice for them … :)’   During one of our many conversation, one of them mentioned that he was overworked needing personal paper work assistance at the parliament and, with his constituency. The other two, both women doctors simultaneously agreed that it would indeed be most helpful to have personal parliamentary assistance when in session, if not to receive parliamentary assistance in both places part of the time: at the parliament and at their constituencies.

In Canada, in the West and in other parts of the world it is common for all MPs to receive subsidy with personal parliamentary assistance.   In this case, Myanmar PMs could potentially employ a team of two or three personal parliamentary assistants, who’s tasked, could be from administrative responsibilities relating to legislation to research, media relations, lobbying and much more ….     According to staff , some MPs already receive some limited inconsistent assistance from committee parliamentary staff members based , work stations at the Lower and Upper houses: Amyotha and Pyithu.

How could these MPs be funded? Potentially they could receive funds from International donours’, instead of subsidising expats who receive high salaries and who’s money could be better used for the MPs , And, the parliamentary staffs’ overall well being.

Elsewhere at the parliament, Ironically, the JCC  a.k.a. the Joint Coordinating Committee  (made up of a local eclectic Pyramid team: a Chair, 3 MPs, 12 Parliamentary Officials and Staff)   have asked for another emergency meeting with the UNDP, a branch of t he UN.  The first, in September to ensure their renewal contract with the parliament was indeed still in progress; a sudden realization of potentially imposing international aid restrictions on the parliament due to instability in some part of the country.

In November, the JCC called for yet a 2nd unexpected meeting with the UNDP and all NGOs and diplomats, who sat at one end of the room facing  Parliamentary officials at the other end to enquire the UNDP’s 4-year strategic scheme, yearly and monthly budget.   It transpired that the UNDP  didn’t have a plan, spending close to 2million US dollars a month on  ‘little projects, on Shopping lists without tangible long term evidence or sustainability that MPs claimed was indeed impractical’.    What’s more, they were  reluctant to share with parliamentary officials how the money was spent.   Apparently, the some 100 UNDP employees are moving from Yangon to NPT sometime in the New Year with a  new restructured plan?

At the meeting and again recently, I had the pleasure, the opportunity of meeting some of the local UN-Yangon staff who appeared competent and eager to assist the people at the parliament.   As a result, I’m very much looking forward to working with them, with positive thinking individuals.  With their presence and talents, it looks that they will make a difference in the parliament!  Besides, it means that jobs will be given to the locals instead of the expats.   Cuso has it right!  They are indeed well prepared!  Cuso volunteers are on the ground and work from the grassroots up giving the people the right on job support: workshops, strengthening and building the capacity of the Myanmar people, and much much more …

November  ended with some memoirs of our 7 Cuso May cohort and a new Cuso Volunteer.  Our wonderful Cuso cohort, who arrived here in Myanmar with us last May 2017, all left Cuso prematurely for one reason or another.  As for me – for us Kevin and me, I have endeavoured to start my placement on a clean slate and to remain open minded despite some ups and down that one naturally encounters with any situations.

November ended, here in NayPyiTaw, with a fresh new pair of Cuso eyes who joined the parliament.  Geoffrey is the ICT Advisor for the 4 ICT parliamentary units.  We ride to and from work together, which is a time to play catch-up and plainly enjoy each other’s company!

More will be posted at a later date … 🙂  In the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for December ….

 

We are here in Cambodia!

October News

Time goes quickly.  It’s hard to believe that Kevin and I have been here in NayPyiTaw for almost 6 months.   It means that we are still having enjoyable times … taking several trips around NayPyiTaw to get my laptop, that crashed recently, fixed, again. Celebrating newcomers, different groups of Parliament UK staff who have taken shifts, since I’ve been here, to work at the Pyidaungsu Parliament; while sadly biding farewell to a Cuso volunteer couple.  Connecting with colleagues at work for a communal delicious lovingly prepared Myanmar picnic, a fusion of ethnic cuisine displayed on one of the leader’s large desk.   The sound of la vie quotidienne from our little community in our neighbourhood is still going strong. The two-year old brother, with grandpa by his side to comfort his grandson, continue to wail while watching his dad and his 2 older sibling leave home for school on the family’s motorcycle.  While the boy next door, hunter green longyi with a well pressed white shirt sets off to school on the family bicycle, shoots a glance, a wave, a pleasing smile our way.  Though we’ve had many activities on the go, I have no real excuse for not writing.  My motto is to procrastinate until guilt creeps in to tell me that it’s time to put pen to paper.

Kevin and I  spent our first part  of our anniversary in Kalaw which is a cool hill station and in Inlet lake. They are both located in Shan state about 6 hours by bus to the east of NayPyiTaw. We have had some tasty Asian food including barbecue duck and dim sum and some crispy fresh baguettes. Inlet Lake is a tourist destination but it is still the low season. We went on a private boat trip that was interesting but deafening because of the longtail engine.  The engine sound echoed in our ears thereafter before we were able to communicate again.

As I speak, we are here in Cambodia for 2 weeks visiting with friends and colleagues in Phnom Penh, Kep, Sihanoukville.   We plan to visit Mondolki at a later date.   Though we were warned that Cambodia, in particular Sihanouk was not only becoming highly developed, becoming a zoo of high rises, a jungle of concrete: casinos, hotels, et cetera that were in the midst of being constructed, and, being taken over by approximately 5 million Chinese entrepreneurs, overnigth?   we still welcomed it with open arms, despite this revelation however ….  catching up with news, and the general Asian life style and most importantly with friends and colleagues that we so much missed.  It is indeed a nice break for us and it’s the very place we wanted to spend our ongoing anniversary celebration in.

Our favourite place is Kep.  Kep is known as the ‘little French Riviera’ of Cambodia.  It’s a popular place for tourists and it is the place to relax, sleep and soak up the sun on a sleepy afternoon.  The best part of the day is taking a stroll to the sailing club with wonderful friends for a glass of wine and to end up with at the crab market to watch the sunset while eating crab slathered in Kempot pepper sauce.

As for work, on our return to NayPyiTaw from Cambodia, the MPs are back at the parliament.  With the MPs arrival,  extra security has been placed, so it appears. The large tattered set of orange pylons, line across the road just before the turn off to the Parliament, were restored with a number of police guards that sat at their station taking count of the number of cars that squeezed through the narrow open spaced pylons! What’s more, extra police guards and parliamentary guards were at their gate stations to welcome the MPs return.   The cafeterias, open to MPs and staff,  are now back in full swing.  One of the cafeterias was set up closer to the Pyidaugnsu wing for easier access to staff and to save time walking the ‘mile-long’ hallways.

With the welcoming of the MPs, 28 new parliamentary staff joined the parliament.  These new staff had successfully passed their last month’s entry exams to work at the parliament.  During their week long orientation, they visited  all 3 houses: Pyidaungsu, Phyithu and Amyotha.  They read their contracts, listened carefully to the leaders’ regulations, expectations et cetera.  At the end of the week, fully inducted, the new staff were given two longys each, their parliamentary uniform to wear for work.

Other news, the dry season has returned and brought with it ants that have returned to our house.  It’s now the burning season so you can imagine the smoke and smell that we’re about to encounter.  Our humble neighbour, spent hours cleaning our front garden and driveway and, conscious of the smoke, burnt the dried vegetation at night so that we could escape the smoke.
Photos will be posted at a later date.

More will be posted at a later date … 🙂  In the meantime, wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for November ….

If I had a tree planted in my garden …

September news

If I had any tree planted in my garden, in Canada, I would have a flowering bougainvillea.   Our bougainvillea in our little courtyard has flowered since our arrival here in NayPyiTaw, since May 2017. What a treat! To me, overtime, bougainvillea flowers have become significant. It means life, joy and renewal.

A celebration for Kevin and I is indeed in order! September is an exciting month for us, because it marks our 38^th wedding anniversary. Kevin and I met traveling in India; and together we continued our travels throughout SouthEast Asia.  Since that time, after a number of years at home, in Canada, raising a family, watching our children leave the nest and beginning a life of their own, finding themselves on the threshold of a new life that awaited them,we’ve decided that it was time for us to embark on new journeys across the ocean; to live and work in developing countries. First, in Cambodia for 3 years, and now we’re in Myanmar for a year.

Throughout September, we had a series of invitations both from my Myanmar colleagues and from parliamentary staff celebrating birthdays, farewell parties, and various other events, and, visiting one of my colleagues in her office. KathyAung was transferred from the Pyidaungsu Hlataw to the Pyitu Hlattaw.   As for events, Parliamentary volleyball, football and table tennis teams received a logyi for work and their rightful trophies: some semi transparent, some opaque glass plaques with a sport symbol etch in the centre of each plaque.   What’s more, pleasantly surprised,  my students and staff brought me a series of stunning colourful longyis that I now wear on different days of the week.

Here in Swe Kyia Bae district just around the corner from my house, La maison haute couture nestled in a row of this and that, that I’ll talk more about on my next post, were highly accommodating and couturier some of the longys that I got from various Myanmar people, to fit with perfection!

Here at home, across the way from us, tightly squeezed on the motorbike, was the usual family of three: the Tanakha boy at the front, dad in the middle and sister at the back.   Today, however, there was an extra passenger on board.   Today, there was no usual wailing from their 2-year-old brother; there was no usual comforting necessary from grandpa or a usual bellow from mum in the background. Today was an unusual day!  Their 2-year-old brother was squeezed in between his older sister at the back of the motorbike and his father in front of him. Their 2-year-old brother was taking his big sister and his big brother to school with his father!   On this special occasion, on this special unusual day, the family of 4 roared their usual roar to school happily waving a ‘Ta ta” bye bye in Myanmar.

At work, my students continue to inspire me so. I’m in endless awe as I discover more talent in their workplace and in class. As I speak, they are in the process of developing, translating the activity resource book; lessons that were tested, reviewed and refined with my class, that is at the moment very much at its infancy stage. Still, the introduction and units 1 to 4 are progressing well!

Now that the MP’s are away doing some good work in their constituencies, the cafeterias are closed and work reduced? Parliamentary staff in all departments, collectively congregate in groups, outside their department station to share their delicious lunches with their colleagues, and with guess who?  that they’ve lovingly prepared and brought to work from their hostels.  What’s more, during that same period of time, throughout the parliament, parliamentary staff spent a good part of their time sorting through large piles of duplicated files. They collectively sat on their office floor systematically re-organized files, ripped and threw out a good set of documents in large rice bags that almost mounted to the departmental ceiling.  These files, a staff claimed, ‘There are no longer useful for the parliament, for the officials’.

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Other news, at the end of the month, approximately 50 potential new parliamentary staff, young men, only a few, and the rest women in rainbow-colour fitted tops draped over their chic-vibrant longys, came to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw to be tested for law, economics and IT skills.   Lined in the hall outside the research and training department, like school children in Cambodia, they patiently waited for officials and helpers (parliamentary staff) to instruct them to sit at a designated computer desk. Each desk was approximately 2 metres away from each other, carefully and precisely set apart; closely supervised by the IT parliamentary staff who walked up and down the rows to monitor potential parliamentary staff during their test.  Some appeared nervous and certainly humble, ducking, bowing at the waist as these shy individuals passed their potential leaders on the way to a computer desk.  By the way,  results of  the hiring process; exams and successful new parliamentary employees will be publicized within the next couple of days – by the first week of October 2017.

That is all for now.  In the meantime, Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for October …More will be added at a later date … 🙂

Sweepers, groomers …

Painted patterned pavement curbs, red and white intermittently cut through yellow and black-curbed streets for entrances or side roads. Yellow and black-curbed pavements on main boulevards, on unmarked roads with no landmarks, with no speed limits carries transport of different sorts that scurry here and there to go somewhere …

Large metallic blue parliamentary buses, large white-tusked ministry buses and minivans hold white shirts and white blouse workers. Their longyis are colour coded to suggest the ministries they belong to. Ocean blue, large and small, open trucks follow suit. Unlike the white coloured workers, labour workers clad in rainbow wear; hang on tight with their lives, on wooden frames of their truck. Rain or shine! Motorcyclists in 2s or 3s, some in helmets and some without, balance long bamboo sticks or wide fishing nets on their shoulders, while they attempt to outrun the white coated – white hat police guards, to get through the morning’s on going movement at the main round about. Cows have already proclaimed their spot and sit on side roads under shaded trees, in the capital city, leaving little room for cars to manoeuvres around them!

On the surface, on the hour, on the minute, life carries on as normal. Children sit on the patterned yellow and black curb waiting for their ride to school; others pick flowers from the neighbour’s garden and tease one another, while their mothers balance themselves with their babies in one arm and their fresh produce on their heads. Buffalos get their daily baths in the creeks whilst their master, chewing betel watch over them. The soft breeze, the cool morning air, the soft sound of chimes from the young monk gives little indication that they’re maybe something in the air?

Still, life continues! In the heat, in the rain, sometime on empty avenues, sometime in the midst of traffic, sweepers and gardeners, the unseen few, line side by side in 3’s: 2 to 300 meters apart on both side of the road. The sweepers sweep away in unison, the clinically immaculate streets that bear no newspapers, cigarette buds, coffee cups, history of any sort or memories. Gardeners cut from the same cloth, groom the flawless yellow and black; red and white curbs of NayPyiTaw’s highways; they hoe away new weeds that tend to creep through the cracks now and then. A guard, every meter or so, walk up and down the neatly manicured boulevards, the grounds to ensure that history is no more, that all memories are washed away!

More will be added at a later date … 🙂 In the meantime, Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for September …

An array of colours worth a 1000 words

A breeze welcomes the day. It’s cool and comfortable on my way to the market. The sun hides behind the clouds!

A woman, with a basket of fresh colourful produce on her head, walks toward me with a ‘Mingalaba’ twinkle in her eye. Her straight-erect-slim-figure tells me that she is strong and healthy.

Side roads are muddy fresh from the night and morning’s rain. Stones that were carefully laid and paved on potted roads back in July, are now firmly embedded in the soil, balancing from stone to stone in some areas. The roads, resemble cobblestone streets in Europe’s medieval times where roads were evenly paved with stones for horse and cart and alike to use.

The market, an array of colours, smells deliciously fresh and transports me right back to Mondolkiri’s market in Cambodia.

Here at the market , Thanakha ladies in soft wispers,  offer a word or two to entice me to their stalls. From an array of vibrant multi-coloured flowers, orchids in particular, are in abundance, to fresh green, yellow, red produce. From meat stalls pounded on to tenderize the meat, to peanuts and red beans and large bowls of bright rich spices, some dried and powdery grouped together on the ground, resemble the effects of the rainbow fresh from a summer’s afternoon rain.

Tucked at the end of all other stalls, clad in a colourful outfit: red and gold longyi with a dark-cemented-blue coloured scarf that drapes from head to shoulder to protect her from the sun, with a straw hat to hold her scarf in place, a young woman with her 2 year old Thanakha pony tail daughter sitting on her lap, beckons me with a wave to buy from her stall.

I leave the market with raw peanuts; fresh produce for salad and this evening’s omelette and, flowers for work and for our neighbour. The bundles of flowers are neatly wrapped in thick-large stony brown-green leaves, laced with thin bamboo material to secure them in place.

On my way out of the market lanes, rice sacks filled with dirt lie on market lanes and act as lopsided walkways between stalls.  Despite the mud from rain and worn-out rice sacks -from wear and tear with footprints, some heavier than others, the trenches  filled with rain water, the walkway, the market lanes between stalls, are immaculately clean.

On the outskirt of the market, motorcyclists, some with brooms on backs of  motorbikes, roar around the market’s perimeter to alert the bustling crowd to buy a broom or two … In the process, they disturb a group of dogs mating.

On my arrival home, the neighbours greet me on the lane with rice cake and, I in turn hand them a bouquet of pink lilies. The husband intuitive of the rains coming sweeps his front garden from leaves and any debris from his already clean dirt-free front yard.

An hour later, as predicted, heavy rains, heavy storms roar through our little community and soon floods our lane, from home to home, mingling into one other. The husband, who’s name I don’t know, experience of the wet season is well prepared.

The day ends with chanting. The grandson, as mentioned in an earlier post: A typical day in Nay Pyi Taw,  begins the day chanting before he heads off to school. The grand-father, the husband, the next-door neighbour ends the day chanting!

More will be added at a later date … 🙂 In the meantime, Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for September …

Anyone for volleyball, badminton …?

August News

As I comb my hair and preen my face outside for better lighting with a dash of this and that, the local Thanakha lady next door snags guava from trees and harvests cucumber gourds from her plants.  Her husband, humble as she, pops around our courtyard to pick a handful of fresh chillies from our bush.  This is to prepare a meal for them – for their family, for the monks.

As we sit on our little porch with coffee in hand and watch the world go by, a group of local Thanakha women in the neighbourhood with baskets on heads gather on the dirt-lane-way to prepare for the market.

As I prepare for work with water in hand to stay cool and hydrated, Thanakha school children mount on motorbikes.  A young boy sits at the front and his big sister sits at the back.  Their father sandwiched between the two, mindful of their safety, insures that all is well before roaring them off to school. Meanwhile, right at the top of the hour, just like clockwork, their 2-year-old brother begins to wail – he too wants to go to school!  Hand in hand, comforting hands rubbing one another, ouplà with a heave or two his grandfather hauls him up on his right shoulder to further console him.  In the background, his mother loud and clear bellows Myanmar words that we don’t understand.

August was a month with numerous activities and fun events both at work and at home.

August began with a number of invitations from colleagues and students:  KathyAung and her family invited Kevin and I for a family scrumptious lunch at her mother’s home. They live at the government Herb Garden property where Kevin and I now walk the 5-kilometre trail on weekends.

The following weekend, one of my students Htet Swe Oo, his wife and son and mother and 2 nannies invited us to yet another delicious luncheon at the Swe Si Taw restaurant that is a mere 5 minute drive from our place.

During that same period a couple of Myamar colleagues and I: Nwe Nwe Soe and her friend, we ventured to the Big Ocean Centre to look for running shoes for Nwe Nwe Soe who was preparing for both a volleyball and a badminton match with the various parliamentary departments.   At the end of August she won both the badminton and volleyball tournaments against all other departments.   As a result, we returned to Ocean, this time to the  bakery to indulged on coffee, cakes and pudding to celebrate her victory and the 2 trophies that she  won.  Nwe Nwe Soe  will be receiving her trophies together with her volleyball and badminton team early next month at the sport complex ceremony. The men’s Pyidaungsu volleyball team will also be receiving their trophies.

In mid August 3 Government officials came around our house at suppertime, around 6 pm to ask for our documents from us. They took photos of our passports and gave us each a form to fill out.  Could it be a routine monthly check to insure that all is well with visas et cetera from their standpoint?   Monday morning, as per usual, things were soon resolved with the help of Cuso Myanmar.

Throughout August, there was a shift in the grandeur of the parliament among parliamentary staffs.  Staffs were shuffled to and from different departments, to different offices to learn about all departmental jobs, to leave footprints for others to benefit from.  That is to say, staffs will pass their talents and expertise to future parliamentary staffs on all accounts; their talents will continue to reign from department to department…

August was a month where I visited Parliamentary staffs in their designated workplace. This is to address what is it that they want to know and how to strategize ways to strengthen their skills further in their jobs.   Their skills will be brought back and addressed in the classroom for teaching and learning prospects.  We will also focus on the different creative writing interests that are being revealed as I continue to work with my talented students.

Elsewhere in the grandeur of the parliament, 4 officials and 12 English-speaking MPs were handpicked to attend a 6-day ASEAN conference that is being hosted in the Philippines in early September 2017.  (Last year Myanmar hosted the 2016 ASEAN conference).  The MPs and officials attended a 3-day preparation workshop in English at the Pyidaungsu Hltuttaw.

Other news in the parliament, ethnic youths throughout Myanmar from the 7 regions and the 7 ethnic states came to NayPyiTaw to represent their colleagues back home. The one-day conference was held at the Union Assembly/ Pydaungsu Hluttaw to hear Ethnic women MPs talk about Human rights issues in Myanmar.

Lately, every morning someone in class and in the research office brings a variety of Myanmar cuisine for me to taste.  From scrumptious Shan noodles with soup, to mohenga to chickpea sauce with fried bread a.k.a. idkyaguai. From tasty tealeaves salad to pork buns, to creamy cakes and more cakes ….   Together with the theme of food, are flowers of all sorts that staff bring to work to share with others and with yours truly. And,  happily wear them on their hair  and, intricately weave them/it (depending on the number of flowers that day – if it’s a rose), on mine!

By end of August, more parliamentary staffs and officials are walking the stairs instead of taking the elevator to their office on the second floor.

August ended with a Cuso royal visit to Nay Pyi Taw, a rare event.  Grant, a Cuso volunteer nearing his end of term with Cuso International came for the weekend to visit  with us all – The Cuso NPT team.  It was refreshing to speak to a volunteer with positive views about life, about Cuso.

More later … 🙂 In the meantime, Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for September …