Safety for Girls – Koenawin Monk School
As a long-time advocate for educating girls, it is gratifying to visit the various Monk and Nun schools to see first-hand their fine work being done in this regard. Up until this recent trip to Myanmar I have heard very little about this issue of “keeping the girls safe”. I heard a lot about it […]
Visit to a Lashio Nun & Monk Schools
Today was a busy day in Lashio. In the afternoon we visited the Nayar Thiri Nun School. There, in the interest of safety, 40 girls from the local villages become nuns and attend nearby government schools. Two long-time nuns run the school and see to it that the girls are well cared for and get […]
A Day With The Kwan Hlar Village Youth Group
Today was a delightful day in the Mon village Kwan Hlar. I was invited there because their youth group (a few of whom I had met while working in the Nath Maw Village last year and on a previous visit to Kwan Hlar) requested that I return to provide them with a “training session.” My […]
A Visit to Poon Mon Village
Yesterday we visited the Lahu village of Poon Mon, located about 14 miles north of Lashio, Myanmar – up close to the China border. These people were relocated here in 1995 to escape the ravages of the civil war fighting. Since then they have grown from 12 households to 40. Now, with a newly elected, […]
Pain Sar Village Visit
Today we visited Pain Sar, a Lahu village located 26 miles north of Lashio, Myanmar. Highly agricultural, this village of 52 households and 320 people is struggling mightily to improve their life situation. With help from a European organization they now have a very nice pre-school for their 30 children aged 3 to 5. They […]
Khone Suu Village Visit
Today we visited Khone Suu Village, in the dry zone south of Magwe, Myanmar. Getting there was quite an adventure. I’ve driven on some pretty bad roads in my time exploring our U. S. Southwest desert country, but, never like this. Dirt road all the way, of course. Miles and miles of roadway covered with […]
Visit With Life and Hope Association
I had a most interesting conversation with the Venerable Lorm Loeurm, Executive Director of the Life and Hope Association in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Located on the grounds of the Wat (Buddhist Temple) Damnak, I first visited this place three years ago. Although interesting, we failed to get involved. Today, during a fresh visit with fresh […]
A Visit to Kwan Hlar Village
A couple of days ago we visited Kwan Hlar village, the home of our friend, Nyen Shwe, a very dedicated and hard working young Mon man living and working in Myanmar. Nyen Shwe was instrumental in getting four of the young people from his village to travel to Nath Maw village and participate in our […]
A New School for Lakhana Village
When I visited Lakhana Village last summer I met with the village Women’s Group. They were absolutely determined to have a “post-primary” (junior high) school so their children could continue their education beyond grade 5. So determined, in fact, that they had already purchased small piles of bricks, gravel, sand, and re-bar with the limited […]
A Visit to Nath Maw Village – Myanmar
Nath Maw Village is a small place on Giant Island, located in the Thawlwin River. Nath Maw is accessible only by a ferryboat across this very large river. The current is swift. It took us 45 minutes to get there from Mawlamyine; 90 minutes to return. Here we are boarding the boat we took And, […]
May Mi — A Tragic Story with a Happy Ending
Last Friday we visited Palel Myintta, a live-in facility in Yangon, Myanmar where 20 orphaned or abandoned children living with HIV are cared for in a safe, loving environment. Her is my colleague, Peter Scontrino, talking with the Director, Annie. That’s where I met four-year-old May Mi Than. Look at that smile. May Mi is […]
A Week in Myanmar
In Mid-May 2015 I headed north in Thailand to join my friend, Treasure Shine, in Mae Sot for a brief stop before we traveled across the border into Myanmar. There in Mae Sot we visited SAW (Social Action for Women) to see the safe house, orphanage, and crisis center they operate. They are doing great […]
