Myanmar Trip - Day 2

On day 2 we visited another nunnery that also acts as a orphanage, a Nursery for orphans up to age of 5, a Home for the Elderly and had a dinner Presentation of the Scholarships and Penny for School Ceremony.

(Donation items being loaded onto the 3 coaches in the morning before our trip)

At the nunnery, we gave out balloons and other toys to the orphans. There was a brief moment of awkwardness initially as the children simply sat quietly as we gave out the balloons and toys. I was told the children loves balloons before the trip, but now it seems they were totally cool and indifferent to the toys we were giving them. Then with little warning, when every children received a balloon, all of them spontaneously started playing with the balloons!

It was here that I received my first lesson on Myanmese children. They were really discipline and listen to what the teachers and elders say. We see this being repeated over and over again during our stay in Myanmar.

Watch video clip of the children playing with the balloons

The nursery we visited house orphans up to the age of 5. One of our volunteers visited this nursery two years ago with Firefly Mission and was deeply sadden when she saw the diluted formulate milk the children were given. On this visit, she donated a thousand dollars worth of milk power to the nursery.

(left, one of the more sickly young orphan in the nursery)

We then visited Hninzigone Home for the Elderly. This Home for the Elderly is truly amazing. While their equipments may not be as advance as most Elderly Homes in Singapore, the residents here were physically and mentally very healthy. We could sense that most of the residents here were really happy individuals and very contended. The Home was run based on the Buddha's teachings.

A 90+(left) and 80+(right) years old resident at the Home. Both sat in the meditative posture for the whole 30 mins or so we were there. The older resident has some hearing problem but is otherwise very healthy. The younger resident was still reading and writing and even asked us to write our names in her book.

Is this the secret of their health and longevity? Everyday the residents here have three sessions of 1 hrs meditation each. Having done meditation ourselves, we were very impressed how well they could sit in the meditative posture despite their advance age.

At night, we were present to witness the presentation of Scholarships to students who has done well for the studies. Firefly Mission is working with Border Areas Development Association to help provide scholarships to students who has done will in their studies.