New consolidated Albums

I have consolidated my photos with those from Bee Sian, Beng Le, Jodie and Liew(LKY). Please view the consolidated albums here.

Singapore

On the day after we arrived back at Singapore, we were greeted by some of the heaviest rainfall in the last 75 years. This is a deep contrast to the sunny weather we had at Myanmar(although it is suppose to be the winter season).

I'm sure many of us were left with deep impression of the trip and are trying to adjust back to reality. We like to think of ourselves as donors and volunteers, but to a very large extend I think we received as much as we gave. What we gave in money and material, we received back in spirit.

Its been four days now and I think the strongest impression that stayed with me are the resilient and strength of the people. Although most of the villagers are materially poor, inside they are just as rich and happy.

Another thing that stayed in my mind are the smiling faces of the children. They are so innocent, and yet displayed much disciple, readiness to learn and give fully to what they do. The video clip below are some of these children. They discovered that I was taking a video clip of the dance performance with my handphone and readily volunteered themselves to be the 'stars' of my video.


I am also deeply impressed by the monks and nuns for taking the lead to try to take on the challenges of providing for so many orphans and other children who's parents were simply too poor to send them to school.

Myanmar Trip - Day 9 (Last Day)

It was the last day of our Humanitarian Mission in Myanmar. This is the fourth time FFM has organised a mission like this to Myanmar and is the biggest turn out thus far, a total of 83 of us. For many, like me, this is the first time we've been on a trip like this.

We spent the morning on last day visiting another orphanage and nunnery, both located in the Yangon area. While it is sad to see so many orphans, we were also glad that the local buddhist communities are taking the lead to provide for the needs of the children. FFM and the volunteers, for their part also try their best to help these centers.

One of the volunteers taking photos with the orphans at the centre







The 10 preceptors queuing up to receive offering of robes, medicine and other basic necessities from FFM volunteers.


After the visits, FFM volunteers then split into two group. One group went to do some last minute shopping before heading off to the airport. A small group made pay a visit to another venerable monk and to look at the center he is running. It was also a short educational tour for many of us to look at the padi field farmers have planted.









The venerable monk showing us the crops that has been planted.


After our visit, we make our way to Yangon Airport. Our flight is four plus in the afternoon, we took our last photos and say our good byes to the tour guides and drivers who have been so helpful throughout the trip.

Myanmar Trip - Day 8

In the morning we visited the site of a new school that the venerable is building. Two of the building is already completed but there are still much work left. The land was donated but lay devotees and belongs to the Sangha and not specific individual monk. The Sangha (or the community of monks and nuns) acts as the trustee for all properties that have been donated. This practice dates back to the time of the Buddha and is still in practice here in Myanmar.

School library that is still in the early stage of construction





Although they have wells, the lead contend in the water is too high thus the water is not fit for human consumption. As a result, rain water need to be collected for drinking and cooking. These are some of the challenges faced by the venerable when he tries to set up the school.







Small hydro-power generator is used to generate electricity to be used by the school. A few kilowatt of electricity can be generated in this way.


We spent the rest of the morning playing with the children in the school and giving out toys, sweats and balloons to them. By late afternoon we bordered the coaches that will be bring us back to Yangon, back where the journey first begin. All the other children from the village, it seems, and some of the adults also turn up to say goodbye to us.

Myanmar Trip - Day 7

We make our way down Mountain Top Hotel and then travel to Shwegyin. Shwegyin used to be very rich place in the pass as much gold could be found in the waters in the rivers there. In fact the name "Shwegyin" comes from the chinese word Sui Jin which means Water Gold.

(left, part of the school has been converted to sleeping place for FFM volunteers)

The gold are gone now and village is again poor. FFM has been supporting Venerable Aggasara and the schools built by him. While the school provide education and acts as a monastic school for the children, there are christians attending the school. In our stay there, we were treated to cultural performance put up by the children who were both buddhist and christians. It is really inspiring to see that even in poor villages here, there is a high degree of religious tolerance and the monastic school built by the venerable is providing all children basic education, irregardless of their religion.

We spent the night at the school and slept at one of the classroom that have been converted to our bedroom. In the late afternoon and into the evening, the children volunteers of FFM played with the children from the village. Each party take turn to introduce games they play to the other children. They played until it got dark and the children could not see each other before dispersing.

One of the impression I got from my stay in Myanmar was that while the children in the villages are poorer materially compared to those from the city area, they are happier. Perhaps contentment is indeed the greatest wealth, as the Buddha have said.

Myanmar Trip - Day 6

Day 6, we traveled to Kyaityo, the Golden Rock where we spend a night at Mountain Top Hotel located at the top of the mountain.

The journey up the mountain itself was interesting. We covered much of the journey on lorries that have been "converted" to transport passengers and then walk the rest of the journey up Golden Rock.

The slope is steep but still manageable, however some volunteers decided to take a more comfortable way up and let others do the walking for them.

Opting for an easier way up the mountain, some volunteers took "human-powered" transport.

The hotel is simple but comfortable, any shortcoming is more than made up for by the fantastic view it offers. We spent much of the late afternoon and evening at the Golden Rock Pagoda pasting gold leaves on the Golden Rock and taking in the beautiful scenic views.









Left, a volunteer pasting gold-leaves onto the golden rock.

right, a beautiful sunset over the golden pagoda.

Myanmar Trip - Day 5 (Part 2)

After our visit to New Generation Youth Parahita Centre, we went back to the schools we have been to the day before. The school and children from the villages put up this cultural performance as part of their appreciation to FFM for the support FFM has given to the communities and villages in the area.

The performance were incredible to say the least. Having visited the village yesterday, we know how materially deprived they were. Most children belongs to family where their parents are farmers. Yet the children put together this incredible program for us. By comparison, we Singaporean may be rich materially, culturally and in spirit we are much poorer than these children. The dancers and performers in these video clips are probably only between the age of 10 and 14.