The week of „Firsts“
It has been a week of many „firsts“: first impression of a small town called Hsipaw, first meetings with CRED leading men, first ride on a local wooden boat which is so long and narrow that one can almost not see from one end to another, first English lesson with local kids, first offroad motorcycle ride covered fully in red dust, first village visit 20 kilometers away trying to avoid landmines, first encounter with the local army, first uphill run with 11 dogs following as my cheerleaders, first meeting with Namlan Boarding house kids who had a sincere emotion by a simple small reflectors that were sent as a present for them by Swedbank and my first ever, originally from South Korea, Dalkddongjib, in other words — chicken anus stew — for dinner.
First impressions are hard to change once they have been made, but fortunately mine are all positive. I have now lived in Hsipaw for a full week and I’d like to naively think that there is almost no corner left unvisited. It has become warm and home-like: the silver-jewelry-making-man across the street waving at me every morning and wishing me a pleasant day; a gecko on my balcony coming every evening around 7 p.m when it goes dark to check whether I’m home safely; the family running Riverside pub already knowing what to bring me without ordering; the dog living in the army station on the corner of Sunset hill not letting me pass without petting him first. It all makes you feel welcome.
One thing though that makes things a little tricky here is the language barrier. Previous volunteers have brought attention to this as well and it’s probably a challenge due to their use of a totally cooler-that-ever alphabet, the one that looks like a long sequence of different sized „c“ and unfinished „o“ letters in a row. Don’t get me wrong — it actually looks like a piece of art — but unfortunately I am not even able to guess what they are saying in written. Is it a warning sign? Or maybe just a toothpaste commercial? Still there is a lovely touch on their street view: the only English word to be found on their advertisements, posters and billboards is very well chosen and it’s „Lager“.
Right on my first day in Hsipaw I walked around the town to get to know the place and saw a bookstore called „Mr. Book’s Bookstore“. Just as a remark, right next to his place is „Mrs. Pizza“ and „Mr. Food“. But Mr. Book himself is a local man, probably one of the most welcoming men and every evening he teaches English to local youngsters just out of free will. I was also asked to come to the lesson to meet the students and to speak English so they could practice. The book „Seven Inventors“ by Harry McNicol, from the year 1944 was the one that they were reading together. It turned out that it was only recently when most of the books that were restricted before were released. That was a true „first“ — the students were already good at understanding, trying their best to speak flawlessly on their own and doing that with such high motivation. I think I had better experience than they did.
But why would they need extra-school lessons? Well, schools here are mostly public schools that have to follow government’s curriculum and it is quite similar to the times in Estonia some decades ago. There are subjects that are mandatory, then there are those areas in which one should not have an opinion. The official language for the middle and high schools is Burmese which makes things difficult for the kids in border areas raised in a different ethnic groups. That’s where organizations like CRED step in: with their vision to improve the lives in the rural communities and to build a peaceful society through education, democracy and sustainable development; and their mission to provide quality education to marginalized communities, underprivileged children and youth by forging mutually beneficial partnerships based on the shared values that are centered on the right for quality education in rural areas.
CRED is now supporting over 300 monastery and community schools, they are operating New Light Learning Center (NLLC) where they teach basic computer skills and English, they have founded and are now operating New Light Learning Boarding house for the children from further villages where are no schools. And hats off to our small Estonia, right beside organizations like Child’s Dream and RISE (Rural Indigenous Sustainable Education) our own Mondo NGO and Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are helping them to find funding, specialists, teachers and sustainable solutions to make things happen.
CRED’s main office is situated in Namlan and that has made Namlan also my actual destination. As it is in the restricted area where foreigners are not allowed, we had to apply for a special permit. That got a little delayed as the Immigration Office was not too pleased with CRED for the departure of the previous volunteer not being communicated right away, therefore some apologies and couple of days spent in Hsipaw and close villages were mandatory.
Now, being finally here in Namlan is a way forward as it’s far more efficient to be on the spot than to work from the distance. It’s actually a small town almost but doesn’t want to have the title and therefore still considers itself a village. And it’s beneficial to be a village here for as long as possible as then there are no licences for construction, no restrictions or permits needed for every move and lets put it in this way: the taxation can be handled in a more flexible way.
Not much else can be said right now about Namlan before I can be seen around the village to wander around. For now I’m staying here unofficially until the permit comes through. But it’s good in a way, I have a cozy place in CRED office building, in the computer classroom, sharing the floor with two girls from Yangon who are here for the Teacher’s Training and therefore I have the time now to concentrate fully on the project. Sometimes I feel even a little bit sorry for Naw Kham, the director of CRED, who so patiently answers all my questions in a row. He truly is a man with big dreams. And he isn’t just „words“ either. Only a little structure is needed to go even further and hopefully I can be a benefit in this area.
PS! I will take back the suggestion in the previous post to refer the country as Burma/Myanmar. Must agree with a local friend Luant Mon — „Myanmar“ is the better way to go, it covers more ethnic groups than just Burmese people.
