Immersing ourselves in this world

As we all staggered out of bed well before 6am to set off for a meditation session at the local monastery (Mahasi Meditation Centre) there were lots of concerns expressed as to the ability of our bodies to withstand the stillness required (and some concern about whether we were capable of not talking for a sustained period too!)

Grasping our towels and cushions we seated ourselves on the floor for a lecture from the senior monk (who was somewhat difficult to understand): some of us were relieved to hear him provide the option of walking meditation or sitting-on-chair meditation.

To my amazement I actually managed to sit cross-legged on the floor and meditate for 30 minutes, almost without moving. I can understand why it is such a useful way of centreing yourself and we all seemed calmer for quite some time afterwards.

We were invited to the monks dining room and sat on the floor at very low tables and enjoyed sticky rice in banana leaves and bananas and tea. We felt we had qualified for the title of 'foreign yogis 'as it says in their booklet.

Then it was back to the serious business of the Conference: this time with Anne and the first attempt at looking forward to the future. The gingham tablecloths and plates of food provided a World Cafe environment and moved the discussion along (not that we are ever reluctant to talk!)

Then it was off to a traditional Burmese lunch - fantastic dry beef curry, greens etc. and yet more watermelon.

Then we visited two NGOs helping the women of Myanmar.

Myat Myanmar is an organisation that trains young women from one of the industrial area/satellite towns  to sew: they had made our fantastic orange conference bags. Basically their employment options were limited to prostitution, market work and menial labour, so the prospect of a factory job is a huge achievement for them.

They were just delightful and the program has been very successful: 170 girls have been trained and so far almost 50% have permanent employment. So it was another whip around and we gave them enough money to buy some fans or an air conditioner: we nearly all melted away in the heat whilst we were there. Nilar who had also attended the Women's forum manages this program and many other projects for prisoners, AIDS etc. with minimal support from the government. Truly an inspiration.

Then we visited an outlet full of textiles, candles, and handicrafts. We were going to visit the actual women's workshop but the Tour company wasn't able to get approval as it was in a politically sensitive area.


Next a drive past Aung San Suui Kyi's house, where the gate and wall has been rebuilt and the road is very new. Not so long ago it was forbidden to drive past her house and it was closely monitored.

Back to the Hotel for more swims and out to dinner at Padonmar: another Burmese restaurant.

After having lunch with Geoffrey (Goddard) on Monday he had offered to come and talk about his experiences in Myanmar so he joined us for dinner. As a Senior Editor at the Myanmar Times he has had to contend with the pre-publication censorship (depicted in the documentary 'Dancing with Dictators') for some years and he produced some examples of pages with red marks to demonstrate the unpredictabilty of the censorship decisions. Whilst very recent changes have decreased the censorship, the publishing of a newspaper in the current climate remains challenging. The struggles he has faced to maintain his integrity but remain safe politically were clear to all of us. He answered lots of questions and really added to our understanding of the complexities within Myanmar.

One of the most interesting aspects of the discussion was about the future leadership of the country and his belief that the people with the capacity, intelligence and integrity came from within the military:he attributed the recent changes to the 2 newest leaders - President and Vice-President - and not Aung Sun Suu Kyi. Whilst she has a lot of profile and provides inspiration to the people, it appears she hasn't achieved much change in her own right: a very interesting view.

After a few drinks by the pool (good news : the isotonic is almost gone!) we all went to bed feeing much better informed about the political sensitiviities and life in Myanmar,

Your better-informed correspondent

Dianne