What a day we've had!
The humidity rose as we assembled for Day Two of the conference in the open air Mindon room. Fortunately there was lots of energy generated by the fascinating discussions led by Sue, Ursula, Deb and Elaine.Themes included blog addiction, autoethnography, bladder control for middle aged women and acquiring the best hearing aids. Whilst that may not sound as if there was much synchronicity actually there was an amazing flow of ideas that somehow collided.
After another three course lunch ( note to self: swim harder when in the pool!) we set off to Monsoon again and met with 9 women from Myanmar. They came from a range of fields from politics to scriptwriting to NGO management to the law to financial services to business, The group discussion covered topics far and wide but focused on the challenges of being a woman in Myanmar and eventually to how we could contribute. It was fascinating and very thought provoking, with much plotting and planning on the way back in the bus.
One of the participants is an NLD politician who is a member of the 88 Saffron Revolution and had spent five years in jail following her arrest for her student activist activities. She was voted in with other NLD members in elections held in April this year along with Aung San Suu Kyi: the the NLD who won the majority of seats. It was very moving to hear about the resilience of those women who have tolerated such abuse and oppression for so many years.
Their needs are great in almost every field that was discussed. They acknowledged the lack of leadership due to the number of skilled people who have left the country and the huge gaps in many areas: particularly health and education. Can we help?? Yes we can! Or at least we would like to think so. We shall see........
After some hours of discussion, both exhausted and inspired, we headed back for a swim and the chance to get dressed up for a trip to The Strand Hotel for dinner.
It is a beautiful white colonial building built in 1901 and very English. As we entered the Fine Dining room we felt as if we had to mind our P's and Qs. The food was contemporary English and fabulous, especially the perfectly cooked chocolate fondant (for Masterchef fanatics cooked to perfection with a runny centre!) and the crackling chocolates. Make that a few more laps of the pool tomorrow!
A swim with more gin seemed too difficult so it was off to bed as we had an early start in the morning.
Your inspired but tired correspondent
Dianne
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