67 images Created 2 Jun 2014
Myanmar - Burmese Children
I have always had a special rapport with children on my travels, and the children of Myanmar were particularly engaging and far from shy. Many of them wanted to practice their English with me, and sometimes I felt like I was being interviewed as they asked me what my name is, where I’m from, and told me who they were. As tourism is still relatively knew to the country after so many years of isolation, the children appear to be very excited to meet foreigners, without yet having been corrupted by any notion that they can get something from them; not one child asked me for anything, which was so refreshing.
I noticed that there are a lot of children working in street canteens, and I was informed that there are many poor families who can’t afford the fees, uniforms and books, something that I’m very familiar with in the Philippines, and I’m sure is becoming more prevalent across SE Asia with any economic decline. There has been a revival of monastic schools in Myanmar since the 1990s and there is a growing demand for a free monastic education. On many occasions I witnessed the colourful Shinbyu symbolic processions where young boys dressed as little princes with make-up are taken to a monastery on horseback to experience the ascetic life of a novice monk for a few months. This is a compulsory rite of passage in Burmese Buddhist culture for a boy over the age of seven, and something that the parents take very seriously and lavish a lot of expense on if they can afford to do so.
I have since been dismayed to learn that child soldiers play a major part in the Burmese Army and the rebel movements. It was reported in 2012 that children are being sold as conscripts into the Burmese military for as little as $40 and a bag of rice or a can of petrol. It was also reported that the military used child soldiers during the large offensive against the KIA in Dec 2012, and many of them were pulled off Yangon streets and given a minimum of training before being sent to the front line.
I noticed that there are a lot of children working in street canteens, and I was informed that there are many poor families who can’t afford the fees, uniforms and books, something that I’m very familiar with in the Philippines, and I’m sure is becoming more prevalent across SE Asia with any economic decline. There has been a revival of monastic schools in Myanmar since the 1990s and there is a growing demand for a free monastic education. On many occasions I witnessed the colourful Shinbyu symbolic processions where young boys dressed as little princes with make-up are taken to a monastery on horseback to experience the ascetic life of a novice monk for a few months. This is a compulsory rite of passage in Burmese Buddhist culture for a boy over the age of seven, and something that the parents take very seriously and lavish a lot of expense on if they can afford to do so.
I have since been dismayed to learn that child soldiers play a major part in the Burmese Army and the rebel movements. It was reported in 2012 that children are being sold as conscripts into the Burmese military for as little as $40 and a bag of rice or a can of petrol. It was also reported that the military used child soldiers during the large offensive against the KIA in Dec 2012, and many of them were pulled off Yangon streets and given a minimum of training before being sent to the front line.
