Children of Asia No.61 みゃ Asian Health Institute February 1, 2016

Republic of the

Union of

India China Bangladesh Official name: Republic of the Union of Myanmar Area: 680,000 square kilometers Myanmar Naypyidaw (About 1.8 times that of Japan) Laos Population: 51.4 million Capital: Naypyidaw Thai Ethnic groups: Bamar (70%) and many other groups Cambodia Viet Nam Languages: Burmese and others : (90%), , , other

Myanmar is a multiethnic nation! Commodity prices in Myanmar

10,000kyat≒8.555 US$

Aka’s headdress Pao wearing Kachin wear Shan wear Padawn’s is also heavy a colourful a bright red a head band distinguishing headdress and also head cloth with silver decorated with feature is their silver buttons decorations neckbands and balls

The Inder tribe Chin acquire lives and works Movie ticket: on Lake Inle tattoos on 330 kyat≒$0.28 their faces

A can of coke: 360 kyat≒$0.31

Myanmar’s number. License plates also use Myanmar numbers. Food in Myanmar

We use lots of Dessert crepes: ground spices such as The crepes are chilles when we cook. folded in half with a sweet syrup filling and topped with shredded coconut and soybeans

Wow! Natto is also eaten in Myanmar! Longyi is a long piece of cloth that is often sewn into the Skirts for men?! shape of a tube. Women pull “Longyi” the longyi to one side and Men pull the longyi to both sides.

Longyi is the traditional dress Woman How to put a longyi on Man in Myanmar. It is used as the Folded arms as school uniform, when working in a sign of respect?! the fields, as everyday wear, as well as on special occasions.

During the morning assembly, students are朝礼などで先生の話を聞く時 expected to stand and keep their arms folded in front of their body whenは、腕を組んで敬意を表す listening to their teachers. speak.

Children throughout Myanmar wear the same school uniform—a white shirt and a green longyi!

Thanaka is a natural Makeup!? No, it‘s sunscreen! cosmetic paste

It feels nice and smooth!

Thanaka is The branches Both children and made from the branches of aregrounded The paste Circles and flower adults put thanaka the Thanaka in mortar and is applied designs are on their faces thinned with tree, which is to face with sometimes drawn part of the water. a brush citrus family I’m Jackson. I was born in Yangon, the biggest city in Myanmar. My father is a pastor, and my mother is a nurse. And when I was little, I had two brothers.

When I was young, my father lived in a church parsonage in Yangon. My mother worked as a nurse in a mobile clinic that traveled from village to village. My brothers and I moved to many places with our mother.

When I was in fourth grade, we started living together with our father.

My best childhood memories are of my birthday! I got a birthday cake and many birthday presents, and I had a party with my family after mass at church. To be honest, I wasn’t a very good student. English was especially difficult.

I loved books though. At first, I read a lot of comic books, but later, I started reading novels and really got into them. I spent a lot of time at the church library.

As a Buddhist country, Myanmar has many Religion in Myanmar beautiful stupas, , temples, and monasteries where ascetic monks live. Islam Hindu Other Christianity Buddhists enter the priesthood at least once in their lifetime

Buddhism

Even girls become nuns.

My other big love was soccer. I was a goalkeeper. It was a tough position because my team wasn’t very good.

I had five close friends on the soccer team. We were always together.

One day, we put all of our lunches ある日、みんなでtogether on a big plateふざけて and ate it べんとうfor fun. 弁当を大きな皿に入れて

ぐちゃぐちゃにまぜて食べたんだ。 It was disgusting, and everyone まずくてすぐに threwは up straight away. 全部 吐き出しちゃった！ We burst out laughing. その後みんなで ゲラゲラ笑ったよ！

A Myanmar lunch

I just buy Mine is soup something small I have lunch at home and rice from the school because my house is store and drink close to school the tap water My lunch is rice with curry A carrier-type I ask my mother to put more than I need in my lunch box so triple-decker I can share it with friends lunch box made who can’t bring lunch of aluminum ほか くら めぐ ミャンマーのIt was not until他 muchの子どもたちに later that I realized比べたら、ずいぶん not everyone in Myanmar恵まれていたんだと had this kind of childhood. 気付いたのはずっと後になってからだった。 After I graduated from my elementary school, I went on to junior high school, high school and 小学校を卒業後は、中学、高校、工業大学と進みtechnical college. 、 こうむいん 卒業後はI got a jobエンジニアとして working for the government公務員 になった。as an engineer after college. しゅくしゃ こま 毎月決まった給料がもらえてIt was a steady job with a regular paycheck、宿舎 もあって、生活にはand housing allowance, 困andらなかったよ。 I almost never had a trouble making ends meet. にい な 働き始めて 7 年たったとき、上の兄さんが亡くなった。 Seven years after I started working, my oldest brother passed away.

兄さんはその ころ、ミャンマー中部のネピドーにある YMCA(※)で働いて、 My brother workedしどう for the Naypyidaw YMCA in central Myanmar teaching agricultural 地方で農業指導をしていた。 techniques in a rural area.

しゅうかく こうずい お米の収穫の大事な時期にひどい洪水がおこり、 A big flood hit the area during harvest season, and my brother worked so hard trying to save the 無理をしたあげく、 rice that he ended up getting malaria. マラリアに かかってしまった。

The malariaげり caused severeすいじゃく diarrhea, ひどいand he下痢 grewで、体が weaker and衰弱 died.して しまった。

近くにちゃんとした病院さえあれば。 I still wonder what would have happened もっと早くif there were a proper medical facility nearby. てきせつ ちりょう 適切Whatな would治療が受けられていたら、 have happened if he had gotten と今でも思う。appropriate treatment right away? Even today, I still think about what happened.

※YMCA ： The Young Men's Christian Association has chapters of all over the world and engages in a wide variety of educational, sports, welfare and cultural activities.

The mosquite transit maralial parasite to another person Carrier What is Malaria?

Malaria is an infectious disease that is transmitted to people by the Anopheles mosquito. It is one of the three top causes of death in Myanmar, along with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The first symptom is a sudden fever, followed by a headache and diarrhea. It becomes severe with complication. In Southeast Asian countries, anopheles mosquitos often swarm after floods and cause outbreaks of malaria. We also have Anopheles mosquitos in Japan, but they do not have malarial parasites in their body. Some say this is because of higher standards of sanitation and hygiene and also because Japan is an island nation. Every time a flood occurs, many people in rural areas die from malaria and other infectious diseases.

Some areas have flood countermeasures, but many do not.

One day, my father visited me and asked to take over my brother’s job.

It was an entirely new field for me and the salary was low. Saying yes would have meant enormous change.

However, I strongly felt my brother’s work in organic farming was really important for the future of Myanmar. The baton of my brother’s work passed me.

What kind of jobs are there? Where do people live？

Myanmar Tertiary Urban Primary Industry areas commercial, service, Rural government employees, Secondary areas and other Primary Myanmar Secondary Industry Manufacturing Primary Rural areas and other

Tertiary Industry Farming, fishing Secondary Japan and other Urban Tertiary areas Japan Now今、僕は I am 42.42 才。 I work農業の指導も続けながら、 as a representative of Naypyidawネピドー YMCAＹＭＣＡ providingの agricultural代表として guidance.働いている。

In Myanmar, only big cities have hospitals. ミャンマーには大きな都市にしか病院がない。 But more than half of the peopleいなか live in rural areas and make their living farming, and even if they でも国民の半分以上は田舎で農業をしているし、 can get to a hospital in a big city,しんさつ they cannot afford the はらconsultation fees and medication costs. たとえ行けたとしても診察代や薬代は高くて払えない。 ほけん Naypyidawそんな人たちのために、 YMCA is trying to close僕たちは農村 the gap between部で the保健 big活動を cities andしている rural areasんだ。 by providing health care services. しんりょうじょ でも、このあいだ僕たちの移動診療所に来た出産間近の にんぷ さかご One妊婦 day,さんは、なんと a woman who was逆子 justで about to give birth came to our診療所じゃとても clinic because her baby手におえなかった was breech. 。

Ourなんとか mobile clinic町の病院まで運んだのに was not equipped to handle、今度は the delivery. We managed toしつもん get her to a hospital in the big city, あれこれと質問するばっかりで、 butかんじゃ they wouldn’t admit her. 患者を受け入れてくれない。

They told us our staff and clinic were not certifiedにんか 僕たちの診療所やスタッフは国の認可を by the government and they couldn’t accept 受けていないからというんだ。 a patient from us. とうとう間に合わず、

Theそのお母さんは亡くなってしまい、 mother didn’t make it. Nor赤ちゃんも救えなかった did the baby. 。

There助かる命だってたくさんあるのに…。 are many lives to be saved.

Most babies, or 96%, are delivered What is a head first. Babies are usually

breech baby？ positioned head-down in the Can be life uterus, but breech babies are 240 threatning. bottom-down. A breech birth often carries risks. In Japan, women usually find out at a

regular check-up that their baby is Maternal mortality rate breech, and because a caesarian (per 100,000 births) 10 section is scheduled and other necessary measures taken, the Ordinary Breech condition rarely leads to the death 4 position presentation of the baby or the mother. Myanmar Japan There are similar problems with the educational system. 都会と地方の差は、医療だけじゃない。学校もそうだ。

Manyまず children in rural areas want to study but can’t. 貧しい山村には、勉強したくても出来ない子もたくさんいる。 The families don’t have money, the kids need to helpてつだ their parents make a living, and there are no お金がないから、学校がないから、家の手伝いをしなきゃいけないから。 schools close by. じゅぎょう There先生の数も、教室の aren’t enough teachers数も、 and授業 classrooms,の中身も and、 theぜんぜん十分じゃない。 quality of the lessons is sometimes poor.

貧しい家の子は、ちゃんとした教育が受けられなくて、 Children from aつ poor family cannot receive a proper educationぬ Andいい仕事に without an就 education,くのも難しく、 it’s difficult結局 to貧しさから get a good job.抜 け出せない。 く がえ ・・・その繰り返しだ。 It’s a vicious circle.

Naypyidaw YMCA also runs free schools for these children.

Theだから parentsYMCA of almostでは寺子屋もひらいてる。 all the students that attend our school are poor daily laborers.

More than anybody, these families know the importance of education.ひやと 寺子屋に来てる子どもたちの親は、ほとんどが貧しい日雇い労働者。 They want their children to get a proper education to build a new Myanmar. でも、だからこそ、教育の大切さを知っている。 しょうらい しっかり勉強して、ミャンマーの学校に行くのはあたりまえ？将来をつくっていってほしいと思っている。

How many children go to school? Almost half of the children

Elementary school What do children do start working after they graduation rate after elementary school? graduate from elementary school.

Drop out Higher Education Work Graduate

In Japan, nearly all children graduate from high school.

A country where people can study, regardless of income.

A country where people can go to the hospital when they need to.

I work everyday, cradling a hope that Myanmar will be a country like that.

A hope that the children studying at our free school will grow up and nurture this hope.

I know that one day, they will take over the baton of hope.

Health indicators

There aren’t enough Number of hospitals to Number of hospitals per take care of beds per 100,000 all the people 100,000 when they people people get sick.

Doctors can’t hospitalize all the patients that need treatment because of the Japan Myanmar Japan Myanmar lack of beds.

Timetable

Mid-1000’s Formation of the first united Burmese state 1886 Burma becomes a province of British India

1942-45 Burma is occupied by Japan and ruled by a Japanese military administration 1948 Burma achieves independence 1962 The military seizes power in a coup d’état and declares a socialist state 1988 The socialist regime ends, and the military takes control in the wake of nationwide prodemocracy demonstrations The government changes the name of the country to Myanmar

1990 The opposition National League for Democracy wins an overwhelming victory in the general election The government refuses to transfer power to the NLD 2007 Anti-government demonstrations by civilians and monks take place nationwide. A Japanese journalist is shot and killed 2008 A new Constitution is endorsed in a national referendum

2010 An election is held in accordance with the new Constitution The government rel eases Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest 2011 President Thein Sein launches a new government. The country name is changed to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar from the Union of Myanmar 2012 The NLD wins 43 out of 45 seats in a parliamentary election 2015 In November, the NLD wins a landslide victory in the general election

There was an election!

A big election got underway in Myanmar as this volume of Children of Asia was being written. The Myanmar army, which had governed the country for over half a century since 1962, introduced a system of party politics in 2011. The military, however, retained its influence because a Constitutional provision guaranteed it at least a fourth of the seats of Parliament. In the election on November 8, 2015, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won more than two-thirds of the seats, and expectations were high that the first democratic administration in Myanmar would be formed.

Ink is applied to the little finger to show a person has voted.

Long lines of people were seen at polling stations before their opening

at 6 am Message from Jackson to you

I am very happy to share my story and write a message to Japanese

children. I hope they will know more and understand about Myanmar

children and their life after reading my story. Myanmar is an agricultural country, and most people are farmers. When I was a child, I used to go with my father to the YMCA general farm after school. The farm had livestock, vegetable gardens, and a fish pond. I used to play with my two older brothers and help my father. Most children help their parents out after school. My home is in Pyinmana Township in Naypyitaw, which is in the middle of Myanmar. Though it is peaceful in Naypyitaw, areas along the border have no peace. Because of the civil war, their families have had to leave their homes, so their children cannot go to school. Today the new government is trying to achieve peace for all of Myanmar. The people of Myanmar hope our country will be at peace and all children can go to school. Nowadays, many new community health clinics have opened, and the system of support from government is changing. Many people can go to a clinic free of charge, and the result is better health for the public. I would like to ask Japanese children to do what they can to help people around the world who are needy. Thank you very much to the Japanese people for helping our country’s development. Saw Jackson General Secretary Naypyidaw YMCA

This issue is based on the information provided by Mr. Saw Jackson, who participated in the 2015 International Course on Leadership for Community Health and Development held at the Asian Health Institute. We deeply appreciate his cooperation.

This issue was originally produced by the Children of Asia editorial committee and published on Japanese.

Cooperation with the English issue was provided by Ms. Naomi Epstein. We deeply appreciate her help.

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