We went to Bago, a city well known for its temples, monasteries and pagodas…But the entrance fees are 10 $ each!!! And as we will see other religious sites later, we preferred to visit a local school!!!
It is not easy to be understood in Myanmar… But we were lucky to meet a mother who speaks a little bit English. She helped us to explain our project to the head master and as usual we spent a great time with the children.
The oldest ones were busy, so we went in the classroom of the younger ones. In one single room, 3 classes sat on the floor. The oldest ones (6 years old) showed us 2 new games! In the first one, children make a circle. One player is inside the circle and one is outside. The circle sings and turns. The player outside of the circle has to catch the player inside. He can do what he wants: stay outside or go inside the circle, but the one inside the circle cannot go outside. It is funny to look at, but it is not clearly “organized”!
In the second game, children make a column and hold each others’ shoulders. One player is alone, facing the column. He has to catch the last child of the column without getting caught by the others! Again, a lot of laughs in the classroom!! But nothing compared to the noise they made when we explained (and demonstrated) them the game “I lost a letter”!!! They really enjoyed it!!! (at least as much as we did!!)
Last but not least, we took the traditional group picture and them we let them learn… The head master offered us some drinks and we discussed for a while. School is free and mandatory in Myanmar but we noticed something (we didn’t dear to talk about it): There are as many girls and boys in the young classes but when we looked at the oldest class (10 years old), only few girls attended the lesson… And unfortunately we saw a lot of young girls working on the street market! We cannot make any conclusion, as it is only an observation but it is a point to consider!!!
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Hmm, well, I guess you want to know why the children have some “make –up” on their faces? Actually it is not “make-up”, it is called “Thanaka”. Thanaka is used to protect the skin against the sun, the heat… but it is also an antiseptic, a deodorising and a perfume… We thought it was like clay but it is made of…. Wood!!! This “medicinal” wood is transformed into powder by shredding it against a rock. This powder is humidified and you get the Thanaka. Everyone use it, women, men and children!
It is not easy to be understood in Myanmar… But we were lucky to meet a mother who speaks a little bit English. She helped us to explain our project to the head master and as usual we spent a great time with the children.
The oldest ones were busy, so we went in the classroom of the younger ones. In one single room, 3 classes sat on the floor. The oldest ones (6 years old) showed us 2 new games! In the first one, children make a circle. One player is inside the circle and one is outside. The circle sings and turns. The player outside of the circle has to catch the player inside. He can do what he wants: stay outside or go inside the circle, but the one inside the circle cannot go outside. It is funny to look at, but it is not clearly “organized”!
In the second game, children make a column and hold each others’ shoulders. One player is alone, facing the column. He has to catch the last child of the column without getting caught by the others! Again, a lot of laughs in the classroom!! But nothing compared to the noise they made when we explained (and demonstrated) them the game “I lost a letter”!!! They really enjoyed it!!! (at least as much as we did!!)
Last but not least, we took the traditional group picture and them we let them learn… The head master offered us some drinks and we discussed for a while. School is free and mandatory in Myanmar but we noticed something (we didn’t dear to talk about it): There are as many girls and boys in the young classes but when we looked at the oldest class (10 years old), only few girls attended the lesson… And unfortunately we saw a lot of young girls working on the street market! We cannot make any conclusion, as it is only an observation but it is a point to consider!!!
Hmm, well, I guess you want to know why the children have some “make –up” on their faces? Actually it is not “make-up”, it is called “Thanaka”. Thanaka is used to protect the skin against the sun, the heat… but it is also an antiseptic, a deodorising and a perfume… We thought it was like clay but it is made of…. Wood!!! This “medicinal” wood is transformed into powder by shredding it against a rock. This powder is humidified and you get the Thanaka. Everyone use it, women, men and children!
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