Nostalgia to winter break at home

With the inspiration from Global Youth Summit 2011, I returned back to the States to continue my fall semester. Since I was busy with GCM and other club activities in the beginning of the semester, I was a little bit stressful for final exams. Finally, I got done with all finals and went back to my beautiful home country, Myanmar.

After I had come back from GYS2011, I have been thinking to run a project in my home town. However, I have not been back to home for one years and lost contact with youth network in Myanmar. The first thing I did in Yangon is to contact other Burmese Changemakers, Zin Miko and Thireindra who are also working hard for community development in Myanmar. We share our experience about community work. Since I am still new to GCM projects compared to other, I learnt a lot of things about difficulties and issues that I am supposed to expect to work in projects in Myanmar. Myanmar used to have a very politically-sensitive government who ruled people in totalitarian ways. At the end of 2011, the new government which announced as democracy took power and pro-democracy leader released from house arrest. Therefore, we, Burmese people become active for  a good beginning of new reform. All these things were happening while I was studying in US. It was  a very surprising thing when I saw the news head of pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Su Kyi and the Burmese President shaking hands each others.

In this winter break, I decided to go home because I was so excited to see how things are changing, especially youths’ actions in new political and economic reform. In reality, Of course the political changes occur, but they are just changes only in negotiations, views and ideas. It is not in grass-roots level of poor people. People are still struggling hard in poverty. Elementary education is not free for all children in the real life, because teachers and public school staffs are asking for bribes. People lack access to public health services and street children are begging for money in the down town, train station and public places.  Yeah, I do feel bad for them, but condition in Burma is like a big messy room. It is too hard to clean at once.

I will write more about my work on sharing experience about leadership training and other community work in my next blog. I am not a good writer and I am writing during my homework break. So, apology if I write with Grammar errors and other stuff. T

Thanks for reading my post and will continue,

Chochanmyei Oo