"Haba na Haba, Hujaza kibaba"

Lucy and Sarah on verandah of our Hotel-
temples in background

“There’s another temple!” were the words of Lucy as we flew into Yangon on Sunday morning. Finally, after months of planning and what seemed only weeks of packing we had arrived! A long weekend holiday thanks to Martyr’s day on Friday and Full Moon on Monday meant that traffic was low on the roads and the ride to our hotel faster – a blessing after sleeping on chairs at Singapore airport. The Clover Hotel only rated 2 stars here, but in the words of Sarah, “it would be 3-4 stars in Africa.” Hot water for showers, free Internet and a good breakfast means that our first few days will be nice.

Yesterday we walked to a place for lunch then went exploring for a phone shop to get Nigel a phone. We have one month prepaid cards to use while we wait for permanent sim cards. Today we went downtown to a modern shopping plaza and met a UK couple for lunch in a café. Our life here has begun.

First impressions:

• ·      Hot and humid (and this is not the hot season!)
• ·      Sea of umbrellas (Rainy season means rain till October, coats get too sweaty)
• ·      Dirty feet and rock hopping (the footpaths with the rain are quite muddy but in a sandy way rather than the dense sticky mud of Murgwanza and the maintenance over the past years means that there are holes and broken stones to jump over.)
• ·      Lots of rice and noodles!
• ·      Smiling faces (especially looking at the girls’ hair) but no comments about white people or asking for money.
• ·      Big and noisey.
• ·      Not Africa!

We can see the city!

In the weeks to come we will find a place to live, get the girls into school and start a routine with life and work. The SEA games in December looms as a dominating deadline for much of our immediate work.

 "Haba na Haba, hujaza kibaba"(swahili proverb)" – Little by little the pot gets filled. We are thankful for lessons learned in Murgwanza. Lucy and Sarah have said that we have made small steps and that is how we will go on each day knowing we are not alone!

Much love from us to you xxxx