Dustin Main's A Skinny Escape

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Who is Dustin Main? Media Now Contact

Start Here Tour To Myanmar This Myanmar Life Blog Follow Me E-Mail Updates Instagram Facebook Twitter About Who is Dustin Main? Media Now Contact

Dustin Main's A Skinny Escape

Escape into the Real world

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December 21, 2011

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12600 Monks, One Street - Chiang Mai

Photo EssayDustin MainDecember 22, 2011Chiang Mai - ThailandChiang Mai, Thailand, Lensbaby, Monks10 Comments

Lunar Eclipse - Chiang Mai

Photo of the DayDustin MainDecember 10, 2011Chiang Mai - ThailandChiang Mai, Thailand, Asia, Lunar Eclipse

Meewasin Trail,

Saskatoon, SK, S7K 3H6,

Canada

dustin@lightmovescreative.org

Hours

All images and content copyright Dustin Main 2018 unless otherwise specified.

FOR THE CHILDREN

Win Kyaw Oo sees the future of his country through the plight of the children.

Since he was 10 years old, Win Kyaw Oo (31) has volunteered for the Red Cross in Myanmar, following the path of his mother and uncle, who were both volunteers as well. After university, at the age of 25, this transitioned to a job with the organization, a position that he describes as "My Heart." His job has led him into the field working with former child soldiers. There is a law in Myanmar that prohibits those under the age of 18 from joining the military. Since the military has faced more scrutiny in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of child soldiers released. Win Kyaw Oo has been tasked with reintegrating them into society, particularly in Rakhine State.

His task is not as simple as taking away their weapons and sending them home. These child soldiers have been earning an income from the military, and he must help them find a job and reunite with their family after fighting in wars for years. He acknowledges that it's a difficult and often frustrating job.

This concern for child welfare has extended elsewhere in his life. Tea shops, which are often staffed by children between the ages of 8 and 14, are a big problem he hopes to help solve. As they serve him in the shop, he'll ask them how old they are and why they aren't in school. More often than not, he'll hear that they are helping their mother make ends meet.

Missing out on an education means that these children will inevitably be stuck in this way of life, with few opportunities. Occasionally, he feels compelled to intervene. In one incident, he witnessed a shop owner step on the fingers of a young girl she employed. He had an altercation with the owner, and the police were called, but he knows little will have changed afterward. *** "It's hard for change, with the gap between wealth. These kids are like slaves, not people" *** Win Kyaw Oo hopes to set an example by opening up his own tea shop after hours. He wants it to be a place that is clean and pays fair wages, and where the employees are called “team members”, instead of “staff”, and have a say in the business.

10 Days

Bookings for my final "Un-Tour To Myanmar" of 2018 close in 10 days. This time, our focus is on Food, Festivals, and (of course) Photography... And there are just two spots left

Since 2011, I've made more than 16 trips to Myanmar while working on the documentary photography project "This Myanmar Life." In 2016, I hosted the very first Un-Tour To Myanmar as a way to try and experience the country and its stories in a deeper way

So join me on for 14 days of adventure in The Golden Land, from November 19th to December 2nd

For more information, check out the link in my bio to learn more, and save $375 when you join us

#UnTourToMyanmar #ThisMyanmarLife #Myanmar #burma #shanstate #documentary #TheGoldenLand

STANDING OUT

This Myanmar Life

Nang Kham Moon navigates between traditional and modern worlds.

Generations ago, ethnic tribes in Myanmar's mountainous Shan State would rarely marry outside their own village, let alone tribe. Now, although such marriages are more acceptable, long distances between villages is often the limiting factor as to whether couples will meet and the lack of communication and transportation options has kept these rural villages fairly isolated. It has only been recently (mid 2014) that mobile phone access has become accessible for much of the population in Myanmar.
When it comes to the practice of dating in villages, Nang Khan Moo (Moon) says it would go something like this: ** "When a girl likes a boy, she’d invite him to her family home one evening after dinner for tea. If she liked him, she would talk a lot. But if she didn't, she’d add a pinch of salt to his tea as a subtle gesture to let him know that it wasn't going to work out. And, if he didn’t like her, he’d let her know that he needed to use the toilet outside, and wouldn't return." ** Of course, elsewhere in the world, people can also be guilty of using passive ways to inform a date when not interested. However, while we might feel safe ending or abandoning a date in a big city since it’s unlikely we’ll run into them again, in the village there is no doubt you will.

With mobile internet access rapidly opening up a new world for teenagers and young adults, it won't be long before they're meeting potential partners online, rather than down the street in their village. (The story continues in the comments below)

#ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar #Myanmar #Burma #documentary

WAITING FOR THE INK TO DRY

This Myanmar Life
Ricky looks to wipe the stain clean from his country’s past and start fresh.

Relishing the chance to vote in a (relatively) legitimate election, Ricky kept a reminder of that day close at hand for nearly four months afterward.

On election day, November 8, 2015, citizens had to dip their finger in ink after casting their ballot; a measure put in place to prevent anyone from voting multiple times. However, the people of Myanmar know as well as anyone that a ballot cast is hardly proof of forthcoming progress.

For almost 50 years, they've been relying on the hope that positive change and a better future will be realized. A hope that has been frustrated over and over again: election after election, protest after protest, just for the same or worse circumstance to prevail.

Given the track record of past elections in the country, Ricky was ready to believe progress had been made, only when he had seen it. Despite the announcement of a landslide victory for Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Su Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party after the elections, he kept his inky reminder of election day on his fingernail, promising only to remove it when the NLD had taken their place in parliament.

When the new government convened in March 2016 for the first time, the dawn of a brighter future had at last arrived.

Ricky, finally, had a clean nail.

This image and story are from the documentary photography project "This Myanmar Life." #ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar #Taunggyi #Myanmar #Burma #documentary

LOST TO DRUGSThis Myanmar Life

It had been 10 months since I last met with 93 year old Daw Sein. At the time, she was distraught over the fact that her 28 year old grandson from a nearby village was mixed up with drugs. With little in terms of support systems in place, the village chief was trying to help solve the problem without involving the police.

Finally things came to a head, and the police came to arrest him. While unable to find any drugs in his possession, his blood and urine tests turned up positive and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Now, the family is moving on.

The family subsides on sales of corn that they purchase, which they then break off the kernels from, and resell them. It's hard work, and the entire floor of the house is their workspace for it. They also make traps for fish and eels.

This photo was taken as I showed her the photo I shot of her earlier this year on my phone. She doesn't make it out of the village often (if ever) and had never seen a 10000 kyat ($7USD) bank note, which has been out for several years. She was skeptical of it, and wanted to trade it for a 5000 kyat ($3.50USD) note.

#Myanmar #Burma #ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar #shan #MyanmarMagic

LITTLE THINGS

This Myanmar Life
Daw Aye quietly lives a village life with her people.

Daw Aye's (74) daily routine living and farming in the mountains in Shan State has seen few major changes during her lifetime. When it comes to working in the fields, 50 years ago, her family's main crop was opium. Then, after the government cracked down on the cultivation of opium 35 years ago, her family transitioned into tea and garlic.

The family home in the remote village of Yasaki has only had access to electricity since 2013, when the family purchased a small solar panel and battery. It powers two LED light bulbs and has a plug to charge their cell phone the family received as a gift. While having access to a cell phone may have seemed like a luxury in the village, they still need to walk 30 minutes to find a signal.

Daw Aye is part of the Palong ethnic tribe who live in the region and make up her village. The Palong are best known for both their tea and their mythical belief of how their people came to be. In the Palong creation story, the mother is a dragon and the father is the sun. The dragon lays an egg on the land, and when the sun shines his light on it, it hatches and the Palong people are born.

The headdress Daw Aye wears is special to her and unique to the Palong. It was given to her to signify that she was married and no longer a virgin. At 4 meters long, the wool fabric wraps around her head several times, holding and covering her long black hair. At the ends are beads and colorful additions that signify the dragon in Palong mythology. It's her most prized possession, and although it has seen better days, at $45, it has proven too expensive to replace.

Daw Aye’s children are now grown up and have families of their own, However, with the headdress proudly worn, and among grandchildren running riot all around, she still embodies the mother in her people’s story.This image and story are part of the documentary photography project "This Myanmar Life." #UnTourToMyanmar #ThisMyanmarLife #Myanmar #Burma #Palong #Shan #MyMyanmar #MyanmarMagic #documentary

A SIMPLE EQUATION

This Myanmar Life
Kyaw Myint walks the sunlit path from Kalaw to Inle Lake with a client at sunrise.

Up until a few years ago, Kyaw Myint was a tutor, helping students who were looking for a little extra schooling than the sub-par government school systems could provide. The salary wasn't great, bringing in $50-$60 per month, which, with his young family, didn't go far.

So, in 2012, he made a change and decided to become a trekking guide for tourists, following in the footsteps of his brother, who had been one for the past 10 years. Trekking tours in the Shan Hills near his home of Kalaw had begun to take off in the last year or two, and it seemed like a good opportunity.

At first, the pay was poor. He would charge his clients about $12 per day and could take only 1-2 clients at any one time. After the expense of hiring a cook, the food from the market, the villagers’ homes in which they would sleep, and his bus ride home after the three-day trek, he'd be left with just a few dollars.

However, by 2015, business was excellent. While he could only work 5-6 months a year as a trekking guide, due to the low and high tourist seasons, he was busy during much of that time taking 5-6 clients on each trek. Not only that, but as soon as he arrived back to his home in Kalaw, there would be another group ready for him.

In Myanmar, it’s not taboo to talk about money. So, when asked about how much money he made, he said it was about $120 per month. This amount seemed awfully low, considering how busy he was.

When pressed, he explained that when he thinks about how much money he makes, he doesn't think of his income from clients, or the profit he makes after paying for their expenses, such as food and accommodation. Instead, he takes his income from his work and subtracts the food and rent for his family. He then takes out the money he spends on fuel for his motorbike, his childrens' school books, and all other expenses for himself and his family.

To Kyaw Myint, the most important thing is the amount of money left over at the end of each month. How much money he makes is how much he saves for the future.

#ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar

OVERCOMING HATE

This Myanmar Life

Zaw Zaw’s children are growing up in a world where their future place in the community is up in the air

Muslims and Buddhists have lived together in Myanmar for centuries. While this has been largely peaceful, in 2012, religious tensions between the two groups flared up in Western Myanmar, resulting in riots and dozens of deaths. Since then, there have been numerous violent incidents throughout the country, and a growing concern from the rest of the world.

Throughout all of this, the quiet town of Kalaw has remained mostly unaffected. When violence erupted in the nearby city of Meiktila in 2013, Buddhists and Muslims in Kalaw came together to offer support and food to those hurt and displaced in the city.

Soon after, when the firebrand monk and leader of the nationalist 969 Movement, U Wirathu, came through Kalaw, things began to change. U Wirathu travels around the country, speaking to his followers and encouraging fellow Buddhists - who make up more than 85% of the country, to shun Muslim businesses and their communities. His sermons, branded by many as hate speech and widely believed to incite violence, were not only permitted by the government, but were defended.

Zaw Zaw (49), a Muslim living with his family in Kalaw, has felt the shift in the community first hand. After the riots in Meiktila, he was too afraid to return to his job there, where he worked making gold jewelry. Muslims now also have difficulty buying land, something that wouldn’t have been a problem a few years ago.

While Zaw Zaw doesn't fear for his own safety back home in Kalaw, things have changed for his family as well. Soe Mi Ya (14), his eldest daughter, says that the kids at school don't want to talk to her, and her friends' parents told them not to play with her anymore.
When he looks to the future, particularly that of his youngest daughter Sophia, he's more hopeful. "With the change in the government, my baby is lucky." This image and story are part of the documentary photography project "This Myanmar Life." #ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar

The Caregiver - Daw Tin Tin Hla cares for street animals when no one else will.

Daw Tin Tin Hla (50) sews for a living, but lives for animals.

In the city of Mawlamyine, hundreds of feral cats and dogs roam the streets. While most are afraid of humans and keep their distance, they'll often resort to fighting each other for the bits of food they are able to scavenge. It's a hard existence, and it's not unusual for a fight overnight to result in the wounded or worse left lying on the road in the morning.

Daw Tin Tin Hla sees these animals in another way, and has taken it upon herself to give them a better life. While she is unmarried and has never wanted children herself, she feels as though the animals are her children. Growing up, her father loved animals, and they had several cats and dogs around their home. In addition to her Buddhist faith, it was his example that she followed to care for other living creatures.
So, every few days, she'll buy dried fish and crackers from the local market and walk around town to feed the animals. She even carries an injectable medicine to treat the dogs and cats against common fungal infections found here. Whenever she finds an animal she can't treat, she'll call the local veterinarian and pay for the treatment herself. "Even if they can't speak, I can understand their expression"

When she discovered four young pups in the street by her home, they were starving and barely alive. Over the next two months, she woke up early each morning to bottle feed them back to health. As the months went by, they would often come to the entrance of her home in the evening to sleep in safety, bringing a huge smile to her face. A year and a half later, the son of a rich man took two of them for himself. She was devastated, and her grief left her with trouble sleeping. Soon afterwards, the local authorities threw meat laced with poison into the streets overnight, killing the other two and dozens of other animals.
There are many sad times, but she's resilient. Being around the animals makes her feel happy, and they need all the love and caring that they can get.

#ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar

38 Circles Around the Sun

Last week I said goodbye to my 37th year, and hello to my 38th. And honestly, it doesn't really feel like 38, but then again, what does being 38 feel like? Maybe it's just like any other!

That said, I'm happy to turn a page on 37. It was one of the most challenging years I've had and I still feel like I'm recovering from all that came my way.

So this year will be a bit different. A little less travel, a little more time with some of my closest friends, and a renewed focus on what really drives me.

I've also decided that I won't be offering my usual Jan/Feb "Un-Tour To Myanmar" in 2019. The next will likely be in Oct 2019 instead. So if you're looking for an experience like no other, my Nov 2018 trip will be my last for awhile. You should join me, you'll eat well :) However, my documentary work will continue in #Myanmar (and elsewhere!). I can't wait to have more and more stories to share.

So that's that. Thanks for following along with this journey that I'm (as we all are) making up as I go along. -- Dustin

#ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar #Bagan #Myanmar #MyMyanmar #38

The Road to Freedom

Shell smiles as he drives his taxi around Yangon.

Shell (47) was only a high school student in 1988 when he was organizing students as part of the 8888 pro-democracy protests. As the military began to crack down on dissent, he knew that if he went home, he would be arrested. So, he would evade them by staying in different houses for no more than two nights in a row.
On his second interrogation by the military intelligence after his arrest in 1988, he was blindfolded before 4-5 interrogators rushed into the room and violently beat him with sticks, leaving him bleeding and battered on the floor. He lost three front teeth and suffered extensive oral damage. This left him in severe pain and with difficulties eating and speaking, until it was repaired three years later. His restored image, with a new row of front teeth, was likened by friends to that of the shiny bumper on a new car; hence his nickname Shell.

Between 1988 and 2012, he spent three stints and a total of 14 years as a political prisoner for organizing and demonstrating in pro-democracy protests. During the periods out of prison, getting a job was incredibly difficult. After applying for work somewhere, the military police would pay a visit to the owner, making it clear that hiring him would result in their business being blacklisted and shut down. With no family to help, Shell would rely on his friends for support, sometimes working odd jobs in tea shops. (Story continued in the comments)#ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar

A New Beginning

Laminn gathers her family to head to a local festival.

Times were tough for Laminn (34) and her husband Maung Maung (31) in 2012. They had just given birth to their second boy, and jobs were few and far between. He drove boats on Inle Lake, shuttling people and crops across, while she made and sold papaya salad beside the road through their village of Kaung Daing. As a family, they were barely making ends meet.

So, together, they decided to take a chance. Laminn would stop working and go back to school to learn English, with the aim of becoming a tourist guide. It meant that the family would need to sacrifice even more than they had been, relying solely on Maung Maung's income. Their older son would also have to live with his Aunt in nearby Nyaungshwe.

It was a difficult time. Lacking funds, Laminn would often sacrifice her food each day just to be able to afford English lessons at a nearby monastery.

The gamble paid off. Two years later, she started work as a guide, making $10-$15 per day. By 2015, she was earning $35 per day during high season, which was almost equivalent to her entire monthly income before. This flexibility allowed Maung Maung to pursue additional education as well, becoming one of only a handful of certified volleyball coaches in the region. "It was a whole family effort to get here. We are tired, sometimes we have a lot of stress, but we're happy." The family have now been able to buy new motorcycles and cell phones, and save money for their next big plan. Laminn has two younger sisters who live in an orphanage, and she also wants to be able to provide an opportunity for them. So, they are planning to buy a small piece of land and start a guesthouse where the whole family can work and live together. However, it won't be easy.
Land prices around Inle Lake have skyrocketed in recent years, due to big resort companies and foreign interests driving up the cost of land and pricing out the locals.

Laminn is up for the challenge.This is an image and story from the documentary photography project "This Myanmar Life"#ThisMyanmarLife #UnTourToMyanmar