Home visits on Sunday

Si Si Win with a much cherished photo of her Forthview friend, Sophie. Irvine and I were very privileged to have the chance to visit four Hle Bee children at home with their families.

We set off on Sunday morning, collected our bikes and then headed off to the first house.

First stop was Si Si Win's house. She lives within sight of the factory where her father works and her home is owned by the factory. We sat with Si Si Win and her family in their room and talked about their situation, which brought home the global impact of the recession: the factory is looking like it may shut down, which means there will be no work and therefore no income and worse, no home. They have family back in Burma but are unable to return there as they have no home and no way to earn a living. There is no means of support from the State in Thailand as they have no legal status. They talked about their hopes and dreams for their daughter's future, adding with sadness that she may soon have to leave school to go to work. Si Si Win is 13 and dreams of one day becoming a nurse.

Next we went to Htet Wai Yan Kyaw's house. He is on the left of the photo. His friend in Forthview is Juan. As we cycled up we drew into the driveway of a very imposing house. 'Surely this can't be where they live?' I wondered to myself. I then noticed a row of small wooden shacks where six families live down the side of the big house - so marked in contrast. A small room, but with everything neatly in its place and again a very warm welcome. Htet Wai's mother came home from her sewing job during the middle of our visit - for her lunch break - before heading back to work. They told us how a family member had just arrived with a degree from Burma and was now looking to attend the local Migrant Workers' school. On the way out I remarked how it

must be hard to get much light since they live so close to the big house. Htet Wai's mother told me that her employer does not like them to use much electricity so they often sit in the dark.

By now, our little party of three had grown in size, as Si Si Win and Htet Wai joined us for the visit to Zar Chai Aye and her family of 8. Their home has an empty shop front and a further three floors - all the rooms are empty, save for their sleeping mats and a few posessions.

We were sat down and almost immediately mohinga was served! Again such generosity. I recounted the story of making mohinga with the nursery and, Murray, Zar Chai Aye's mother laughed out loud at your recipe!! It was good to taste the authentic version and Irivine was able to revise his opinion of the dish after tasting my 'boggin' version!

Zar Chai Aye and her mother (right)

Finally we headed off to Zin Zaw's new house which Sheila has talked about in the blog. It was lovely to meet her Mother, who is usually working away near the Border. She talked about how hard she finds it having to leave her family and also about her dreams for Zin Zaw's future. Although initially in jest, she asked several times for us to take her daughter back to Scotland with us. Oh that we could!

Irvine gained inspiration from the pin up on the wall to pose for a group photo - with much giggling from all!

It was an amazing day and one we would not have missed. Although we heard heartbreaking stories in each home, the thing that struck us was the immense dignity of all the families, the interest they took in our visit, and above all, the warm welcome we received.

We both returned home feeling very humbled and with our own worries very much put into perspective.