Lantern In The Making: Myanmar

Forty years ago, my school, Concordia Middle School, was founded by a group of missionaries who felt an urgency to bring good education to an underdeveloped village in rural Taiwan. Forty years later, Concordia Middle School still upholds these ideals as the school provides support for Holy Light School.Aside from financial support and book donations, a team of students and teachers is sent to Holy Light School each summer to teach and train local teachers. During the summer of 2010, I had a chance to be a part of that team. (You can read about my thoughts of the trip in my autobiography.) Now, I hope that the following images can bring to you a glimpse of that life-changing week.

Myanmar, Here We Come!

Pagodas showed how dominant Buddhism is in Myanmar.

Quick prayer before departure

Getting ready for a LONG van ride. (8 hours to be exact.)

We have thanaka on our faces. Apart from cosmetic purposes, thanaka
also gives a cooling sensation and prevents sunburns.

A typical gas station. Anyone in Myanmar is permitted to
sell gasoline which is why the prices are really low.

Low face-value bills are used again and again.

While the overall economy of Myanmar is too good, the
country's agriculture is nothing to worry about.

The accommodations for our week in Lashio, Myanmar.

New Faces, New Places

Holy Light School

Holy Light School is a Christian school for kids from grades 1 through 12. One might think that it would be very crowded, but few students ever make it to high school.

A couple of first graders greeting us!

Some of the money sent from Concordia is used to help provide
breakfast for 100 students who don't have enough to eat.

The children are very thankful for their meal.

The breakfast is simple rice porridge. It may have seemed plain to us......

but the children there eat it with impressive gusto!

Aside from providing tuition and meals for students, Concordia
also donates textbooks and teaching materials to Holy Light School.

One of the school's top students performs an amazing "peacock dance".

Each meal we have at the school is carefully prepared. The dishes
we eat are usually served during new year celebrations.

Brrring! Time For Class

During the week, our team was split into teams of two. Student teams taught Chinese and Science while Teacher teams held Chinese and computer workshops for the local instructors.

First Chinese class with my teammate Queenie

Students listening attentively

Worksheets

Storytelling

Grading Homework!

Students' work on display

Science Class

In class demonstrations

Preparing class materials

Students testing out science toys outside

Chinese workshop for teachers of Lashio

Computer Class

Shock! Enlightenment! Home Visits!

After teaching at school, we had the opportunity to visit the homes of some of the students. These visits revealed more of the lives students had to go through each day.

Why do I complain about hour-long bus rides when students trek through miles of mud in the morning to get to school?

A kitchen

Some families raise pigs in their backyard.

Student Center

Fun, Family, Forever.

Holy Light School has a program called Student Center. Twelve outstanding students that can't go home on a daily basis are selected to be a part of this group. They live in the school dorms and participate in study sessions and Christian fellowships together. Our team had the opportunity to meet with these mature, hard-working students.

Icebreakers to start things off

Having one-on-one conversations with the students.

After getting to know one another, we prayed for each other.

Guo-Yu Elementary School

While the main focus of our trip was Holy Light School, we made a detour to another school in the Lashio area. At Guo-Yu Elementary School, we played and danced with the children.

Upon arrival, all of the students lined up outside to welcome us.

Goodbyes

On our last day in Lashio, our team attended Sunday Worship at Holy Light School with students and teachers. Saying goodbye to so many friends made everyone teary-eyed to say the least.