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This report is from Kyaw Soe - owner of Arcadia Travels in Rangoon
I've attached the report on the progress of the school construction at Kun Dai. Please have the pleasure of view the photos of the beautiful school for the kids thanks to your generous donation.

24 September 2008

On 22 September the villagers from Kun Dai phoned us to tell how much of the school construction was finished and to advance some materials they needed from the timber merchant. They reported that much of the building is finished. So I made an appointment with them at the jetty to pick us up the next day.

Audrey and I went to Dedaye` by communal taxi at 8:00 a.m. and arrived at 10:00 a.m.
The villagers were waiting for us as the jetty as appointed earlier on the phone. They are very happy to tell me about how the village is now changing into the look of a real village. My friends had built a small landing on the river front made of wood, bamboo and coconut tree trunk. Thanks to this small landing the regular ferry which runs once a day between the towns Dedaye` and villages can now moor there to drop the passengers. The sand is shoveled from the river and filled into sacs which are used for paving the footpath in front of the houses built. Now the villagers can walk easily without wading in one-foot deep mud as before.

Then we went to the house of the villager and his family who had donated the plot for the school. They are very generous that every time we go there they insist us to have lunch at their home which they have prepared before going to school. So we had to finish it.

After lunch we just walked to the school. It is such as nice, strong and lovely building. Just to picture you the location of the village please think of the shape of the English alphabet U. The school is located at the left top of U and the houses form in U shape. But the formation is longer in the middle and the arms are short. The right arm of U is parallel to the river. The bottom of U is parallel to the small creek where villagers can access their houses by boats when the river water level is high with tide. The small and shanty school locates at the bank of this small creek.

The access to the school is yet to finish so I had to wade through the mud on that plot.

The stepping stones are the concrete shoes and one villager handed me a bucket of water when I reached the floor to wash my feet. It looks small from outside but inside it is pretty spacious for 18 kids. The breeze comes from the river through the rice field under the shade corrugated tin ceiling is divine. The floor rises about 3.5 feet above the ground. The floor of the corridor in front drops 6 inches from the main building floor. There will be two main doors at the side of the corridor each one covering (6x3) ft. Each of the rest three sides will have two windows each measuring (2.5x3) ft. A certain kind of 350 bamboo poles (good for walls) are purchased already for stripping and weaving the bamboo walls for the villagers want to make the walls on their own in better quality than the ready made bamboo walls sold at shops. The quantity of wood we have used for the school is approximately at about 3.5 tons. They asked me which type of windows we want to install. So I tried to mix wood and tin sheet for all doors which are used now at almost all wooden buildings for the wood is so costly. The young shady trees are also planted in front and on the side of the trees and we will grow more trees. On the return we purchased the necessary materials for the doors and windows. The villagers will take those back. We had to rush off to the communal taxi stand for the time is 3:30 p.m. already. Luckily we catch the last regular priced taxi. The more fortunate thing is yet to come.
While I was dozing in the front seat on the way I heard the shriek of women including Audrey from the back seat so I opened my eyes and saw our taxi screech to a stop at a foot distance of another one on the wrong side of the road. Thank God we are still alive. These cabbies are real kamikazes on this road. Terrible!

This is page 15. To read earlier emails, click here.
There are now multiple pages of reports from Burma.
Click below to go to other pages.Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13. Page 14
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