On the 4th day of the “Burma Telling Its Own Story” Cultural Exchange and Reporting Fellowship, the fellows had their last formal presentation from a guest speaker, thereby concluding the in-class workshop portion of the program.
Dr. Nyo Nyo Thinn, Parliamentarian, is an expert on law and women’s rights and empowerment in Myanmar. Her presentation about how women in Myanmar are perceived, both from a cultural and legal standpoint, spurred a lively discussion. She shared statistics on public polling related to women’s role in the family unit and in society at large, as well as explanations about the bills being presented in Parliament to strengthen the protection of women’s rights in Myanmar.
For some fellows, this Saturday marked the first day of their journey–a one week reporting exercise in the field that will allow them to uncover Myanmar’s most intriguing voices from five different parts of the country.
Teams of four fellows (two American and two Myanmar) will go with their team leaders to one of five places: the Delta, Inle Lake, the Capitals (Bagan, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Daw), Yangon, and the “Burma Road.”
The team traveling to the “Burma Road” will follow a course from Mandalay all the way to the Chinese border town of Muse, accompanied by their trusty fixer and translator, and led by their instructor, Philip Blenkinsop. Along the way, they will have the opportunity to see towns such as Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, and Lashio, dotted along a quiet stretch of curving mountain roads.