my family essay myanmar

Myanmar: My life in Myanmar

I am 13 years old, have seven siblings and live in Myanmar. Some of them are staying in townships far away from us.  My father passed away from COVID-19. When he died, we got a loan from someone for our house and moved out. If we can’t pay it back, they get to keep it. We then rented a small platform from the owner of the house on stilts above it. The platform didn’t have walls, so we covered the sides with material and plastic. Living there was not safe and secure at all.  My mother was so worried about me when we lived there.

I should be at school in 7th standard, but my school is closed because of COVID-19 restrictions. I like mathematics more than other subjects and my favorite teacher is my maths teacher because she teaches her students like they are her own children. I have two best friends. I could not afford tuition fees like my friends because my family is poor and struggling with living costs. My neighbours supported me with school bags, books and stationery so I could go to school. I do hope to become a doctor no matter how difficult it will be, I will try my best.

I offer alms to Buddha and pray in the morning. When I was at school, I used to eat three meals a day, but now my school is closed and we don't have enough money, so I only eat twice a day. Sometimes I go to bed on an empty stomach. Now I work to help my mother. I miss my teachers and I'm so sad that I’m not going to school. I feel I am going to lose hope of becoming a doctor. I work during the day and read books and listen to songs when I have free time. When I feel sad, I open up to my friends at work and they try to make me happy by telling jokes. After work, I usually help my mother with household chores like washing clothes, carrying water and cooking.

I think girls are more at risk than boys. We are always treated worse than men. For instance, men earn more money than women for doing the same job. I am paid 800 or 900 Kyats (50 cents) a day, but the men doing the same work get 2,500 Kyats ($1.50). For boys, they can go wherever they want, but for girls, we have to think about the potential risks on the way and prepare ahead.

One day, some women came to our place and asked my mother about our situation and what our difficulties and challenges are. The women told us about their organisation, Nway Htwe Thaw Yin Kwin, and that they run gender equality and women’s empowerment projects with the support of CARE Myanmar. The project helps women with cash for food and medical costs and gives temporary shelter. Now my mother and I are staying in the women friendly shelter with the support of the organisation and we are not worried about food or our safety. I am hoping my school opens soon. I am trying to save money so that I can go back to school when it does open.

Our global impact

In FY2023, CARE worked around the world, contributing to saving lives, fighting poverty, and increasing social justice.

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Last Monday, my article was about Ginger and me and our dancing with death successfully. It dealt with the realization that I can’t control our rendezvouses with death. However, Ginger and I can enjoy our lives together and live in the moment.

This essay is a sequel to what’s it all about. More precisely, it addresses my family in Myanmar. Bobby Kennedy is the most influential mentor in my life. This essay deals with two things that he said. The first is about dreaming, “Some men see things as they are and say, why; I dream things that never were and say, why not.” I am a dreamer. Trust me. The other was from a long speech, which contained a short paragraph about the ripple effect.

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

My problem is that I’m an impatient dreamer. I want to create enough ripples to make significant changes to the world. Nevertheless, I realize that my mindset is beyond the pale. Additionally, I am in my twilight years. My clock is ticking, but it doesn’t have a lifetime more of ticks. I know that I have to limit my dreams while being driven. That is the dichotomy that I face.

I can’t change the killings and destruction in Ukraine or in Myanmar. I watch the news from Ukraine, which merely causes more fears about my family in Myanmar.

I don’t have any family members in Ukraine. Nonetheless, I do have a family in Myanmar. This is my family.

I took this picture two years ago while visiting them during winter break from teaching. They have faced the coronavirus and a military coup during those two years. These are some recent pictures of my family.

While COVID is manageable, the military is still waging war against the people in Myanmar. There isn’t anything I can do to help Myanmar return to a peaceful developing country. The only means that my family has to avoid the traumas of a civil war is to come to America. Our State Department has a program called Diversity Visa (DV). It is a lottery that picks either individuals or families from around the world and grants them visas to come to America. My family has applied for DVs. I hope that my family will receive their green cards, which will enable them to come to America and live with me. In June of this year, they will find out whether they will get their DVs.

While they wait, I am still looking for alternative means of allowing them to live in the States if they don’t win the Diversity Visa lottery. If my struggle to get my family to America seems like a Herculean effort, it is. However, I am fortunate and grateful to have that opportunity. Both my family and I will benefit from living here. We will all live together as a family in my home. We will sit on the deck late in the evening while we laugh and remember the times we shared in Myanmar. Now, we can share our time together in America.

Once they win the DV lottery, that will resolve the struggle to get them here. Then a far more massive struggle will have my attention. Acclimating my family to their new world will be filled with things to do like getting Snow and Fatty into elementary school and Ti Ti into college. Everyone will need shots, medical checkups along with dental and eye exams.

Also, winter in Myanmar isn’t like it is in America. I was there during winter break from teaching. If one were to add up the total amount of time on my three trips to Myanmar, it would be around three months. During that time, I rarely wore a jacket. Therefore, we will need to go shopping for winter clothes. Taking my granddaughters shopping for winter clothes will be an experience I won’t forget. My family in Myanmar cared for me when I was there. I will do the same for them in America.

Another thing that we will do is to invite Neil Diamond for dinner on a lovely summer evening. My family will tell him stories about their coming to America. We will sing along with Neil Diamond about his family coming to America from Ukraine.

Bobby Kennedy was correct about dreaming and creating a ripple effect in our world. Granted, dreaming was easy, but our ripple effect will be gigantic. Bobby would be proud of us.

" On Seeing the Light "

Visit the " On Seeing the Light " page to read more about this topic.

" We Are Family "

Visit the " We Are Family " page to read more about this topic.

Connecting the Dots

Visit the Connecting the Dots page to read more about this topic.

Dreaming Dreams

Visit the Dreaming Dreams page to read more about this topic.

Darkest Before Dawn

Visit the Darkest Before Dawn page to read more about this topic.

Best and Worst of Times

Visit the Best and Worst of Times page to read more about this topic.

The Last Lecture

Visit the " The Last Lecture " page to read more about this topic.

Dancing with Death

Visit the Dancing with Death page to read more about this topic.

Visit the " Thus Spoke Ginge " page to read more about this topic.

Bobby Kennedy

Visit the “Bobby Kennedy” page to read more about this topic.

My Granddaughter

Visit the Ti Ti page to read more about this topic.

My Hauntings

Visit the My Hauntings page to read more about this topic.

Don Quixote

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Man in the Arena

Visit the Man in the Arena page to read more about this topic.

Music I Love and Why

Visit the Music I Love and Why page to read more about this topic.

The Mentors and Me

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Burmese independence flag

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Ukraine flag

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Developing Country — The Perfect Country: Myanmar

The Perfect Country: Myanmar

• Categories: Developing Country Transportation

About this sample

Words: 613 |

Published: Feb 12, 2019

Words: 613 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Works Cited

• Aung-Thwin, M. A. (2017). The mists of Rāmañña: The legend that was lower Burma. University of Hawai'i Press.
• Bird, G., Soe, H. K., & Willcox, M. (2016). Checklist of the Birds of Myanmar. Lynx Edicions.
• Cho, W. K. T. (2017). Ethnicity, conflict and inequality in Myanmar. Routledge.
• D'Cunha, J. M., & Ong, D. K. (2019). Tourism in Southeast Asia: Challenges and new directions. Routledge.
• Hill, J. (2014). Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. BookBaby.
• Kyaw, T. M., & Aung, T. T. (2021). Tourism development and sustainability in Myanmar. Routledge.
• Myanmar. (2022, March 11). In CIA World Factbook. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/myanmar/
• Myanmar. (2022, March 11). In World Tourism Organization. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.unwto.org/myanmar
• Tin, H. H. (2021). Golden Myanmar. White Lotus Press.
• Win, N. N. (2017). Buddhism and Buddhist Art in Myanmar. Asia Society.

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Myanmar Lifestyle

Typical myanmar family life - changes & values.

Like other Eastern countries, the villages were formed very early in which families play the leading role. Once finding yourself in a Myanmar tour , you will discover that "family" is not a constant definition, that does not only contain parents and children but also cousins, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and others. At the beginning of building a family, a new couple can share their home with the parents of the husband or the wife. Although nuclear families are the main unit, it can include other members of the family such as unmarried siblings or widowed parent.

The definition of members in the Myanmar families is expanded, which contains not only close relatives but also their neighborhoods. Similar to conception’s life of Vietnamese, a stranger nearby is better than a far-away relative, the Burmese people always regard their neighborhoods as a part of their family, which every activity in daily life is partly contributed by them. Therefore, perhaps the word "relatives" in Myanmar is originated with the word "friends". Many traditional rituals are maintained in a Myanmar family, which are considered to be an integral part of their spiritual life.

The roles of family members

The husband is nominally the head of the family but the wife has considerable authority to be responsible for most of the household chores. The women manage housework issues while the men have the responsibility of supporting their family. However, in modern life, there are some women who can take on both roles.

Naming ceremony in the family tradition

The lifestyle in Myanmar is unique and people have to follow a great number of family’s rules. Interestingly, this country is not the same as that of other Eastern countries in determining the surname of their children. They are not forced to take the father's surname or after getting married, the wife’s surname has to convert into their family’s husband name.

After one month, a naming ceremony would be organized to welcome the new member of the family, relatives and neighborhoods will be invited to take part in a small party. Then the baby will be brought to a pagoda where their hair would be cut by monks and showered with scented water which is contained in a silver bowl. Those who attend will drop some silver coins with lucky wishes for the child.

The ceremony for boys in the family

To become a true Buddhism monk, any boy has to experience 3 steps: the first one is hair shaving, wearing a special coat and learning to put the perfect belief in Buddhism. Before going to the pagoda, they need to be cleaned. Besides, the day when the children are taken to the temple is regarded as a family ceremony which their parents usually invite musicians and prepare a lot of food.

In the dignified atmosphere, bustling music with the joy of the whole family, the boy looks like a prince when putting on a white coat, wearing a gilded crown and being ready to go to the pagoda. The child will ride a horse, be held the umbrella by another person and bring a gift package on the way to the pagoda.

After completing all the rituals, the boy’s hair will be shaved by a monk. The ceremony takes several hours to finish, their parents use a white cloth to wrap around the lock of hair which has been shaved and bury it near a sacred place. After that, the boys can come back home to eat “the last meal” – a very big party which has approximately 700 participants and includes traditional food such as bitter bean soup and curry pork. At the afternoon, the boys have to take part in another ceremony and go to the pagoda where they will be given an orange robe and a bowl to contain alms, which symbolize the non-profit in life. Then, the boys have been admitted to be a new monk in the Sangha of the Buddha. They must stay in the monastery, join a training course at least seven days and has the responsibility of taking care of the monks. Moreover, the boys need to grasp the teachings, study Buddhist scriptures at the same time.

The Burmese believe that human beings can only be completely mature after having been experienced the penance in the pagoda. Therefore, they can have great awareness to keep them away from the evils and grasp the truth of life. That is the reason why Shinbyu is regarded as the noblest rite of Buddhists in Myanmar, which is traditionally organized in Waso month (April of Buddhist calendar coincides with July and August of solar calendar and rainy season in Myanmar).

The ceremony for girls in the family

Myanmar Marriage & Family Life

Myanmar and some developing countries such as Vietnam, China, and others have shared the marriage and wedding tradition. However, these still exist differences among the cultures.

In Myanmar society, when a woman and a man fall in love and tend to live together, they are supposed to announce to parents, relatives, and people around. Because the wedding day is a crucial day in the Burmese’s conception, they have to spend a period of time for preparation. To prepare for the wedding in Myanmar , parents will lead them to the pagoda to read their horoscope and choose a good day for the wedding. Besides, they regularly invite the happiest couple among their friends to be the kissing master.

Day of Mourning

Loyalty, hierarchy or free broken by nature are known as the general characteristics of the Burmese, which is quite the same as the Vietnamese. Therefore, they always try to help the deceased have a comfortable last step with the ideal "the sense of the dead is that of the final". In the sacred moment, brothers, relatives or close neighbors will be gathered to make the farewells and help the decedent step into the secluded world without loneliness. Before that, the Burmese will have been bathed for the dead, shrouded and bought the coffin. Moreover, It is believed that they will be lucky if they let the dead in the house within a week after the funeral and spend two last day keeping watch to stand by the dead's bedside before the farewell to bring the decedent to the last resting place.

The mourning family will open their house for seven days with the belief that the deceased's soul will come out - into the house during these days. Family members and neighbors will protect the house for a week by playing cards at night (so as not to fall asleep). The last day of a week is called Yet Le, and the monks are invited to the requiem whose the main purpose is to let the deceased aware that they are dead and that their souls now are free to go to the best places (paradise or somewhere like that). According to the belief of the Myanmar people, in the first six days, the soul of the dead does not know what has happened to them, however, after the ceremony, they can know it and walk out of the house.

Contemporarily, the people of the land of Golden Pagodas still keep perfectly their family cultures with the lifestyles of agricultural civilization and these of Buddhism. The rituals and behaviors of every Burmese family are their priceless cultural heritage that all generations of people will consciously preserve and promote in the future.

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