Dear all,
First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!!
We are writing you from Bangkok airport (on the way to New Caledonia). After one month and a half in Yangon focusing on our project, we enjoyed 8 days away: 4 days at the Inle lake and 4 days at Bagan...8 days during which we finalised our report for Green Shoots. This included an overview of the current context/environment in Myanmar (Economy, Microfinance, HIV etc.), a definition of the Need for the People Living With Aids from a Yangon clinic thanks to the 108 interviews we have made there, and included an overview of the current Microfinance players, a short list and recommendations on the implementation for Green Shoots, thanks to meetings with INGOs, local NGOs, international organisations like the UN, the World Bank and IFC, some local cooperatives and some full-profit organisations.
We started our break at the Inle lake, where we enjoyed some amazing bicycle rides during sunsets, the delicious Shan noodle soup and the life on the lake from early mornings....we then went to Bagan for a similar programme to enjoy the mystery of this vast site. Nevertheless Bagan started weirdly after an hotel being not able to see our booking on New Year's Eve night ;-) We ended up sleeping at the hotel employee's home...The next day, we hired a small fisherman boat to see the sunset from the river on the temples...beautiful...but unfortunately our boat engine broke at night...we were stuck 2 hours during which we used Agnes' iPhone SOS option to call for help ;-)...We loved it...true.
All in all we are now sad to leave Myanmar, our friends and Yangon, a city where we felt at home thanks to the amazingly warm welcome from people. To see pics, please click on Myanmar, Foodies and Portraits...
