Mercy Teams International

The road north from Yangon is lined with lush greenery and rice paddies. Each morning children can be seen heading for school in their uniforms. At the same time, lines of saffron-robed monks carrying jars emerge from monasteries to make their daily food collection. Every town and village has a Buddhist temple. Many of the monks are only novices—children whose destitute parents have left at the monastery to bring up. Faithful devotees are expected to supply enough food for the monks’ breakfast and lunch; they will fast the remainder of the day.

Getting to the village where MTI works (Mercy Teams International is a test of perseverance. After a short bus ride, Mark and his Burmese partner climb into the back of a Hilux pickup truck that has been fitted with benches. Seven people cram themselves on each side, then several more sit on stools between everyone’s knees. Five or six men climb on the tailgate, and whoever is left crawls onto the roof enclosing the pickup. Mark once counted a total of forty passengers. He tries to fill the dusty, hour-long journey constructively by practicing his Burmese or listening to tapes.

After the pair alight in Hmawbi district they stop for a quick cup of tea. Tea shops abound, usually with dirt floor and plastic tables and stools. A cup costs only 40 kyat (4 cents) but this is double the price of only a few weeks ago. Food, fuel, transport and electricity prices in this country can jump dramatically, up to eight or ten times overnight. After their drink the men make their way to the humble wooden house with corrugated iron roof that is rented by MTI. The house has two floors. A Teacher and his family live on the upper floor. Below are wooden benches and desks reminiscent of old one-room schoolhouses.

Even in Myanmar’s extreme heat (reaching 40 C (104F in April and May) the thirty students who gather every Monday Wednesday and Friday are thrilled at the chance of being taught English by a native speaker. The Burmese have caught “English fever,” viewing it as the language of empowerment. Hardly surprising, when eighty percent of computer information is in English. Non-native speakers of English worldwide now outnumber native speakers 3 to 1, according to a Newsweek article (“Not the Queen’s English,” March ’05). Most Burmese hope English will give them a better job or even—with teachers and doctors only paid U.S. $7 or 8 per month--a ticket out of the country.

As Mark has noted, however, “There are plenty of opportunities for young people to learn English in Yangon. In these little rural villages, they have none. You can either wait for people to come to you, or you go to them.”

His students are charged an affordable $3 per month to cover books and supplies. They have all been given copies of Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” in Burmese. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, fifteen of the brightest men and women travel to a Yangon apartment to learn computer skills as well. Mark is hoping to increase this number as soon as computers are available.

Four mornings a week, MTI also sponsors vocational training for village women and girls. Six treadle sewing machines line the walls of a house for this purpose.

The Myanmar work is still in its pioneering stage and the team is tiny. Mark, his wife Magalie and two small girls, have been joined by only one other expatriate, Joy, and a Burmese translator/helper. As soon as they have more volunteers, their goal of bringing practical help and hope to more Burmese can be realized.

In Joy’s words, “God is working in Myanmar and I’m excited to be part of it! The people are great--humble and shy, and they work so hard. I love the students so much! They are facing hard times in this country