Mindat: We Are One Humanity
Jonas Luminas has written the following story recalling his time in Mindat, a town that is now under constant assault by the Burmese military:
Let me tell you a story about shoes. A story about humanity. A story about Mindat, a town in western Myanmar that is now under siege of the military regime:
… I walked back from the waterfall exhausted and dirty. During most of the few nights I spent there I either had to puke or release loads of diarrhea. In the little remaining time of the nights I was busy keeping the fire alive, which, with its heat, kept me alive in turn. Above all that, the wind blew one of my flip flops into the mighty river, leaving me walking the roughly 20 kilometers back to town half-barefoot. My recent meditation training had taught me to detach, and so I proceeded on my path peacefully but smelling like shit.
With the last few coins that were left in my pockets I decided to give myself a treat and buy a noodle soup in one of the tiny restaurants along the main road. As soon as I entered one, a well-known face welcomed me – it was the owner of the guest house who let me stay in his place for free when I arrived in town a few days earlier.
Delighted about my presence, he made me sit next to him and quickly ordered a bowl of rice noodles for me. He left me no chance to pay myself and wouldn't accept any of my money. I was his guest, he insisted, and guests don't pay.
When I was half done, he decided to leave.
Me, blinded by my exorbitant hunger, did not notice anymore what happened around me. Only when a bony hand shook one of my shoulders, I looked up. A rather short, middle-aged man stood in front of me, pointing to a pair of flip-flops in his hands.
“Do they fit you, sir? Please try!”
Perplexed as I was, I tried the shoes, just to find out they were too small. I handed them back, explained the situation and put him off, refocusing on my nourishing meal. I was still confused, but labeled this as one of the many random happenings one experiences in countries with little to no tourism.
Less than 10 minutes later, he came back with another pair of flip-flops in his hands, his face now smiling widely:
“Sir, please try those. They must be your size!”
Again I tried the shoes and although they did fit this time, I handed them back, expecting the man to be a street vendor who saw a walking purse in me. Now he was the one being confused:
“The shoes don't fit?”
“They do fit, but I don't want to buy them, sorry. I'm fine without shoes.”
The smile on his face widened even more as he put the flip-flops onto the ground next to my feet. I didn't quite understand what was going on. He then leaned over to me and pointed to an old, round woman standing on the other side of the street:
“Do you see this lady? She bought the shoes for you.”
Studying her more closely now, I recognized her: It was the wife of the guest-house owner who just paid the noodle soup in front of me! As if having sensed my sudden realization, she waved over to me and nodded. The gesture was so firm, it left no space for negotiations.
Before leaving the restaurant, the shoe vendor turned around a last time, raised his index finger and proclaimed:
“We are one humanity!”
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The very same town where this incident happened is now being bombed by the tatmadaw – the military regime that illegally took power through a coup on February 1st.
Those words “we are one humanity” still ring through my head today and it's heartbreaking to see that those people with their unshakable faith are left alone by humanity while being slaughtered.
I know, the world seems to be burning these days and Myanmar is just one of many fires. Still, I wanted to raise awareness about the issue with my little story.
If you feel like helping, or at least informing yourself about what is going on in Myanmar these days, you can check out this podcast:
and if you're super into it, you may even consider donating some of your hard earned money to those who can't earn anything right now: