Episode 15, COVID-19 in Myanmar: Sheltering in Place
Welcome to the fifth episode in our ongoing “COVID-19 in Myanmar” series. Up till now we’ve completed episodes featuring local Burmese voices, Women, Monks, and Exiled Expats. For today’s show, we bring you “Sheltering in Place.”
This particular episode contrasts with the previous one in this series, which told the stories of four expats who left just before the world closed down. The current show relates the stories of four expats who were living in Myanmar at the time that the pandemic hit, and made the decision to remain in the country and ride out the storm in the Golden Land. Their reasons for staying are quite diverse. One is committed to remain with his local partner who is from Yangon, another was meditating in Upper Myanmar and didn’t wish to leave this Dhamma environment, a third oversees a business and a charitable mission of providing meals as many poor are beginning to go without food, and the fourth has a wife, daughter and a Golden Retriever to care for, deciding that uprooting them was the harder choice.
Although Myanmar has thus far been saved by the brunt of the coronavirus’ impact—as of this recording in mid-July there have just been 331 cases—at the start of the pandemic, there was massive concern about the damage that would be caused if the virus swept through the country, given the poor infrastructure and depleted health care system. For the time being, Burmese are holding their breath as the virus is being kept at bay for whatever reason, and the government has just confirmed that heavy restrictions will remain in place for foreign visitors until at least October. But at the time that the four guests on today’s podcast had to make their decision as to what to do next, there was fear of a possibly catastrophic unknown.
Hampus Haraldsson,
a Swedish yogi who had planned a series of courses, self-retreats, travel and Buddhist study in Myanmar this year. He was taking a mettā course at Chan Myay Myaing Monastery in Pyin Oo Lwin when the pandemic hit.
Marc Shortt,
the founder of Sa Ba Street Food Tours. Marc’s love of food led to the development of this business, and also made him aware of how local vendors were being impacted by the sudden loss of revenue once the city shut down, so he supported a fundraising effort to buy food from these vendors and offer it to under-served communities in downtown Yangon and in Hledan. For those that would like to help his cause, please refer to his page on Instagram and Facebook , as well as his home page.
Jochen Meissner,
an Austrian meditator in the Sayagyi U Ba Khin tradition and the founder of Uncharted Horizons, which runs trekking and biking expeditions in Dalla and Chin State. To learn more about his work and support the charitable efforts he is now engaged in, please visit his Facebook page or website.
Matthew Schojan,
an American meditator who is the founder of Wandering Meditators, and leads regular group sittings at the Alliance Francaise in Yangon. An expert in the field of mental health, he talks about the impact he is seeing now seeing due to the pandemic, as well as his decision to remain at home in Yangon with his family and dog.