Turning Up the Heat
Burma 2012
I think I’m going to have to have a series on “woman’s work”… here we have a Burmese countrywoman preparing the midday meal. Most likely rice is the staple. You can see a coconut in the foreground. Maybe she will use the coconut milk? For those of you who never barbecue, she is adding oxygen to increase the intensity of the fire, by blowing through the bamboo stalk.
The houses in the village were constructed of woven mats…maybe palm leaves or splints of some sort of wood. They were formed into frames of about 10 feet by 12 feet. (just a guess) and the house was formed from walls of these woven mats. If the family was fortunate, they had a tin roof. The cost of the tin roof was exorbitant for the villagers. One sheet of tin maybe 4 feet long by 2 feet wide cost $10.00 USD. We met a village woman whose roof was gaping. During the monsoons, she and her belongings would be drenched day in and day out. She said she did have some money, but was using it to send her children to school. Our guide seemed to think she should fix the roof, but I admired her for her selflessness.