
#33
Shwedagon Pagoda
Yangon, MYANMAR
First visit: October 9, 2004
Revisited by Janny: June 25, 2021
Janny has been our part-time domestic helper for the past five years, making our place spick and span every Friday afternoon, staying four hours each time.
Originally from Chaung Thar, a coastal area at least 8 hours by bus from Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, Janny has worked in Singapore for 10 years.
“My village is popular with foreigners because of the beach,” she says.
Janny has two older brothers and a younger sister back home. A younger brother works as a fisherman in Uruguay for the past 2.5 years and they only get to speak to each other every 3-4 months, when he has good internet access when he is not out at sea.
On her last trip home three years ago, she met up with her parents in Yangon and they visited the famous Shwedagon Pagoda.
Covid-19 and the recent unrest back in Myanmar made it impossible for her to visit her family again and there had been times when she thought enough was enough, and that she should just quit and go home.
“I can go fishing,” she says, “I like fishing.”
But that will not put rice on the table.