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INFORMATION SHEET ( NO.A-0305(I) &



                                             INFORMATION SHEET (NO.A-0305(I))
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NO.A-0305(I)	
2nd February 1998

(1)		Anawrahta Bridge Project
		After Completion of the project Anawrahta Bridge ( Chauk ) will link
Pyinmagon, Chauk, Magway District, Magway Division, on the castern bank of the
Ayeyawady River and the place to the south of Seikbyu, Pakokku District, on
the western bank. The bridge is a mototroad bridge with iron beams and
reinforced concrete piers. The length of the main bridge is 4,191 feet and the
width is 39 feet 7 inches including the motorway 27 feet 11 inches and two
pedestrian lanes 5 feet 10 inches on either side ot the motorway. The bridge
has 6,000- foot approach structure on the eastern bank and 2,800-foot approach
structute on the western bank. The safe passage under the bridge is 383 feet
11 inches, clearance is 55 feet 9 inches and the bridge can bear a load of 60
tons. On completion of the project, people will get access from Kanzunma on
the western part of the Ayeyawady River to the four-way road in Chin State,
from Kandwin to Pakokku, Pauk ( Ohndaw Creek Bridge), Salin (Nwetame Bridge)
and Minbu ( Mann Creek Bridge ) , Ann in Rakhine State and Pathein through
Pathein- Monywa Highway. The bridge is being built with the aim of fostering
the political, economic and social development and ensuring secure and smooth
transport and regular flow of commodities.
 
(2)		London - Myanmar Open Professional Golf Tournament coordination Meeting
		A coordination meeting on the third London-Myanmar Open Professional Golf
Tournament to be jointly organized by Myanmar Golf Federation and Asia
Professional Golfers Association ( APGA) was held at Bagan Golf Course in
Bagan. The London-Myanmar Open Professional Golf Tournament 1997 was
successfully held in Yangon, and the third Tournament 1998 would be held from
5 to 8 March in Bagan in central Myanmar.

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                                         INFORMATION SHEET (NO.A-0304(I) )
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      NO.A-0304(I)	
1st  February   1998 

The Article by Kyi Kyi Hla Entitled " Income Generation for Myanmar Women " is
presented for your information and reading pleasure.

		Income Generation, a term which has come into wide usage is very broad
concept with almost endless ramifications. But at the risk of being charged
with oversimplification, it could be considered a strategy to effectively
"help those who help themselves". One of its principal aims is to alleviate
the poverty and enhance the socio-economic status of the poor and need and
targeted to help mainly women and destitute and wayward children. Social and
humanitarian organizations implementing this strategy do not function in the
manner of employment agencies, so they do not find jobs for the unemployed.
But they do provide inputs such as technical and/or financial assistance to
heighten and amplify the capacity of earning a better livelihood for those,
who, on their own initiative are already self-employed and are struggling to
survive at the subsistence level. It also aims to protect such people from
exploitative forms of work and help them to preserve their human dignity.
		If we review the situation of women in Myanmar, both past and present, it
will be seen that Myanmar women in general are intelligent, energetic,
determined and resourceful.
		Long before the concept of Income Generation became a by-word, Myanmar women
have by tradition and custom, supplemented the family's income on their own
initiative. If you visit a small village you are bound to see at least one of
two small so-called "shop houses", some consisting of only a rickety shelf or
shelves, run by a woman. A mother nursing a tiny infant while weighing some
kind of foods such as onions or chillies for a customer is not an unusual
sight. In both rural and urban areas, they sell betel palm and
cheroots/cigarettes on little stands near bus stops, or some with a little
more capital run modest "convenience stores" to supply some urgently needed
grocery item for families in the neighbourhood. The ubiquitous " Pe Pyoke"
(boiled beans) sellers calling out their wares early in the morning are also
good income generators, for Pe Pyoke is a traditionally popular breakfast item
for the Myanmars. This wholesome and delicious food is sold out by about 8
a.m. and the women go home to do their household chores for the day after
earning sorely needed extra income. In the markets of cities and towns most of
the wayside sellers and other small shopkeepers are mostly women. Nearly of
them are uneducated or even illiterate, but they can mentally add up the total
of a customer's purchases in jiffy without aid of abacus or calculator. To
operate even such a small-scale shop needs financing and since they have no
capital to speak of, they usually borrow from money-lenders with or without
collateral, but invariably at exorbitant rates of interest. They are also
obliged to repay both the initial outlay and the interest when the day is
done. So some naturally run afoul of these loan sharks, who incidentally are
mostly avaricious affluent women trying to multiply their assets. Then there
are the unfortunates, like widows with children to feed and bring up but with
no resources but their own labour. Most of these women neither weep nor wail
but hitch up their "longyis" (sarong-like garment) to take in washing or
sewing or do cleaning jobs.
		Our women have never been afraid of hard work, so those with absolutely no
capital nor skills will even works as labourers shoulder to shoulder with the
men. You can see them on construction sites carrying heavy pans of mixed
mortar on their heads or at riverside jetties unloading heavy cargo.
		It all depends of course on the individual women's resourcefulness, courage
and determination. For every woman who strives to utilize whatever vital
resources available to her to generate some income, there are those who fall
prey to exploitation and abuse by the unscrupulous. And this is where the
Income Generation programmes can step in to help the weak and bolster their
morale, till they are ready to stand on their own two feet.
		In Myanmar, there are at present some foreign non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) which have embarked on incoming generating programmes in a few rural
areas. But local organizations such as the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare
Association and the Myanmar Women's Entrepreneur Association have on their own
initiative and within the limits of their available resources, begun income
generating programmes of their own.
		The Myanmar Women's Entrepreneur Association, which was founded a little
over tow years ago in February 1995, has achieved some outstanding successes
in the city of Yangon itself and in the surrounding rural areas. The MWEA
began its programme of Income Generation in Yangon because women in cities are
more vulnerable to corruption and molestation. The Association aims to assist
Myanmar women at the grass roots level, generate extra income to help enhance
their socio-economic standing and thereby preserve the tradition of Myanmar
women supplementing the family's income or fending for themselves with
dignified forms of labour.
		The MWEA, still an infant organization, was founded by group of dedicated
women who are themselves successful businesswomen and outstanding
professionals in service. So, these ladies, while running their own large
businesses or carrying out duties demanded by their highly placed positions in
government service or the academic world have so far done a splendid job.
		The MWEA began by assisting small-scale sellers of Myenigon Bazaar, whose
only capital consisted of a bamboo tray on which to display their modest wares
and their only shop a vacant spot ground either inside or outside the bazaar.
These women have little or no money, so like their sisters elsewhere, have to
depend on the loan sharks. As stated earlier, the loan as well as the
unreasonably high interest has to be repaid by evening. So the first priority
of their hard day's work is to make enough money for repayment, and only money
earned over and above that goes towards feeding the family, which is therefore
given second priority. This is their daily grind to make two ends meet and the
very idea putting aside a small sum for emergencies is for them pure fantasy.
		After close study and survey of this state of affairs, the MWEA launched
their small loan collateral free pilot project for 30 vendors of Myenigon
Bazaar. Their method of operation was to provide a small temporary loan for
the sellers at a very small rate of interest. The interest paid was then set
aside as a savings fund. When the savings had grown considerably they were
turned over to the sellers as money they had earned and which they could
utilize as operating capital.
		To ensure that this loans scheme would accomplish the objectives of the
MWEA, which in effect was for the bazaar women to achieve a measure of
security and independence, the following conditions were laid down for the
purpose of having some guarantee and control.
		The loan would be free of any collateral.
		A seller to be eligible for the loan had to furnish a vendor's licence
issued by the bazaar authorities.
		The sellers were then placed in groups of five, putting one of them in
charge as leader of the group.
		The amount loaned was then handed over to the leader for disbursement to the
other members. The leader was also responsible for collecting the money to be
repaid at the appropriate time.
		If any member should default in repaying the loan, the other four members
would be obliged to make good the loss. This ensured that each member would
keep a check and control on the others for it would be to her disadvantage if
any should fail to pay her dues.
		A systematic and practicable system was also drawn up for collection of the
loans in instalments as in the following example:
		If a seller has borrowed, say K 1000, each week she had to repay 10% of the
loan which is thus K 100 with the loan period fixed at 3 months or 12 weeks
exactly. So at the rate of K 100 a week she would have repaid K 1200 by the
end of this period. She would then be given a new loan of K 1200 for the next
3-month cycle. They are again obliged to pay 10% of K 120 of the loan each
week. The money repaid at the end of the 12-week period would now total K 1440
and this would be the amount of the new loan for the coming 3-month cycle.
This meant that they had saved K 440 about the initial loan of K 1000. This
loan cycle is continued till they have saved over K 3000. The initial K 1000
is then recalled for they are now able to operate on their accumulated
savings. Most of the sellers are content to let the executives of the MWEA
manage their savings and have no desire to withdraw the money for fear that
they might splurge it on things with no profitable returns.
		With their savings thus multiplied they are now in a position to buy proper
shop space or trade in better and more profitable goods. The fact that someone
cares does wonders for their morale and self-confidence and gives them hope
for the future.
		With the revolving fund, the MWEA, which started this loan scheme with 30
small-time bazaar sellers from Myenigon Market, now has over 100 members
availing themselves of this income generation programme. It has been
implemented so systematically and is running to smoothly and profitably under
the professional guidance of Professor Daw Yi Yi Myint of the Institute of
Economics, that there has been no 
defaulters and unpaid loans to date.
		The MWEA has at present expanded its area of operations. It is promoting
such self-help schemes in small-scale agricultural and livestock breeding
programmes; in microindustries like mat weaving, sewing and handicraft
depending on the potential capabilities of the people concerned and the
environmental conditions. The town of Thanlyin across the Yangon river for
instance has ideal conditions for the growing of betel palm which yields
profitable returns within a short period of three months. So loans were
extended to the people of Kayinseid village in the township and the entire
village is now occupied in its cultivation and profiting from it. The MWEA did
not give just cash loans but also brought in agriculture experts to teach the
villagers the necessary simple technology such as choosing the best seedlings,
using the most effective and economical fertilizer and how to find the most
profitable markets for their produce.
		In Pa Da Gyi village in the same township of Thanlyin to which many pilgrims
come to pay homage to the historic Pa Da Gyi Pagoda, there are many small
wayside stalls in the vicinity of the pagoda that sell a multitude of food,
seasonal fruits and flowers. These stall owners have also joined the income
Generation Programme of the MWEA and are now flourishing.
		Mingaladon township, which is more or less cantonment town with the 500-bed
Defence Services General Hospital in the area, is another success story.
Family members of military personnel are enthusiastically implementing a
number of the MWEA Income Generation projects for small-scale trade,
cultivation, sewing and tailoring. This last is especially popular and sewing
classes have been organized with the assistance of the MWEA which donated some
sewing machines for training purposes.
		Likewise, the Association donated sewing machines to the Literacy Programme
being conducted by the Educational Research Bureau in Ywathaya of Tuntay
township to instill in the people who are being taught the three "R's", the
fundamentals of income generation as well. Pamphlets on subjects such as "The
Ideal Small Shop", "Let Us Grow Mushrooms for Profit", "Spin While the Moon Is
Bright" have been distributed to the newly literate to learn about generating
more income while keeping up their reading skills, as well as for the benefit
of other persons interested in income generation.
		The MWEA has more effective, exciting and far-reaching programmes in the
pipeline and in addition to the loan programmes, it has long-term plans for
providing technology to develop the potential capability of Myanmar women at
the grass roots level. This group of Myanmar women of vast goodwill are
extending a much needed helping hand to others less fortunate, not by giving
handouts but by showing the way to others, that by systematic planning and
cooperation, the tradition of Myanmar women making individual and scattered
efforts to generate more income can made to yield better returns, and thereby
improve the quality of life for them and their families.
		The endeavours of the Myanmar Women's Entrepreneur Association's Income
Generation Programme is indeed making a truly worthwhile contribution to human
resource development of our country and it is clear that these activities are
sure to succeed and expand and grow from strength to strength. 
 
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