giving gifts in myanmar

we are going to be in yangon and bagan for 5 days next month and wanted to take school supplies, soccer balls, and general gifts like lipsticks etc......any suggestions on the best way to go about giving this out?? we thought we%26#39;d be able to visit a school, but don%26#39;t know where to start or how to find one...are we better of giving gifts out randomly???

Thanks

giving gifts in myanmar

interesting:-).... it is often suggested to make donations to schools, monasteries, or temples directly. Setting up the model of the rich tourist giving gifts to the poor locels tends to be frowned upon by those who know better.

When we travel we tend to ';tip'; people along the way who offer a service... be that the guide, driver or waiter or whatever. Wages in the service industry is not high and even a small tip may help them and their dependents just a little....

We do usually carry a few little gifts for the girls at hotel receptions or people we meet randomly.. on busses, trains or people we need to ask directions from.

Walking around the streets looking for people ';in need';... may give you a strange feeling of playing gods in a 3 world country.

Happy travel.. Myanmar is a spectacular country... with a lot of contradictions.

giving gifts in myanmar

That is great,

Every where you can give the gift to every one,especially I prefere the kids (9 to 12)cause at the time they have their own right mind.As for me I won%26#39;t give to the girls from hotel site and reception.Cause they were very familia with tourism.I prefere the ball to the village boys,and lip stick is not good for girls.Cause you give that they will dreaming when they growth up.and Burmese girl in village not used to that lip stip. perfume too.

I have one of the friend from Austria,and he also ask every one around the world to donation a picture and he made Art show and sell .Then he got money then he donation to poor peoples in Burma.

That is his web site address,

www.arthelpslife.com

Yesterday we went to Market to buy Mosquito net ,blanket,shirts to those peoples.

Thanks for your great idea for the kids,

wel come to BURMA

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,,,,,,,,,,,,buy Mosquito net, blanket, shirts to those peoples.

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There you go... what a great suggestion for those who want to help...

buy the stuff at the local markets... which helps the people who make it and the people who sell it...

then give it to the people who need it.... everyone is happy....

We have been visiting Burma for 8 years and a group of my friends and I have been supporting a school in Insien ,Yangon.

Insien has a large Christian population and subsequently gets little government support either in education or basic utilities.

The school is mainly aimed at deprived kids and besides basic education also provides them with a daily meal.

Thida , who runs the school , has an MA in Education and would be delighted to pick you up and to show you around and to meet the pupils- the smallest of gifts would be appreciated- she would advise.

She was a senior tourist guide before giving up the good life to dedicate herself to her people - it%26#39;s a Burmese Buddist thing.

I can give you her e-mail address / phone number if you contact me on the e-mail link via silverswimmer.

Enjoy Burma/Myanmar - the Burmese are our favourite people.

thanks for the replies....

Agree with Mosegrisen who has reservations about giving out gifts randomly. Unless the person performs some kind of service, you will be creating certain expectations for visitors on the part of locals which are not totally healthy. This is doubly important in Bagan, where the number of beggars is starting to resemble Angkor.

That having been said, another nice gift is hand gel which kills bacteria. I gave out dozens of them a few years back, and everybody loved them, especially in rural areas. Soap is always a nice gift,as are hotel sized containers of shampoo.

Have fun!