Myanmar (Burmese) Girls at Work

Most young women have no easy life.

Many have to live in an unpleasant environment and are pushed to start working when they are still kids should go to school and have fun. When I often see this pictures working together with the boys on the road side carrying heavy loads of stones on the head or cracking rocks somehow like in a quarry I feel sad. 

What kind of parents do they have and what kind of authorities are those who allow that? This are not games this is hard commercial work and somebody must force them to to this. Or may this are the wrong questions since it is obvious that they have no other choice as earning money to survive.

When they are a bit older they are just in the best tradition of other Asian. The style is a bit different and most of the time they are wrapped up from neck to bottom, seldom much skin to see. They wear a universal piece of cloth, the longyi, a special garments worn by both men and women, most have a slim body and are not tall which is the result of constant malnutrition. 

Here are some information about them from the Naga Tribe at a festival dancing they have amazing pretty body decoration.

Yes, there are also some fat "sugar dumplings" around but what can we do, its somehow normal time is changing. Until a few years ago the authorities didn't even issue passports to women. 

The influence of different ethnicity coming to the country over the centuries, particular during colonial times, such as from India, Middle East, Europe and Chinese is the source of pretty and exotic blends when they are grown up and they are amazingly not difficult at all and rather easy going. 

Some have a strong Indian appearance and Chinese background is mainstream, this again blends with about 130 ethnic groups. 

Women face lots of problems due to the economic situation and the education at all levels could be better either.

In rural areas kids at around 10 years already start working.

They already do some real work within the family and the cottage industry e.g. they help to produce cheroots (local cigarettes) which are mainly handmade and other items. Actually its not in such a big industrial scale as in neighboring India and Bangladesh and it wont stop at the cheroots level just see the the pics from the roadwork's here and in the countryside in the paddy fields etc. kids are very often in real bad shape.

Luckily they have the monasteries for the boys and similar for the girls, actually there is continuous screaming about democracy and such things but the same who continuously shout against everyone and everything never move a finger to help the kids. This bla-bla is ridiculous why don't go this talkers and help the people in real terms. To emit hot air everyone can do without qualification, knowledge or whatever, but to do some real thing it needs some ability to think and work, who has that?

Rough work they are carrying heavy things such as stones which they had broken before and lift them on large wide plates on the head after throwing them down where they are needed read more. 

Another branch where the kids are heavy used is in the agriculture sector especially planting and harvesting rice. Even when they are chattering and laughing it is possible to see the negative physical impact, we do not know the impact on the mind.

The girls have plenty of problems and it is a real challenge to survive in a good way. Since jobs are relatively lousy paid and rare there are not many alternatives to earn money, read more.

Two of the higher income possibilities are either to work in the nightlife business, do some dancing in Yangon and Mandalay or at the Chinese and Thai border, there are some possibilities. The other is to visit a recruitment office where they offer jobs in hotels, mainly in the middle east. Some of the big international hotels in the city run this job centers.

No much hope for a career, there are only a few options, get a job in a office, store, shop, manufacturing or maybe in the night shift since there are quite a lot of entertainment venues in the city. 

Most of this via the so called "fashion show" nightlife business where groups of more or less pretty ladies are carried from place to the other do something like a fashion show and try to get some money when the guys buy them flower garlands.

 
Many somehow do it the local style and visit a monastery alike facility for women but this is different  to other "Buddhist Countries" because in Myanmar (Burma) only men can be ordinated, women cant. 

The problem is all over the country, e.g. in Bagan, 

Modeling at Bagan

Bagan is the top tourist spot and dozens of young girls work in the "cottage industry" which means making lacquer ware. They come from all corners of the country since this is a rather good job. Sitting around the whole day in the workshop and create beautiful decorative items and furniture, read more.

Girls photos  are more impressive  especially of  Myanmar model girls who are working in the night-shift in particular in Yangon

Myanmar model girls in Yangon

Myanmar girls photos

Beach Girls, although there are incredible beaches there is not much to do, maybe you take a friend or companion from Rangoon with you for not becoming bored. 

This is for all areas at the west coast and in the south. When compared to places in Thailand it's a big difference. Myanmar is a bit old style but that is maybe not so bad, read more.

Young Chin women with 
tribal face tattoo

Young Chin Ladies are quite creative, they make clothing and body decoration

by themselves, the result is, interesting and creative fashion where everything is made locally. 

The fabrics by hand operated looms the clothing which is made from that material and plenty of native ethnic jewelry mainly made from silver. This is probably the richest part in the country in terms of "everything local made" read more.

Burmese girls from Kachin State

Kachin also have their very own styled costumes because of rough climate in the mountains which is just like in the Alps in the winter and that means it can get very cold. They have very creative clothing, looking at this it always needs to consider in what a remote corner of the country are they living. 

They are real mountain people with a somehow difficult behavior. It sometimes looks as if they are on the "war path" with everyone, before it was with the British and since then with any local government.

In a Kachin opium plantation

Photos at the Irrawaddy

Photos show the real thing, no need to explain a lot they tell more. It is a real exotic environment with vibrant colors and a rather old oriental style.

The country is not yet overrun by Western, Japanese and Chinese styling as contemporary Thailand is where they really copy everything possible in particular in he fashion business. As is can be seen in the pictures here in Burma they still have their own values.

Burmese girls from the south

Salone are living in the Myeik or Mergui Archipelago of south Myanmar and the kids and women there have a somehow different appearance as the rest of the country since they are not of Chinese origin.

They are negritos of the south sea east of Indonesia who came here about 1500 years ago, exact data are not available. Living on houseboats and mainly from fishing, hunting and pearl diving.

Most people are suffering during their daily struggle

to maneuver through the hardship of poverty, it takes a lot of effort. Imagine that a skilled worker, a average software programmer gets around $ 300,- per month this is not much at all considering the costs of daily life which is relatively high. 

Most food eaten are vegetable and some chicken from time to time and that’s the main reason why almost all people in the country are rather small, to grow orderly it needs pork, beef and potatoes. The daily challenges to  overcome poverty in particular at rural areas are difficult to overcome. At Yangon, Mandalay and elsewhere in the country plenty of cuties are around usually dressed up with some fashion style in mind but most common is still the longyi, hairstyle is usually long and straight.

Many have very long hairs sometimes reaching down two third of the body size. Make up is not used very much beside of the usual thanakha paste which functions as face decoration and rather secondary as a skin protection against the sun. The decorative purpose is clearly visible at the pictures on this page. 

The use of thanakha is also visible in southern Thailand

but usually Burmese women working there are the users.

They are experimenting different fashion styles and some jewelry but usual is only a small gold necklace which is often only plated with gold. In general there is no much difference to other Asian, probably the most similarities are with Cambodian women and Thai ladies, not only by appearance but also by behavior, Yangon women are probably the first you will see after touch down in the "Golden Land" at the airport. It was not only Kipling who sensed some special oriental feeling when he wrote about.

They all have big dreams but most of time they are blocked by the social and environmental situations in the country. The rural kids are already working girls who struggle with the family through a hard time which is not so much dominated by traditional means but by sheer poverty.