MYANMAR WOMEN USE TECHNOLOGY TO BRIGHTEN RURAL VILLAGES
As the sun sets over the Western Hemisphere, the Earth’s surface begins to glow. At night, huge, shimmering clusters of man-made light transform the electrified world. On the other side of the planet, something very different is happening. Myanmar and its vast, forested wilderness slip into darkness, and the landscape comes alive with a symphony of sounds. Insects, birds, the low steady rumble of a bull Asian elephant in the distance. In a small clearing, a woman steps up onto a rattan stool. With a concentrated expression and screwdriver in hand, she tightens the final bolt securing a plastic box to the bamboo wall of her home. Stepping down, she reaches for a small switch and presses it. “It works,” she says in Burmese with a humble smile. She is Naw Yoe Lay, a mother of two from Hin Ka Pi, a rural village nestled deep in the mountainous region that straddles the border between Myanmar and Thailand. Naw Yoe Lay has just installed her village’s first solar-powered light, and subsequently marked the beginning of a new era of opportunity for her family and community.
As the sun sets over the Western Hemisphere, the Earth’s surface begins to glow. At night, huge, shimmering clusters of man-made light transform the electrified world.
On the other side of the planet, something very different is happening.
Myanmar and its vast, forested wilderness slip into darkness, and the landscape comes alive with a symphony of sounds. Insects, birds, the low steady rumble of a bull Asian elephant in the distance. In a small clearing, a woman steps up onto a rattan stool.
With a concentrated expression and screwdriver in hand, she tightens the final bolt securing a plastic box to the bamboo wall of her home. Stepping down, she reaches for a small switch and presses it.“It works,” she says in Burmese with a humble smile.
She is Naw Yoe Lay, a mother of two from Hin Ka Pi, a rural village nestled deep in the mountainous region that straddles the border between Myanmar and Thailand. Naw Yoe Lay has just installed her village’s first solar-powered light, and subsequently marked the beginning of a new era of opportunity for her family and community.