Here I was, with 7 other x-CFMMU pioneers, coming together to do missions work again. It felt like the good ol' days. It was a reunion of sorts for some of us.
We arrived at Yangon International Airport which was being renovated at that time. Gold seemed to be a favourite colour for important monuments. Later we saw a billboard touting Myanmar as the "Golden Land".
TB, a local with MCP* was at the arrival lounge with S, an English missionary working with Burmese refugees in the Thai border. Along the way to the hotel, S told us about the earthquake in Malaysia. Thinking he must be joking, we told him such things never happened. Maybe the occassional tremor, but, an earthquake?
We left things at that. But when we reached the hotel, we tuned into CNN and discovered to our shock the extent of the "earthquake". It was like nothing we've ever seen. Not just Malaysia, but neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Thailand were greatly affected by the tsunami. As the days went by, we learnt that the coastal areas of Myanmar was also hit, not to mention some countries in the African
continent.
We immediately thought about our parents who might be worried since they have not heard from us. Calling back was out of the question since there was no roaming available, and international calls was at USD18/min. So we sent a mass mail to whoever we could think of, to contact our parents. It was the best we could do, considering that it was the holiday season, and some may not have access to emails. We left the whole thing to God. Later I found out my mum was not worried at all! :p
*Myanmar Compassion Project/Programme
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