How Our Orphanage Came Into Existence
as written by Daw Pan, the director of the Orphanage
We were 3 brothers and 5 sisters. When I the eldest girl was 13 and our youngest sister was only 45 days old, we were orphaned. Our grandmother, a bachelor uncle and 3 spinster aunts, brought us up. They looked after us, taught us and trained us. We continued to attend the best schools of the time. Then Wold War II broke out. Our benefactor and benefactresses looked after us well. One elsed aunt died during Japanese occupation. After the war, we continued with our studies and some worked part time, to help the family.
We were more well off and lived a pleasanter life than many, who had parents. Our needs were simple and we seemed to have everything we needed. We had plenty of time to learn cooking, sewing, knitting, drawing, painting, handcraft, gardening, playing games, swimming and music. We were taught to sing and to play various musical instruments. Such as the piano, violin, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, besides learning our lessons.
The elders loved us as their own and they were very happy to live with us, as we were. to live with them. We were a very happy family. Our elders were very fond of singing and they were very religious. There was music and laughter in the house. They taught us to be hard working and industrious and never to be lazy, to be honest and humble.
Our aunts were mere Mission School teachers and uncle was chief minister at the court of a Shan Chief. They were quite good looking, and were of marriageable age, but they never thought of getting married. They lived and worked for us and all of them liked to help those who were in need.
Our three brothers and two sisters got married and left grand mother's cozy nest. But they came to visit us often. Then we had our own jobs as teachers, but we continued to live with grandmother, uncle and the two aunts. Grandmother and uncle died. Our 2 aunts were over 80, but they still had their Pre-school and Private Tuition classes. We pooled our earnings and lived a very quiet, peaceful life, helping those who needed our help.
Then both our aunts died. Three of us were left with an adopted son, who was very much loved by our aunts. Our bank account was good and they had left us quite a number of pieces of jewelery.
Then a very pleasant idea struck us. We were going to do the same thing as our grandmother, uncle and 3 aunts had done for us. They had given us a happy home, a pleasant secured life. We must pay back the debt we owned them. We could not feed them and care for them any more. So we decided to start an orphanage to look after the less fortunate children to give them a pleasant happy home to live and grow up in. This is the only way we can do to repay our benefactor and benefactresses, for all that they had done for us. We were not very rich. We knew an orphanage would be an expensive business.
We were very pleased with our own decision. We did not announce it, but orphans were brought to us. Children, whose parents were too poor to look after them, came.
Years have passed. There is nothing left with our bank accounts. All the pieces of jewellery have been sold out. The number of children keep increasing and the prices of things keep rising. We have our Pre_School and tuition classes, but the income is not at all enough for our expenses. We cannot stop our work. We must go on to show our gratitude to those who helped us. We hope we can go and we trust in our God, who has been helping us all along, sending us friends and even strangers to help us, once in a while. We keep thanking them and praying for them.
P.S. from the Hungry Duckling
Since the time this was written the oldest and the youngest sister died in the span of one year. The middle sister is in charge now with the help of the Christian society in town. Half of their land has been sold off to a man in town, who is letting the orphanage continue for now.