Visit to Yangon, Naypyidaw and Bago [during February 24th – 29th]

Konnichiwa, I am Bhanu Prasad, M1 student in Kawasaki Research Group. In this blog I would like to share my experiences about my first international study trip to Myanmar and how I utilized this opportunity to learn as many new things as possible. My primary interest for travelling to Myanmar was to attend the workshop on Flood Risk Reduction Plan for Socioeconomic Development which was organized by the JICA SATREPS project team.

@ Yangon Technological University

On February 25^th –

We took a flight to Naypyidaw to meet the officials of Myanmar Government who oversee IWUMD, DMH and DHP and met them personally and showed the results of the SATREPS project and thanked them for their continuous help during the project period. The main motive is to discuss about the improvements which could be done to the SATREPS project and also about future collaborations between Myanmar Government, Yangon technological University, University of Tokyo and JICA. During the discussions the officials of the Myanmar government also requested the JICA team for some technical data help like the Japanese design codes etc. Some of the other things I noticed in Naypyidaw was that even though it’s the new capital of Myanmar there were very few people inside and around the airport. The number is so low that we can count on our hands. There were a lot of hotels constructed but there were no people to use them neither there are any tourist places so that they might be functional. Most of the hotels have finally started renting for Government offices. Since most of the government offices are shifted to Naypyidaw we could only find the government employees outside that too only during the rush hours. I feel that the Myanmar government should take some measures to make people come and settle at Naypyidaw. 

Kawasaki sensei discussing with the IWUMD officials 

On February 26^th –

We attended a workshop on Flood Risk Reduction Plan for Socioeconomic Development which was organized by the JICA SATREPS project team at Bago. The workshop was conducted to discuss about the achievements of the SATREPS project and the possible future collaborations with the officials of Myanmar Government and the Yangon Technological University (YTU)’s faculty under the guidance of Prof. Akiyuki Kawasaki.

Kawasaki sensei presenting at the workshop 

In the afternoon we met the chief minister of the Bago region and discussed the SATREPS project with him along with his cabinet members. We showed him the benefits of disaster risk assessment and management and advised him to consider them in the coming projects. During on our way back to hotel I have been carrying a lot of questions from the workshop and was able to discuss them with Kawasaki sensei throughout the journey. 

Discussion with the Chief Minister of Bago region 

 On February 27^th & 28^th –

Nyi san, Bo Bo san and I went for a field visit to different poor villages of Yangon who were residing along the river Bago and collected field data by developing a questionnaire form which had questions like from how long they have been staying at that place, reason for migrating to that place, their family members names and other kinds of data along with their respective houses GPS location. After visiting those places I felt really bad for them and thought that our research should be helpful for people like them so that they could have a better and safe life. Even though their houses are small their hearts were big enough to be happy and kind to one another. On February 28^th afternoon we met the officials of DWIR and presented the results of SATREPS project.

Kawasaki sensei discussing with the DWIR officials 

On February 29^th –

We have completed all the work to be done by 28^th itself and since it was my first visit to Myanmar, Kawasaki sensei asked Nyi san to show me some good places at Yangon. So Nyi san, Badri san and I went to visit the iconic Shwedagon pagoda which was incredible and holy and later visited some malls and came back. In the evening we started back to Narita thinking about how great the Myanmar trip was.

@ Shwedagon Pagoda

@ Myanmar Plaza

One of the main things I enjoyed every day was the Myanmar food. It was very spicy and delicious. I have been missing that in Japan from a couple of months. Every day we used to have dinner together and Kawasaki sensei knew some very good restaurants and he would take us there and would order delicious food.  

One thing I will always remember from the Myanmar trip was that I came to know the number of projects Kawasaki sensei has been dealing with and was shocked to see his dedication and love towards his work. He has been giving presentations the whole day and still he never felt tired or relaxed and was constantly working on his projects and with lot of patience answered all my questions and also guided me on my master’s project during his free time. He’s schedule was so perfect and looking at him working every day, I derived a lot of motivation.

I would like to thank Kawasaki sensei and his team for making me feel safe, comfortable and giving some beautiful memories in Myanmar.