“Would you like to fly with me to Yangon? Or would you like to go ahead earlier so that you can explore the city?” asked my colleague on the day we booked the flight.
“I’d take the latter,” I replied.
True enough, I was able to explore the city in its nostalgic magnificence. But it was after the four-day trip that the real nostalgia came about.
It was my first trip to Yangon (and it was the second foreign city I visited). It did not take long for me to arrive at a description: “Yangon is late 1990’s with smartphones”. The males still wear their longyis (and they look hot!). The females, on the other hand, still practice the 2,000-year old tradition of putting thanaka powder on their faces. The cars are not as luxurious as what we have in the Philippines and Bangkok. There are no tall buildings. The city is quieter than Bangkok and Manila. Even quieter than Davao, the city where I came from. It was just like the old days, when I was still young; it felt that my job flew me back to my childhood.
My new job post involves strengthening the capacity of community-based organizations advocating for the rights of males who have sex with other males (MSM) and transgender people. To perform the task expected of me, I have to go to the ground and work together with communities. This job post did not just bring me to Yangon, but it allowed me to view the city in a different perspective.
I met people from different groups and organizations. The most appealing day for me was when I knew young MSM and transgender people and their newly formed organizations. They were inspiring. They identified the problems of the young community in Yangon. Young MSM and transgender people are arrested and harassed by police officers. The testing services are not friendly to young people. Counselors, if there are any, are insensitive and discriminatory. Some young MSM and transgender people still need to travel 10 miles from their place to get tested.
These young people were determined to change their status. They were determined to reform their legal environment. They were firm in demanding for their human rights.
Nostalgia. I have been there.
Just months ago, I was with SHINE (Social Health of Inter-Ethnic Networks for Empowerment) in General Santos City as a volunteer. Just like these young people, we were determined to change our status. We dared to bring out the issues of LGBT people in South Cotabato in Mindanao. We hoped that these issues were enough to bring opportunities of capacity towards our direction for us to better address these issues.
But this promising young network in Myanmar is different. They will not be overlooked. They will have the attention and the support that they are hoping for. They will have the opportunity to change their society because they are in the capital.
In this world that is so big, with the society so vast, everything is happening everywhere. There are numerous issues in the LGBT community, and there are different organizations addressing each of them. It is but understandable and somehow plausible if several groups are overlooked or not attended to.
This nostalgic sensation sparked the intention of working closely with these young people. Since I was at their situation, I know that the slightest attention and interest addressed to them delivers great joy and inspiration. They will work harder and expand their abilities. Being in MSM and transgender in Myanmar is very challenging because of the existing anti-sodomy law. They may be harassed or, worse, arrested by their authorities at any given time. But their self-assurance and bravery caused them to charge the barricades.
I pray that they would not experience the feeling of being unattended or overlooked, like we had. I pray that they may be able to maximize all opportunities there are. I don’t have the capacity to fully support their group. But part of my job is to capacitate networks. And they inspired me to do just that. Currently, I am in the position to overlook or not to attend. I can do that (and get sacked). But I will not.
I know how it is not to be given attention. I felt it. I saw people living with HIV in Mindanao die because of opportunistic infections. I consoled with their bereaved parents. I saw how a government-controlled hygiene clinic refused to take people for testing. I documented killings against LGBT people in Mindanao. I saw dreadful things. But the young people in Myanmar have worst in their hands. And they are using their strengths to change everything. One little step at a time.
With this job post that I currently have now, I am sure that I will still experience this kind of nostalgia in other instances. Which means that a wide variety of inspiration is waiting for me to experience.
