Burma's Promise Remains Unfulfilled

A woman in Yangon, which was formerly called Rangoon. Yangon remains a semi-rural city, with dirt roads and downtown buildings topped with corrugated metal roofs. An eight-year-old girl teaches her younger sister to read in a village on the outskirts of Yangon May 31. They use lamps that can be charged during the day, as there is no electricity at night.A woman cooks by candlelight in a village on the outskirts of Yangon May 31. She does whatever she can fro work, which can include selling firewood, working in a factory or selling food. She lives with her husband and three children in one room.A young boy goes to work in a tea shop in Yangon May 31. The global economic crisis and instability in Myanmar have driven more children to search for jobs. Some work in tea shops from 5am until the evening, often earning less than $10 a month. In exchange, they often get room and board. (Top) Two men walk down the street in downtown Yangon May 29. Buildings once magnificent are now crumbling under the military junta’s rule. In 2005, the administrative capital of Myanmar was officially moved near the town of Pyinmana, approximately 320 kms north of Yangon. The government has spent millions of dollars on the new capital. As a result services in Yangon such as electricity which was poor to begin with are getting worse. Residents of some neighbourhoods have no more than 6hrs of electricity a day. (Bottom) People walk down the street in a shopping area of downtown Yangon, 29 May.A woman sells birdseed on one of Yangon’s busiest streets. She can hope to earn 50 cents a day to support her three children.A pregnant homeless woman sleeps on the streets of Yangon. Many villagers came to Yangon hoping to find work when their villages were ravaged. But the economic crisis has forced many into the streets.Men gather in the late afternoon on a street in Yangon May 30. The sidewalks throughout most of the city are in great disrepair, and there are often open sewers lining the streetsPeople into a “pick-up” in downtown Yangon May 30. This is the cheapest mode of transportation in the city, and it often goes where buses don’t. Motorcycles are relatively uncommon in Yangon except for military and police use, and many people can’t afford taxis.A truck in a trading village is loaded to export food June 2. Most exported food goes to China, India and Singapore, with some sold domestically.Wood is piled to be exported from Myanmar. Myanmar is a major source of wood for China, much of it sent illegally.A monk walks past an elephant in Yangon’s zoo June 1. The elephants are chained to a post and unable to move about. Last year the government took many of the zoo’s animals to the new capital.The zoo in Naypyidaw, the new capital, is full of animals, including a penguin enclosure, but few people visit.A house of the wealthy in Yangon. Wealthier residents, including businessmen linked by US intelligence reports to the military, live in mansions in Yangon or Mandalay and have access to art galleries, pricey French restaurants and shopping trips to Singapore.A young wealthy couple embraces at the Kandawgyi Lake in Yangon June 5.

Burma's Promise Remains Unfulfilled

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