I have always known that my paternal heritage is from Myanmar. I’ve also known about the political and humanitarian issues there. I have followed the news as much as I could and watched any documentary I could get my hands on over the last ten years. I never expected anything to change though I wished and I hoped it would.
As much as I wanted to join in ‘Free Burma’ campaigns, I didn’t because you live in fear that “they” would find out and my relatives would feel the repercussions. I was careful with what was said or shared on social media.
In 2010, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest after 15 years. In November 2012, I stayed up into the wee hours and watched when Barack Obama visited Myanmar and made history by becoming the first sitting United States president to do so. Hope was palpable, but we remained cautious.
I have always called the place where my father and grandmother are from, Burma. It’s also where a grandfather I’ve never met but spoke to once, lived, along with his parents and their parents and so on. Until about three years ago whenever someone asked me what my ethnic background was, and I mentioned Burma or Myanmar, most were puzzled as they had never heard of it let alone tell me where it was. It became routine to answer that it was in south-east Asia and is bordered by Bangladesh, China, Laos, Thailand, and India, that the people are similar to Thai people in appearance and that the food is influenced by Thai and Indian food, but is unlike anything most of have tasted and is unique.
Myanmar started to appear in “where to go” lists in travel magazines and my social media feeds slowly began to fill with images from the country in the last two years. Now I refer to it as Myanmar as that’s what most people know it as. Though when I say it, it sounds like ‘Myan-ma,’ not ‘My-an-mar,’ the ‘r’ is silent, and the ‘ma’ is abrupt. That is what my dad taught me.
About three years ago and after some significant changes, I decided I wanted to visit Myanmar. I told my dad about my desire to do so and asked him if he would join me. I wanted to learn about his history and see where he came from, meet my relatives that still live there and walk in the footsteps of my ancestors. I invited some of our cousins to join us. One of my dad’s first cousins and her husband were excited to come along as we started talking about plans more than two years ago.
I wanted to visit during Thadingyut, the Festival of Lights, on the full moon in October. It’s a time when pagodas, temples, and Buddhist homes are lit up with candles. It’s also a time when youth pay homage to their grandparents; I thought it would be meaningful.
Celebrating Thadingyut in Nyaung Shwe (Inle Lake)
Arriving in Mandalay, Myanmar
On October 21st, 2015, that day finally came. As my flight descended into Mandalay, I peered out the window with my father beside me, excited at first sight of golden stupas that dotted the landscape and the brown-coloured Irrawaddy River that snaked its way through the city.
Checking into our hotel, I turned and noticed a face I had only recognized from Facebook but had known about all my life. My father’s first cousin from Yangon and her husband were sitting in the lobby of our hotel. They travelled to Mandalay to accompany us around the city and to meet our relatives. We all greeted one another and in that moment I was thankful that the Burmese government had relaxed its censorship of the Internet in the last two years so that we could connect on Facebook. It was the third time that my dad was seeing his cousin since he left his birthplace and home in Rangoon (Yangon), 50 years before.
We made our way through the dusty roads of Mandalay. Old motorbikes, scooters, and many new cars filled the streets. Soon we arrived at an alleyway. I wasn’t sure where we were, but I knew we were going to a cousin’s house. It was after 3:30 pm and I had just learned that our family had been waiting for us since 7 am even though we weren’t due to land in Mandalay until that afternoon.
I followed my aunty’s husband out of the van. In Myanmar culture, she is known as ‘aunty’ and not ‘first cousin once removed’ as it is here in Canada. As I walked through the alleyway dodging small potholes, uneven ground, garbage, motorbikes and orange betel nut splattered patterns I noticed there were small buildings on each side of me. Some made of bricks, some of woven bamboo. It looked like the back entrance of shops, but longyis, western clothes, and worn household blankets hung over the fences. I realized that the buildings were people’s homes and that we were in a residential neighbourhood. I looked ahead and noticed a group of people, maybe 30 or more. They watched as we walked towards them. I thought of how we would have to pass them as they looked on. Suddenly it dawned on me that the group were not random people, but were the family waiting for us.
That day I met 11 of my granduncle’s 12 children (my father’s first cousins), some of their children and their families. There were over 50 people in attendance of the more than 90 relatives I have in Mandalay. Even though it was slightly overwhelming and there was a significant language barrier, my heart was full. It took a long time to get there, more than 40 years.
After I had taken photos of all our relatives to share with family that couldn’t be there, they took some of me.
Planning a trip to Myanmar? Myanmar is relatively new to tourism and is rapidly changing. As such I wanted to give you a list of 6 essential things you should know about travelling in Myanmar and share my Myanmar itinerary.
This article will share how to get a SIM card in Myanmar, the best Myanmar destinations to visit like Inle Lake and the Mergui Archipelago, and the critical nuances of how to exchange USD to kyat. I will also share how to say thank you in Burmese, how to pronounce ‘Myanmar’ and the best time to visit Myanmar. Spoiler alert, my answer is now.
We travelled from Mandalay to the most southern city in Myanmar, Kawthaung. We cruised the Irrawaddy River for 9 hours to Bagan, drove 12 hours through the Shan hills and past small villages to Inle Lake, visited a cave with hundreds of Buddha along the way, saw paper parasols being made, attended a Pagoda Festival on Inle Lake, lit candles to honour my ancestors in Nyaung Shwe and went liveaboard boating around the Mergui archipelago in southern Myanmar. It was one of the most incredible trips of my life. It was wonderful to see where my father and grandparents grew up and finally meet over half of the 100+ relatives I have in Myanmar.
1. Exchanging Money and US Dollars in Myanmar
Myanmar Kyat notes
There were ATMs everywhere in Mandalay and Yangon but the country is still very much a cash society. Bring crisp, unmarkedUnited States dollars (USD) for exchanging. There are a few exchange kiosks at the Mandalay and Yangon airports; you will also find some in the major cities. You may have read about having crisp notes; I can confirm that they were still strict about this. Family members had some notes rejected because there was writing on them, or the bill was slightly bent. Sometimes the ATM machines had run out of cash or we were not able to withdraw from some of them for unknown reasons. So make sure to plan for that.
Tip: Bring one hundred dollar bills instead of fifty or twenty dollar bills if you can because one hundred dollar bills get a better rate than fifty dollar bills. I recommend exchanging USD rather than relying on ATMs especially in smaller towns. Bring some envelopes to carry your money because you will receive a lot of kyats. At the time of my visit, $500 USD was over 650, 000 kyats. That is a lot of bills, but I managed it by carrying it in separate holders/wallets. You will be using cash a lot. At the time of writing it is 1 USD to 1525.20 kyat.
2. SIM cards and Internet access in Myanmar
Myanmar SIM card from Ooredoo
Your phone must be unlocked to be able to use a sim card from one of the 3 wireless companies in Myanmar – Ooredoo, Telenor and MPT. All 3 companies are vying for your business at the Mandalay and Yangon airports. In October 2015, it was 1500 kyats ($1-1.50 USD) for a SIM card and 11,500 kyats for 2.5 GB of data (about $8-9 USD) with Ooredoo. The coverage was good in Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, Bagan, Inle Lake, Kalaw and Yangon.
Data coverage was sporadic when we travelled through the mountains from Bagan to Inle Lake in Myanmar. That’s to be expected when travelling through the mountains anywhere in the world. When we travelled from Mandalay to Bagan on the Irrawaddy River, data signals were non-existent. Overall I was impressed at the coverage and the speed and was able to Instagram, Facebook, tweet and do video calling by Facetime with my family at home in Canada. For a 2.5 week trip, I had more than enough data. Most hotels in Myanmar have wi-fi but I found the wi-fi to be slow except for the Bagan King hotel we stayed at in Mandalay.
Tip: If you post a lot of photos or like to use Facebook or Instagram, get the 2.5 GB amount. Though there are many shops where you can reload your prepaid data, language barriers could and probably will be an issue at the small stores (see the ‘English language’ tip below).
For further information, visit this link for prepaid data costs in countries around the world.
3. Temple and Pagoda Manners
If you are visiting a temple or pagoda, cover your legs to at least past your knees. That goes for women and men. Also, cover your shoulders and expect to go barefoot once there.
Pindaya Caves in Shan State, Myanmar
Tip: Pick up a longyi (a Burmese sarong) at a market. It’s lightweight, travels well, is inexpensive and you will have a useful and beautiful souvenir of your visit.
4. The English language in Myanmar
Myanmar is open to tourism but is still very new to it. It is a very welcoming and friendly country, and they do want tourism to grow, but finding people with a good command and understanding of the English language can be difficult in most places. I have travelled in many non-English speaking countries and have found that the staff at the front desk of a hotel or people in the tourist areas are able to speak and understand English the best. This was not the case in Myanmar when I visited, especially at smaller locally-owned hotels and restaurants and in smaller towns. Please don’t expect that your servers in the restaurants will understand your questions about the menu or understand your food preferences. Keep your English simple, use gestures and have patience.
Update 2020: I’m hearing that it is a little easier to find people that speak some English. Still, be prepared for a significant language barrier.
The proper way to pronounce ‘Myanmar’ is not my-an-mar or me-an-mar. Listen to this pronunciation.
Use these 2 words whenever you can — Min-ga-la-ba (a way to say hello, similar meaning to namaste) and Cè-zù tin-ba-deh (thank you in Burmese).
The crew going back to our liveaboard boat in the Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar.
5. The Best Time to Visit Myanmar
Now, seriously. Myanmar is continually changing and at a rapid pace. Go while you can still see Myanmar before all the shiny new hotels, buildings and Mergui Archipelago resorts takeover. It is a beautiful country, and though much has changed in the last few years, you’ll still get a real sense of the place.
If you prefer to visit when it’s not as hot, then I recommend a visit between mid-October to mid January. If you’d like to have moderate temperatures and good weather in the Mergui Archipelago then mid-November to February is ideal.
Myanmar Festivals
If you want to attend some lesser-known but cultural festivals, go to Myanmar in October. The weather is excellent, it’s the end of the monsoon season, and before the busy tourist season. The Festival of Lights known as Thadingyut is celebrated all over Myanmar on the full moon in October. I enjoyed celebrating Thadingyut in Nyaung Shwe (Inle Lake). As a descendant of the lands, it was a beautiful and meaningful experience for me. Pagodas and temples are full of candles, and every home has a candle in their window. My father recalled celebrating the festival the years he grew up in Yangon.
The unique Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda festival occurs in the days leading up to Thadingyut in Inle Lake. During the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival, the Karaweik barge travels for 18 days from village to village spending a night or two at their temple. The barge carries four images of Buddha, and a procession of boats that are powered by 100 leg rowers (the Intha men) per boat pulls the barge. We met up with the parade in a village on Inle Lake on the last day of the festival and then celebrated Thadingyut that same evening in Nyaung Shwe.
Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival in Inle Lake, Myanmar
6. The Best Places to Visit in Myanmar
There is a reason tourists are visiting the places on the tourist trail, they’re worth seeing, but it can get crowded during the high season. Check out my 17-day Myanmar itinerary for ideas for your trip to Myanmar. See my ‘best time to visit Myanmar’ tip below.
I worked our Myanmar itinerary around the timing of the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival, because of that I had one less night in Bagan than I wanted and 1 more night in Nyaung Shwe than I needed. I feel I could have seen what I wanted to see in Inle Lake in 2 nights.
Most of our time here was spent with family. I feel that 3 nights is sufficient to get a good feel of Yangon and even include a visit to the Golden Rock.
115 Island, Nga Man Island, Kyun Phila, Myauk Ni, Thay Yae Island
Obviously, if you don’t have the time, there are ways to reduce the number of days for your Myanmar itinerary. You could visit for 7 days or 7 months and still not have enough time.
If your time is limited, I would say that you should not definitely put Inle Lake and Bagan on your Myanmar itinerary. They are two very different places that are not to be missed. I highly recommend finding a way to make it work and dare I say, skip Yangon or limit it to just 1-2 nights on your itinerary.
The Most Beautiful Places in Myanmar
Sunset in Kawthaung, Myanmar, the gateway to the Mergui Archipelago
For me, there were two that stood out on my Myanmar itinerary above the rest – Bagan and the Mergui Archipelago. Sadly, I only had 1 night in Bagan but could have spent at least another 2 nights there. There’s just something about being surrounded by all the ancient temples and pagodas and knowing they have survived a few significant earthquakes. The history, the beauty, and the peace of the place drew me in.
For something off the tourist trail, plan a visit to the Mergui Archipelago, also known as the Myeik Archipelago in southern Myanmar. The Mergui Archipelago is still very much untouched with only 2200 tourists a year (2015 stats) and is home to the best beaches in Myanmar.
The Mergui Archipelago was hands-down the most remote place I’ve ever visited. We travelled by private liveaboard boat as we cruised from beach to beach for 3-nights/4-days. It was surreal. The only other people we saw were fishermen and the Indigenous Moken people.
Snorkelling the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar
The best beaches in Myanmar are found in the Mergui Archipelago
The Mergui Archipelago is home to over 800 mostly uninhabited islands in the Andaman Sea, the indigenous Moken people and the best beaches in Myanmar. The Moken are traditionally a nomadic people that live by and off the sea, but have been forced to live in island villages and have been losing their traditional ways.
The beaches in this region of Myanmar were something out of glossy magazine. They only sign of life and those beaches not inhabited by Moken people were monkey tracks.
Snorkelling in Myanmar was incredible. It was the first time I saw such a variety of marine life and the first time (and only time so far) I’ve seen cuttlefish and squid. I snorkelled with a wide variety of tropical fish including ‘Nemo’ and ‘Dory’, moray eel, cuttlefish, urchin, squid, banded sea krait (sea snake), sea cucumber and several different coloured hard corals. I imagine that scuba diving in Myanmar is even more incredible, but I, unfortunately, don’t have personal experience to share. As we made our way back to the jetty in Kawthaung at the end of our liveaboard experience in Myanmar, we saw the fins of a shark in the distance.
This region in Myanmar is only accessible by liveaboard boating. We started and ended in Kawthaung after a short plane ride from Yangon. After our three incredible nights on a liveaboard in Southern Myanmar, we took a long tail boat from Kawthaung to Ranong, Thailand. We spent a night in Ranong and flew Nok Air to Bangkok, Thailand the next day for our onward journey, we spent a final night in Bangkok before making our way home to Toronto, Canada.
Our boat stopped at one of the Moken communities, but I did not go ashore. Five chapans (Moken traditional dugout boat) filled with children rowed out to our boat. The captain gave the children food and drinks and off they went with a smile, “Mingalabar” and a wave. To learn more about the Moken and their plight, visit Project Moken.
In Yangon, Thadingyut is best celebrated at the night market at Yay Kyaw Streetor the Shwedagon Pagoda. I arrived in Yangon late on the last evening of Thadingyut and unfortunately, missed the celebration at Yay Kyaw Street and the infamous human-powered Ferris wheel.
If you’re planning to visit during the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival in Inle Lake, you can find a schedule online for when the leg-rowing races occur (twice). I missed the last race by a few days; it would have been wonderful to see.
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On a recent 36-hour stopover in São Paulo, I learned about Beco do Batman from a Brazilian friend that lives there. Beco de Batman is a cobblestone alleyway filled with vibrant street art in a Vila Madalena neighbourhood. São Paulo has a lot of beautiful street art, but the largest concentration of it is found here and every bit of wall space is covered.
It was given the name Batman’s alley when a single drawing appeared, of Batman, in the 1980s. Afterwards, art students and artists filled the walls. Though the original Batman piece no longer appears on one of the walls, a Batman logo appears in a window of a building near the small parking area.
You can find this alley around Rua Gonçalo Afonso and Rua Medeiros de Albuquerque. It’s about a 15-20 minute taxi ride from Avenida Paulista, the area I stayed in. There are many restaurants and shops in Vila Madalena so spending a day in this area is well worth your time. The work changes so frequently that it is considered an open-air gallery and some local residents visit on multiple occasions a year.
I usually bring my 40-150mm 2.8 pro lens for a whale watching tour without a second thought as the whales are never close enough to use a shorter focal length. For the first time, I stood at the trunk of the car and questioned whether I should take the shorter focal length lens.
I had been on 2 whale watching trips during my visits to British Columbia this summer and didn’t even think about it before, but for some reason I had 2 minutes of photographer anxiety. In the end, I didn’t take it because I know that when wildlife appears closer than they normally do, there’s not enough time to change lenses.
Maybe I just knew I was going to see orca whales up close.
We came upon a pod of transient orcas after about a 20 to 30-minute ride from where we departed at Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria, British Columbia. Transient orca whales are also known as Biggs killer whales. We watched them alternate between shorter 2-minute and deeper 4-minute dives. In those longer dives, they were hunting.
As our captain vied for position and stopped a safe distance away, my best friend who is from British Columbia and is Nlaka’pamux and Cree First Nations was quietly singing her ancestral songs. We were the only 2 on the back of the boat.
Suddenly, a spy hop!
At that moment, I knew they were coming.
Spyhop!
Shortly after the spyhop, some of the orcas started poking their head out of the water as if they were checking us out.
Orca whale in the Straight of Juan de Fuca near Race Rocks, about 17 km from Victoria, British Columbia.
I started to notice more surface activity but weren’t sure what the whales were up to. Then, we could see a harbour porpoise. They seemed more interested in playing with it than eating it as they would push it along and disappear with it under the water. The naturalist on board our Eagle Wings Tours boat thought that they were teaching the baby orca how to hunt. The truth is, he wasn’t sure, as he said that he had never seen anything like it before.
While the large male orca swam close to Eagle Wing tour’s other boat, my friend started to sing a little louder. I knew she was trying to communicate.
An orca shows us a belly roll.
Two orcas and a harbour porpoise.
Then, two orcas were straight out in front of us with their heads above the water looking towards us with the porpoise between them. It was as if to say ‘look what we have’.
The next moment they came towards us.
Two orcas show us their catch, a harbour porpoise.
As they got closer, I switched to video mode and captured the moment they swam under our boat, twice! I said hello and thanked them, out loud.
I thought they’d reappear on the other side of the boat, but instead they resurfaced on the same side that they started from, right beside us.
Orcas with Race Rocks in the background, about 17km from Victoria, British Columbia.
We saw humpback whales too, we think we saw 2 different ones. Humpback whale tail.
A humpback whale tail against a British Columbia sunset.
A beautiful sunset behind Trial Island, near Victoria, British Columbia
Every now and again I’d hear my friend say “kuk’stem” which is thank you in the Nlaka’pamux language. She was following Indigenous protocol in giving thanks to the whales and the Creator.
I am drawn to learning about the world’s cultures. It is the reason I travel and attend events that focus on art, music and dance. I believe artists and performers are the keepers of traditions, stories, cultural beliefs and the identity of a people.
The Folk Art Alliance brings this together beautifully as they play host to the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In one weekend in July, you meet artists from around the world and learn about their art and culture. It is also an opportunity to make a difference with your purchase. In 2015 there were 173 artists from 57 countries represented at this truly international market.
Mariano’s Tree of Life yarn painting (pictured below) was chosen as the theme image for this year’s market. I had a chance to speak with his son Cilau about this piece.
Tree of Life and Abundance by Mariano Valadez Navarro of Mexico
“On the left side we have the feminine side, on the right side we have the masculine side they represent the balance of the opposites and how it always takes two opposite forces to create life. In this case it’s a girl that’s also following the traditional path. When we see the tree, representing the tree of life and its abundance, it’s abundance is represented through the different living creatures that are living on the tree. Small things such as the bees are important because the bees are a metaphor of ourselves, the bees are hard-working animals, they live in community and they are the caretakers of the queen bee. In our case, we work really hard in the corn fields, we live in community and we are the caretakers of Mother Earth as if it was the queen bee. When we see the moon, the moon is the biggest feminine figure, the fire represents the masculine figure, again two opposite forces that unite and create life. The ones that are in the hands of the male represents the prayer wand that is used for healing physically and spiritually, but also for channelling the healing energy. This is mainly to honour life and it’s duality.” – Cilau Valedez
Yarn painter Mariano Valadez Navarro of Mexico demonstrates his art at his booth at the market. Mariano’s art focuses on the Huichol culture. I would never have believed that his art was created with yarn if I hadn’t seen it for myself. It is full of detail and colour.Grandfather Fire guides initiates on their Shaman path to higher knowledge, a yarn painting by Mariano Valadez Navarro.
I noticed the art of Manisha Mishra and was particularly drawn to her Tree of Life paintings. When I was in India in February, I met an artist whom I commissioned to create a Gond art painting of the Tree of Life and animals I had seen on my visit to India. Manisha’s paintings reminded me of it, so I stopped to chat with her about her work and purchased a tree of life with a peacock. Manisha is a Madhubani painter from Behar in North eastern India.
I’m not sure what it is about the Tree of Life that I love, maybe it is the fact that it is an important symbol in many cultures around the world. I wear a pendant of one around my neck and it has become a part of my logo.
Here’s what Manisha says about the piece I purchased, pictured below:
“This painting is showing the peacock on the tree of life, the peacock is a symbol of love and we say that all your wishes come true under the tree of life. In our tradition we get married to the tree before getting married to the groom. So we say that the tree takes on all the bad omens so you live happily ever after. That is a Hindu philosophy” – Manisha Mishra
artist Manisha Mishra from India
Wandering the market, I came across these forged-metal cow bells made by Janmamad Salemamad Luhar of India. Knowing that every piece at the market is handcrafted, I was intrigued to find out a bit more about them. I learned that each bell has its own unique sound and that cows were outfitted with them so their owners would find them again just by recognizing the sound. This is an ancient art in Janmamad’s community.
Janmamad Salemamad Luhar of India.
Being from Canada, I was happy to see the Indigenous culture in Canada represented at the market. I met up with Haida artist Gwaii Edenshaw of Haida Gwaii and learned about his art. Haida Gwaii is an archipelago on the North coast of British Columbia and is made up of about 150 islands.
Portrait Moon, made of abalone and silver by Haida artist Gwaii Edenshaw. The moon is Gwaii’s father’s crest and is significant in his culture as it governs the seasons.Dogfish Mother made of 22kt gold, platinum and abalone by Haida artist Gwaii Edenshaw. He says “It embodies the dignity of our women”.Haida artist Gwaii Edenshaw
With my 2nd visit to the market and with many of the artists returning, it’s also reunion of sorts. I was happy to see Khin Maung Htwe of Myanmar again. I wrote about his puppetry after the market last year. If it wasn’t for the market, I may not have known about a 600 year old tradition and his puppet theatre in Yangon. I can’t wait to attend a performance when I visit my paternal ancestral home of Myanmar in Yangon this October.
Khin Maung Htwe and Tin Tin OO
I followed the sound of the djembe, a drum that originated in West Africa and came upon a booth of Nigerian drummer, Akeem Ayanniyi. I was reminded of his performance on the market stage last year. It was wonderful to see people joining in and making music together with the drums at his booth.
Akeem Ayanniyi makes traditional West African drums that are played for ceremonial occasions and religious functions. Traditionally drums were used to communicate between villages. Various beats were meant to communicate birth, death or celebration. Akeem is from a highly respected family of drummers and drum makers, going back nine generations.
I couldn’t help but feel like I was travelling the world as I saw a diverse display of folk art and heard a myriad of languages spoken. When I hear languages from around the world especially ones I recognize from places I’ve travelled to, it brings me back to those places like India, Cuba and Morocco.
I was especially happy to see returning artists from South Africa Xolile Ndlovu and my dear friend Lulama Sihlabeni. If you knew me, you would know about my special connection to this beautiful country and people that began with a chance visit to eKhaya eKasi Art & Education Centre in Khayelitsha in December 2012. It has since deepened through 4 more visits to South Africa and by spending time with the women of eKhaya eKasi after starting a mobile photography program there. Hearing isiXhosa in a place I didn’t expect to hear it brought me right back to my times spent in Khayelitsha.
Bead and wire art from South Africa as represented by Lulama Sihlabeni of eKhaya eKasi Art & Education Centre.
Nowhere else in the world can you experience this under one ‘roof’, the Santa Fe sky. If you are ever in Santa Fe in July, make it a point to attend. It is truly one of a kind market that unites people through art.
About 30 minutes from the centre of Cape Town lies Khayelitsha, a Township, home to over 1 million residents. In the heart of Makhaza, a neighbourhood in Khayelitsha is eKhaya eKasi Art & Education Centre. It is home to The Heart of a Woman Project in South Africa, a women’s mobile photography and digital literacy initiative I founded in 2013.
Lulama, director of eKhaya eKasi Art & Education Centre, stands in front of this multi-purpose community centre in Khayelitsha.
The view from the rooftop of eKhaya eKasi Art & Education Centre where I first visited in December 2012. eKhaya eKasi means ‘home in the hood’ in isiXhosa, the predominant language in this Cape Town Township. The neighbourhood has modest brick houses and informal dwellings. The informal homes are made of corrugated metal, tin and wood and residents share a communal water source and toilets. This Township was established during the apartheid era in 1985 and is Cape Town’s largest.
Women at eKhaya eKasi make bracelets for Cape Town businesses. Programs that address unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, health and HIV/AIDS are offered. The skills development programs teach women, mostly mothers and grandmothers, arts, crafts and entrepreneurship. There is an on-site art boutique where participants sell their work to the tourists that visit. Sales provide revenue to the centre so the programs may continue as well as offers an opportunity for the women to generate an income so they may provide for themselves and their loved ones. Women are often the sole providers and caregivers in the Township and face challenges such as high unemployment rates, alcoholism and domestic abuse.
eKhaya eKasi provides space for social services and community meetings. Women in the skills development program serve soup to residents for the Meals on Wheels program. The Elders seated in the photo met to discuss their burial society. Burial societies are designed to help ease the costs of a funeral by operating on a monthly contribution. The estimate is that two-thirds of households in townships participate. The ability to give their family a dignified burial is a significant cultural event.
Veliswa, a married mother of 4 and founding member of The Heart of a Woman Project in South Africa, photographs live chickens in Khayelitsha. Inspired by the model of education and empowerment through the arts,
Work clothes hang on a clothesline in an informal settlement that we photographed in Khayelitsha. Informal settlements are areas with makeshift dwellings crammed closely together. Residents do not have access to water in their homes or on their property. They must walk to get water from a communal water source and use communal toilets, which are often in disrepair.
Yolanda, a married mother of 2 pauses to photograph a ‘Stop Woman Abuse’ mural on Walter Sisulu Road in Khayelitsha. Many of the fences are painted with street art and showcase anything from advertising a cal business to addressing social issues.
Aviwe, a participant in The Heart of a Woman Project, photographs children in Khayelitsha as a curious resident looks on.
Retsepile, a founding member of The Heart of a Woman Project, photographs an informal settlement. This settlement has an approximate population of 11,000 people.
Participants, Yolanda and Esther, share a laugh as they pretend to be waiting for a bus at this Khayelitsha bus stop. We stopped to discuss the art of capturing street photos.
Yolanda and Aviwe photograph the mural on a shipping container, home to Mama Blessing Hair Salon in Khayelitsha. Several small commercial shopping malls and many independently owned businesses can be found here. These companies sell their goods and services in shacks, shipping containers or simply on the sidewalk. With high unemployment rates in Khayelitsha, it is necessary to find economic opportunities. Most of the containers and shacks are painted with colourful murals.
Participants walk (and dance) back to the van after two days of photographing Township Life with the goal of one of the images becoming a postcard.
A participant in The Heart of a Woman Project in South Africa folds the newest product, greeting cards. At the end of the workshop in November 2013, each participant was given 200 postcards of one of their images to sell in the on-site boutique at eKhaya eKasi. Both products are currently sold in the shop and globally through the website.
The women get familiar with Hubspace Khayelitsha, a co-working environment for entrepreneurs in townships.
Nwabisa, the project coordinator of The Heart of a Woman Project in South Africa, talks about the program to tourists visiting the centre with Uthando South Africa, a responsible tourism organization.
Nwabisa, mother of 2 and founding member, photographs Henry at the Site C taxi rank in Khayelitsha as Thoban, a member of the Cape Town Instagram community offers some tips. On June 1, 2014, the women hosted the inaugural #InstameetEKASI in Khayelitsha with members of the Cape Town Igers (instagrammers).
Henry, Site C. Photo was taken June 1, 2014, by Nwabisa N. at the inaugural InstameetEKASI. Nwabisa is one of the founding members of The Heart of a Woman Project mobile photography program at eKhaya eKasi and the coordinator of the program. She has been teaching the three newest participants since October 2014.
Velisa, a founding member of The Heart of a Woman Project mobile photography program at eKhaya eKasi proudly displays a framed image of her photo of a shoe repairman in Khayelitsha. This picture is Veliswa’s series 1.0 postcard and greeting card and was taken with a donated previously owned iPhone 4s.
Busisiwe, a married mother of 2, goes through her iPhone photos and shares them on social media. Each participant has their own Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. The ladies use social media to share images of Township life and connect with supporters around the world.
A collage in the shape of a heart of the women’s photos taken over the first year of The Heart of a Woman Project in South Africa. It was debuted at the 1st-anniversary photography exhibition at eKhaya eKasi on November 22, 2014.
The Eza Kwantu Cultural Group performs at The Heart of a Woman Project First Anniversary Exhibition. Eza Kwantu is a local youth group of vocalists that sing in isiXhosa.
“Photography is more than art; it is empowerment, it is a creative outlet, it is a voice, and it is a source of income for a group of women from a Cape Town Township”
eKhaya eKasi generates income through product sales in its on-site art boutique, business to business orders and through tourism. The art boutique focuses on handmade crafts such as shwe shwe heart ornaments and bags, bead and wire products and photography products by artists in the women’s skills development programs, from the community and other areas of South Africa.
The goal is to draw tourists into a community that did not previously have tourism, offer cultural exchange and to provide economic opportunity to the artists and residents that partner and work with the centre.
Every sale and visit offer travellers an opportunity to visit projects that are making a difference in their communities, contribute to the local economy and make a difference with your purchases.
Visiting Cape Town?
Travel with Uthando South Africa to visit eKhaya eKasi and other development projects on a half-day tour.
Stay at The Backpack, an award-winning Fair-trade hostel suitable for all ages.
