Under the Bridge

We moved house in march and of course you always have to adjust to the neighbourhood you are new to. We came from an area where most the people were fairly well to do. We were one of the very few houses that didn't own a car. Many neighbours owned more than one. Our street basically made a loop off the main road (Pyay Road, one of Yangon's main roads) and our daily routine was to cross the street to go to school and back. Pyay Road is not a street that invites for walks especially when you have young kids. Walking along a road 6-lanes wide is not my idea of a nice time.

Now that we've moved it is quite different. We still live in a neighbourhood where many people own cars but it is not as upmarket as the previous one (we had the one affordable house in that street. Fairly run down and ok but not great). Nowadays we do walk more and it is pleasant. Xenne can even cycle along several streets where there is traffic but not too much.

When we moved in, I saw that there were always people under the bridge. There is a teashop that opens very early and closes late. They have a few tables next to a pillar of the bridge. Taxi drivers and trishaw drivers often gather there waiting for customers who need a ride. They pass the time playing a sort of board game (I'll write about that some other time).

There are a few wooden houses/shacks next to the rail road and a huge amount of old tires between 2 pillars next to same rail road. So I didn't give the amount of people hanging out there much thought. Until recently that is, since a few families have moved under the bridge lately. The pillar that was used by the taxi and trishaw drivers as a place to play is now occupied on both sides by improvised wooden platforms. The pillars are sort of a triangular shape and the side of the triangle is now used by nursing mothers so sit on and chat.

Their husbands apparently work for the railway and from what I gathered they are allowed to live in one of the stations but prefer to live under the bridge. I think it must be pretty bad living in the station if you prefer living under a bridge. The new families all have babies and I wonder if that has something to do with it. Maybe the other families were not to keen on sharing their crowded space with babies who on occasion can be quite demanding in their needs. Maybe the families prefer the fresher air of the outdoors instead of the stale air in a crowded station. I have no idea.

I learned later that there are other families living between pillars and right next to the train tracks. They are  permanent dwellers there. The trishaw driver who we have hired to take our rubbish to the dump, lives there with 8 members of his family, including his baby granddaughter.

I have considered giving them the space above the garage to live in since it isn't used at the moment but 9 members of a family is just too much. The space is way to small for that.

We have given them all Eaindra's baby clothes for these families to share. I'd love to do more but  there are just too many of them. So , apart from the occasional small thing like passing on clothing, there is little we can do.I might have a word with school since we do charity drives on occasion and I think this would be a worthy cause.