Built On Their Backs

In a brick factory in Yangon’s Hlawga Township, a one hour drive from the brand new hotels and shopping malls of downtown, little has changed for the people working there in the last decade or more. Wages have gone up, but so has the cost of living. Meanwhile, children are kept out of school and medical care is completely out of reach. Driven by some of the lowest wages in the region, so called “unskilled” workers in Myanmar often seek out freelance, hard, physical labor because of the potential pay, about $3.00 per day. A livable wage has been calculated at $5.00 per eight-hour day for a laborer, even though people employed at this brick factory often work shifts from 03:00 to 17:00 to meet their quota. In Myanmar’s historic 2015 election, these same laborers were not assisted in voting, or even registering to vote. Many of the countries historic moments have passed them by, and they continue to exist in a bubble of poverty. As Myanmar moves forward, hell-bent on development, the social, personal, and economic wellbeing of many people, often laborers who make up the backbone of the population, are being left in the dust as foreign investment and monetary support benefits only a small percentage of the population.