For more than 50 years Burma (Myanmar) has been ruled mainly by dictators, rebel groups, and by people connected to the drug trade. Because of this, democracy has had a tough time finding a foothold in its society; those who try to introduce it are often faced with brutality and harsh punishment from the government. Slave labor and other inhumane practices have been used in an effort to help Myanmar’s economy, but the country remains very poor.
In 2002 Aung San Suu Kyi–a Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of Burma’s …

Nee said, “I am suffering very much in my life, mum.” I know, I know, I thought–appropriate choice of words for being in Yangon (Rangoon): “suffering.” We are in a Buddhist country…Buddha and the Eightfold Path. You suffer through life–since need or want creates unhappiness.