“Our school is only for educational and vocational teaching. We cannot help former students throughout their life because we need to care for new students. We can only introduce them to associations that are familiar with their situation,”

Mr Komaru said the systems were suitable for use in remote areas where purified drinking water is hard to get. But their relatively high price, about US$5500 each, means that the most likely customers will be donors such as United Nations and non-governmental organisations engaged in post-Nargis rehabilitation efforts.

“During the president’s visit, the two governments signed an agreement and a memorandum of understanding. The first was an agreement on visa exemptions for holders of diplomatic and official service passports, and the MOU was for tourism cooperation between two countries,”

“The senior staff encourage the juniors and volunteers to be patient when dealing with the residents and to be prepared to explain how important our activities are for them. Some junior staff can be demotivated until they learn the right approach,”

Inbreeding among the small population could have also contributed to weakened immune systems in the dead young dolphins, all of whom were under two weeks old.

“You have to decide what kind of people you want to target such as children, adults, women or men. We can give knowledge to people through cartoons, photographs, poems and articles. Such works are like illuminating candles; they can spread out one to another.”

KHANT Phyo has been making music since he was 18, and before he left Myanmar in February 2008 to go and study in Australia, he released the song Myauk Phyit Chin Tal (Want to be a Monkey) on the group album “Bar Lar Lar” (Whatever). Unfortunately he missed being here to witness the success of the song, but has plans to return with some new songs after his studies have finished. Timeout got in contact with the singer and drummer using online chat.