The tens of thousands of protesters who have spent more than a week demonstrating in the streets of Burma have brought some much-needed attention to this nation in Southeast Asia.

I spent a year living in Burma in 2003. I worked at the Myanmar Times and Business Review, a paper strictly censored by the government. These are some photos from my time there.

Houses at Inle Lake
Burma is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, yet, because of the political situation there, it attracts a small fraction of the number of tourists that flock to neighboring countries such as Thailand and India. An oppressive military regime has ruled Burma since 1962. Burma has 70,000 child soldiers— more than any other nation— and horrendous health care.

House close to Chaung Tha Beach
The government has isolated the country from the outside world. Its economic policies have caused Burma— a nation rich in natural resources and the former “rice bowl” of Southeast Asia— to become one of the poorest and least-developed nations in the world.

Chaung Tha Beach house
In 2006 GDP per capita was $174, according to the US State Department. Clean drinking water and electricity— let alone proper health services— are luxuries.

School girl in Mandalay
Children and women still wear thanaka—a cream made of ground bark— on their cheeks to protect their skin them from the sun. Only the wealthiest people in Burma sport jeans or other Western fashions. Most men and women still wear longyis, or sarongs.

Men leaving a market in Inle Lake
Farmers use traditional tools.

Girl on water buffalo
And modes of transportation.

Buddhist statue near Inle Lake
Nearly 90 percent of the population of Burma is Buddhist. Most people practice Theravada Buddhism.

Monks at Kyauktan
You often see monks in maroon robes. Despite the junta’s acts of violence and oppression, the generals claims to be Buddhist and usually pay great respect to the country’s monks.

Akha woman rolling betel nut at a New Year’s festival
Burma is made up of at least 20 major ethnic groups. Most have maintained their traditional clothing, language, religion, food and way of life. This is an Akha woman rolling betel nut at a New Year’s festival.

Pa-O family in Shan State sitting in front of their cheroot leaves
The junta uses the ethnic groups to advertise its diversity and appeal to tourists. But it commits human rights violations against them and does not give them autonomy over their lives. The army burned down 3,000 Karen villages in eastern Burma last winter. Rohingya Muslims in western Burma aren’t given citizenship or even the right to travel or marry. The army employs forced labor, requiring men, women and children from different ethnic groups to work as porters or laborers. The army also uses rape as a systematic weapon in its larger campaign to control the population.