Photo: A displaced community gathers for a meeting and rice distribution in Karen State, Myanmar, 2024.
This article was originally published by Partners Relief & Development. It is reposted here with permission to amplify the voices of those affected by the crisis in Myanmar. You can find the original article here.
Four years on from the military coup in Myanmar, the reality of daily life for families in Myanmar continues to worsen.
The constant fear of attacks, never knowing if violence is around the bend. The struggle to find food when farmers have had to leave their land and food prices soar. Amid this uncertainty and violence, the people of Myanmar are courageously finding ways to help each other.
Kyaw Myint is one of the many people who are finding ways to serve their community. A father and village chief, he is living in a remote village in Karen State, Myanmar, after his family was displaced from KyaukKyi.
Photo: Kyaw Myint (pseudonym used for safety) speaks with Partners team.
“I have lived in KyaukKyi since I was young. I used to hope that the situation would get better, but the reality is that it is getting worse.
While we were living in KyaukKyi, we thought that there could be peace, but we were (living) right between the Myanmar military and the resistance groups. We had to prepare and get ready to always protect ourselves; as a Burmese proverb says, “while eating fruits listen to the sound of arrows.”
I was the village chief, but I fled two years ago already. I don’t even have the opportunity to work on my farm anymore. Before we fled, we had to hide in bunkers many times. The military told us we could stay in the village, but the bunkers didn’t protect us very well, and my children were very afraid.
I was also afraid for my children, that they could get arrested or killed because they do not know any better.
We didn’t dare to go into town. The military would often search the market and town for people they wanted, and if they wanted to kill someone, they would just do it. I didn’t experience this personally though, and I tried to help people who were trying to escape from them.
The Myanmar military threatened us that if we participated with Karen armed groups or if we didn’t guide them (the military) in the right direction, they would shell our village and destroy our homes.
They did just that; they shelled my house and shot my four cows.
After we fled, we moved to my wife’s village. We went there in a carriage, but we could not take all our belongings. After we left the village, the Myanmar military destroyed it, as well as a monastery. The other villages also suffered the same as us. We have other Karen friends and relatives facing the same problem.
Families are scattered all over the place.
We cannot meet often or talk to each other on the phone, as there is no connection. Sometimes, we meet people in the forests. There are a lot of needs for each family here, and we share with each other.
It is our responsibility to protect, take care of, and feed the children.
The villagers here help us, but we also need to help ourselves as well. As it is not our own village, there are many challenges, but we are very grateful to them. As the rainy season is coming, we will talk to community leaders and villagers to get spaces where we can build temporary shelters and get mosquito nets. If the situation gets better, we will go back to our own village, but there must be peace first.
If there is peace, we will go back and rebuild our lives.
Photo: A Partners’ rice distribution in Karen State, Myanmar for displaced families in Kyaw Myint’s community.
Today, we received food from Partners. We hadn’t received food from other organizations before. We have had to rely on what we can find here. For two years, we did not see anyone come to help us.
Now, Partners came and helped us, and we are happy and have some hope.
You helped us to survive for at least a month. Even though we received a small amount of support from you, we are grateful. Within our community, we can borrow rice. Now, we are living together as Karen and Burmese people, so we need to negotiate and love each other. We will stay here as long as we can until security is guaranteed to go back home.“
As increased fighting across Myanmar threatens the free, full lives of kids and families caught in the middle of conflict, this community continues to stand in the gap.
Want to learn more about how we’re coming alongside communities in Myanmar to bring relief? Email our team at info@partners.ngo and we’ll send you the newly released relief report.
You can also send relief to families in Myanmar today here.
This article is shared with permission from Partners Relief & Development. For more information on their work, visit Partners Relief & Development.
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Please note: the views and opinions expressed on this blog are that of my own and do not represent the opinions of any agency mentioned.