Matupi home for children from the remote hills of Chin State
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See all sponsorshipsSituated near Mount Victoria in northwestern Myanmar, the town of Matupi perches on a crest in the very heart of the Chin Hills. As you go higher, the landscape is transformed: traditional Burmese bamboo dwellings give way to pine houses not entirely unlike chalets in the French Alps; instead of the clammy and suffocating heat of the plains the air becomes fresh and dry; the rice paddies that usually stretch as far as the eye can see disappear as fields of millet take over; ordinary men and women simply dressed in a longyi and a shirt or blouse now sport pullovers and brightly coloured hats. Historically, this mountainous region was settled approximately 500 years ago following a power struggle. When Bagan was the capital of the Kingdom of Burma, the Bamar rebels routed by the royal army fled to the Chin Hills to hide. The Chins are therefore direct descendants of the Bamars. But as their villages are isolated from one another, they rapidly fragmented into a large number of subethnic groups. Today there are approximately 40 to 50 Chin ethnic groups, each with its own dialect and dress code. This region alone accounts for 53 of the 126 dialects found in the country.
Chin State remains one of the least developed areas of Myanmar and infrastructure is lacking. In the mountains, river crossings and landslides are part of everyday life. The region is practically cut off for six months of the year: several bridges have been washed away by floods, and the rivers they span become completely impassable during the rainy season.
Food security is a concern and the climate in the region is also conducive to the spread of malaria, of which the region has one of the highest incidences in the country. In these conditions, it is not surprising that the region has a ridiculously low percentage of children in school education. Even if people are aware of the importance of education, families very often do not have the financial means to send their children to school and need all the human resources available for work in the fields. Moreover, while most villages do, in fact, have a primary school, this is not the case for secondary schools. Children are therefore compelled to attend a school in a neighbouring village, which can sometimes take several days to reach on foot. As a result, they have to pay for accommodation! Yet it is education alone that can ensure the development of this region.
Your sponsorship provides the children of Matupi home with:
- A safe home where they can devote their attention to education
- School supplies
- A portion of the household’s food expenses
- it also helps pay a supervisor’s salary so we can continue to monitor the children’s progress closely
Help the children of Matupi home improve their life chances.
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