The coup in Myanmar – a sad anniversary

Dear sponsors, dear friends,

 

Last month on the first of February, we commemorated a sad anniversary- a military rebellion that put Myanmar on fire and blood.

 

For two years, the Burmese army held its population hostage. Usually, a country is equipped with an army. In Myanmar, it is the opposite: the army seems to own the country.

 

Two years of civil war. 1.3 million people internally displaced. Close to 65% of the Burmese population currently live below the poverty line. 7.5 million children cannot go to school.

 

As you know, our charity has always preferred joy and hope to misery. However, we must relay to you the reality on the ground.

Here is a 21^st century Burmese classroom in the jungle for Karen villagers who had to flee bombing and fighting.

 

The bravery of the children studying knows no bounds. They are our heroes. They go to school in these conditions, following an education delivered by teachers who have resigned from a system that they want no part of. Risking their lives to do so.

 

Indeed, most schools are still closed, resulting in a general movement of civil disobedience. Many teachers demonstrated last year against the junta to protest the coup.

They do not want to give in, they will not give in. They are the object of our admiration. They also know that if they resumed their lessons at the public schools, a good number of them would be arrested or even imprisoned. They also know that, in some public schools, the army would come and take children from the age of 12, in order to enlist them.

 

Our one hundred and twenty local managers demonstrate extraordinary resilience and hope and put in place concrete and effective solutions. They reinvent schools where they are, recruiting students and teachers who have resigned or are retired, to teach the youngest children and offer them continuity in their education.

 

The French Ambassador in Myanmar, Christian Lechervy, has urged us to ‘communicate, communicate, communicate’ so that the Burmese people do not become the silent victims of a forgotten war.

 

Children of the Mekong will faithfully support these heroic children. Peace and the reconstruction of their country is in their hands.

 

We need you to relay to your friends and family the message that they can support these children: we are currently looking for sponsorship for one hundred and twenty-two children in Myanmar. What if each of us found a sponsor?

 

Thank you to everyone for your support.

Guillaume d’Aboville

General Manager of Children of the Mekong