Outreach to refugee families in Myanmar

Fr Patrick (Pat) Colgan reports on his visit with Fr Jovito Dales to boarding houses and camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) supported by the Columbans in Myanmar.

On our visit to three Columban Society-supported boarding houses in Banmaw town, which cater exclusively for young internally-displaced persons, we were heartened to hear that 31 of them had passed their Tenth Standard state exams. One is now a tutor for other young men at the boarding house, another is a firefighter, and another is a student of chemistry at Banmaw University. The male students sang us a lively Kachin song they had composed which expressed thanks to their Columban benefactors as well as being a plea for continued support from those benefactors.

Refugee camp in Maina - Photo: Fr Pat Colgan SSCWe also visited a refugee camp at Maina, near Myitkyina. This is one of the largest in Kachin State, catering for 266 families, totalling around 1,355 persons. Last December, 182 new IDPs arrived unexpectedly. The Burmese Army had been forcefully occupying new swathes of Kachin territory, with the aim of neutralising Kachin Independence Army posts. Caught in the middle of the shelling, villagers were forced to run for their lives. The majority of IDPs are either elderly or women and children, as many of the men are involved in the war. There are 375 displayed persons, of whom 74 are doing 9th or 10th standard public examinations.

During our visit we heard that food rations had been recently reduced by 30% by the funding NGOs. With the new wave of refugees, the local government only gave one week's rations. Since then, Caritas and the Parish Emergency Team haven been providing food assistance. There is big need for an emergency vehicle in the camp, which no agency seems to want to fund. It would cost US $2,500.

The Columban-supported Diocesan Education Programme has provided training and a salary for nine boarding masters/mistresses at Maina, who give after-school tuition to children from grade four to eight. Myanmar's de facto President, Aung San Suu Kyi, was due to visit on February 12, 2017, so when we were there the local government was running around installing electricity in the main reception/clinic area in preparation… something the IDPs had been requesting for six years!

There is a severe water shortage in the camp in the dry season. There are 12 shallow wells, but despite written and posted camp rules, women often wash clothes or residents bathe near the wells, dirtying them further. In fact, there is a large-scale mental health issue in the camp, related to depression, antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol use.

The camp leader, a Catholic catechist, does his best to keep families and particularly young people faithful to communal prayer, something very important to Kachin culture, but these are clearly not normal circumstances. The multipurpose hall, used for children's night study, prayer meetings and social/cultural activities, is in danger of falling down and being unusable. He humbly asked if I might find help for this.

Spending most of my time at a desk in Hong Kong, visits like these help me to appreciate again the generosity of our donors as well as the hope, a 'pleading hope' that many young and older people have in the Society, not just in Myanmar but in many other countries. A further group of Columbans arrived for language study and mission in Yangon in February 2017, and our prayers have been with them.

Mary Maran Seng Ja makes a living from weaving - Photo: Fr Pat Colgan SSCAs it was Fr Jovito's first visit to Myanmar, he was moved by the testimonies of students at Columban Fr Neil Magill's Higher Education Centre in Mandalay, and again in Kachin State. He expressed admiration for the young people's dreams and efforts to educate themselves despite all the harsh circumstances of war. He encouraged the students in Banmaw to keep dreaming, to keep thinking big, to "keep repeating those exams until you get the mark you know you are capable of!"

I also related how as a young person in Northern Ireland, despite the difficulties of 'The Troubles', I took for granted my free education. Here in Myanmar, it is inspiring to see so many young people making a great sacrifice to learn.

I told them that they, and not Aung San Suu Kyi or any other politician, are the real leaders of their Kachin State and the entire nation. Nelson Mandela was always convinced that education was the only force that could ultimately break the chains and shackles of the past. Learning is much more powerful than guns, hatred or war. Fr Michael Tang Gun, Caritas's Banmaw Director, thanked all Columban missionaries and benefactors for this tremendous window of opportunity they have opened for the poorest but most eager Kachin young people. Lifting their level of education will lift up whole families and communities too.

Testimony of a student

Mary Maran Seng Ja was the first ever student at Buduza Female Boarding House. She joined it as someone who had failed her exams but wanted to try again. She is the eldest in her family and feels sad about their life in the IDP camp. She tried very hard to gain a distinction in her Tenth Standard, but at least she obtained a pass. She sees so many of her peers with no education and no future and this encourages her to motivate them to reach out for the opportunity that the Columban donors have graciously offered.

Columban Fr Patrick Colgan has been a member of the General Council in Hong Kong since 2012.

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