Transforming rural communities in Myanmar

During this last quarter (April-June 2026), the Education Department continued to make significant progress in delivering the Freedom to Education Programme (FEP), the Supporting Education in Emergency Displacement (SEED) Project and the Pastoral Care Programme.

Through FEP, 20 new scholarship recipients were selected, 19 students successfully enrolled in universities, scholarship grants were disbursed to the 2021 and 2022 cohorts, and six students graduated from higher education institutions in engineering, english, commerce, and education.

The team also continued to support university admissions and student visa processes for Myanmar students. In collaboration with the HHUK team, the Pastoral Care Programme conducted six sessions to strengthen students' mental and spiritual well-being, with the impact survey showing an improvement in overall mental well-being from 66% at baseline to 71% among the 2024 cohort.

The SEED project was implemented in 3 target areas on the Indo-Myanmar border and 7 refugee camps in Siaha district, Mizoram, India. The project provides monthly teacher stipends for 93 teachers, indirectly providing school fees free of charge to  over 1,300 students.  The support also includes learning materials for 2 Kindergarten schools in Myanmar.

The team is also actively working on the continuation of the project gathering the ground information on need assessment. There are some schools in the project targeted areas which are now affiliated to SAC schools in this new academic year because of the burden of school fee for students. The team is assessing the situation closely for the prioritizing the project target areas. 

The existing university students have sat their respective end semester examinations, and they all are on vacation at present and will resume their studies this month (August). Six students have completed their studies and will graduate this year. Two students are from Engineering Background, the other four are from humanity streams majoring in English, B.Com and Education.

Testimonial

 Chesa (name changed) will be graduating this year. She says: “Coming from a financially disadvantaged family and facing the challenges brought about by the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, I was uncertain whether I would be able to continue my education after completing Class 12. Pursuing a university degree seemed beyond my reach. However, everything changed when I was selected as a recipient of the Health and Hope Scholarship. 

The scholarship has enabled me to pursue my academic goals without the constant burden of financial hardship. Beyond financial assistance, the encouragement, care, and continuous support provided by Health and Hope and its generous donors have given me hope and confidence throughout my university journey. 

As I prepare to graduate this year, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity I have received. My aspiration is to return to my community and use the knowledge and skills I have gained to serve and support my people, contributing to their development and helping create a brighter future. 

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Health and Hope and all the donors whose generosity has made my education possible. Your investment has not only transformed my life but has also inspired me to give back to my community. Thank you for believing in students like me and making our dreams a reality.”

Health

Our health projects are continuing to provide primary health care across North West Myanmar through our network of 400 Community Health Workers (CHWs), fixed and mobile clinics. 92,000 people were treated through our clinics in the year 2025-26. We are providing health care in unstable and hard-to-reach areas, ensuring remote communities can still access regular care. We also provide referral support to help patients requiring more complex care to access secondary care hospitals.

In the border areas, our CHWs are providing care to displaced communities. By using a community based model, this bridges the gap for vulnerable populations who are otherwise cut off from essential medical services.

Snapshot of success

During the April-June period, the ‘Home Based Clinic’ project has established a strong foundation for health delivery and information management. Key impacts include:

• Successfully providing healthcare services to 420 patients through clinical and community-based channels.
• Conducting 291 medical consultations across the Homebase Clinic and refugee camps.
• Facilitating 6 successful medical referrals to higher-level care facilities.

This project is set against a challenging geographical and political backdrop that necessitates a high degree of flexibility.

Testimonial

To help the family cope with the financial burden of treatment, transportation, and caregiving, Health & Hope Myanmar (HHM) provided INR 5,000 in emergency referral assistance for Baby Varange who suffered a serious injury to her hip after being struck by a car.

Feedback from Baby Varange's Mother

"We are deeply grateful to all the staff of Health & Hope Myanmar for your generous financial support of INR 5,000 during one of the most difficult times in our lives. Your assistance gave us hope and helped us continue caring for our baby while she was receiving treatment. We sincerely appreciate your compassion and kindness toward our family. By God's grace, our daughter has recovered, and we have now been able to return home safely. Thank you for standing with us during our time of need.”

Humanitarian Relief

Food Banks

To address the on-going issue of food insecurity, Health & Hope established the Food Banks Project in 2023. These aim to enhance food access and availability to Myanmar refugees in the most populated and increasingly long-stay camps in Mizoram State, India. The project addresses the problem of overreliance on dwindling external food aid support by transitioning to a more sustainable food access solution at affordable subsidised rates through food banks serving displaced people. We are currently operating six food banks.

The food banks provide basic food items that refugee households can purchase (or borrow and pay back) through earning some income from informal agriculture based work and daily labour. The food banks also provide food aid/grants to targeted, more vulnerable refugee groups unable to purchase food. To ensure food banks are locally led and effective, the project works with and empowers Refugee Welcoming Committees in host communities to run and manage community shops through structure setups and training.

We aim to re-stock the food banks several times per year, with the ultimate aim of reducing support completely. Sadly, the escalation of conflict in Chin State and corresponding forced conscription of young people (including minors) has triggered further displacement of people across the border. Lack of space and a sustainable food source has again become a significant issue.

In the most recent distributions of food, the Health & Hope Myanmar team and our other local implementing partners were able to re-stock all six food banks and also distribute several tonnes of rice as emergency food support to recently displaced families. Emergency shelter material was also issued to provide temporary accommodation. Although far from ideal, this support is much needed and gratefully received.

Over 1,800 people have been supported through the food bank in the latest distribution of food, and a further 1,800 provided with emergency food relief.

Livelihoods

Our sewing/tailoring project continues to provide training for vulnerable young women. Over 70 women have now received training, and a further 32 will take part in training this year. We are now operating two production centres which provide an opportunity for graduates of the training programme to develop further experience and save towards their own machine in a supported environment. Basic financial training is also given to help prepare the trainees for running their own income generating business. Two women were able to work and save in this way in the last year, and they have since gone on to work for themselves.

“It was a very good opportunity for me to develop my skills and now I feel confident that I can have some skill for my livelihood. I am deeply grateful for all those who are involved in making this training available for me.May God bless all those who donated and supported me.”

Vaung San

Trainee, sewing project, north Chin State.

Thank you so much for your generous support of our work. Your kindness is deeply appreciated.

Health & Hope Team