Women for Freedom

I visited Myanmar two weeks ago, as I was on a project visit in Thailand and felt the urge to speak with the women inside the country. So I went for a short trip and held workshops for women and youth and spoke with women who are working on the ground. When arriving in the country, I could already feel the grip of fear that has been held over the country since February 2021. Military dictatorship is a hardship for all the people in the country, it affects all in various ways. Some are in prison, like one of our volunteers Daw*. They face hardships that we cannot start to imagine. I spoke to Nang, a friend of Daw and she told me that she writes letters to her friend every month and that Daw writes back. Daw is doing relatively fine, which means her health is still okay and she gets food, books and stationary inside the prison, she even has kittens that she is taking care of. Nang buys what her friend needs, We women provides the funds and the mother of Daw brings it to her daughter in prison. I feel heartbroken when I think of Daw and her family, struggling to survive mentally and physically. We keep on supporting Daw and her family to assist her to survive in prison.

I also spoke to Ying Long, We women alumni, who works on the empowerment of activists and politicians. She lives in Yangon with her daughter and husband, they hardly go out and are always home around 20:00. They don't feel safe on the streets, especially at night. Bombings can occur anywhere anytime, it doesn't happen a lot in Yangon, but the threat is always there. There are also a lot of assaults taking place on citizens randomly. Fear is what I feel when I talk to many women, which comes in various degrees, but I also feel in all women the will to keep on fighting for their freedom. They support other women whenever they can, wherever they go. Everyone assists activists in their own way, housing them, sending their savings for food, transportation and safe houses, so that these women can work underground on politics, healthcare, education and support people in the war zone areas.

Some of the women who We women supports are teachers who are part of an activist education system of primary and secondary schools for children and youth. I had the privilege to meet one and hear her story. She told me that all of them are very eager to work with the youth and to keep building on empowerment of children and youth, so that they are not taught the rote learning system of the state schools, but get an education that gives them a chance to stand up for their rights and the rights of their communities. 

The experience of leading a women circle for women leaders, was a privilige, they opened up their heart and soul and shared their stories. love and support with eachother. Their stories entailed the shortage of paid jobs for them, so that they can support their families and other community members in need. Many of them lost their jobs and are now fighting to survive and at the same time they are still supporting their communities whenever they can. Withdrawing support from international communities, spreads more poverty among these women. 

The hardship that all the women face is tremendous, but even so they keep on fighting, they keep on going and they keep on supporting each other. Supporting each other has been mentioned as the most important means to reduce stress, fear and anxiety. All the women felt they needed to meet each other in a safe environment, in small groups with women whom they know they can trust. So this is one of the issues we will address as We women, we have started supporting one women circle in yangon. In this circle, women share their life stories, they meditate and do exercise to reduce stress and anxiety.

Leaving the country was hard for me, leaving all the strong women who work hard every day and who we will keep on supporting. We women will stand in solidarity with them and to support wherever we can. 

Sending love, light, warmth and solidarity to all the women in Myanmar.

Note: All the names in this report are fictional in order to protect our women in the field