A year after the military coup in Myanmar in 2021, life is still full of struggles for the people of Myanmar. However, we believe that even among hardship, fear and anxiety, hope has its place. Today, we would like to share what we are doing to improve the lives of vulnerable women in Myanmar.
“While my students were bleeding out and begging me to save them, an infantry squad of the Army came into our school. They simply moved the bodies of the dead students to the military hospital to conceal evidence of their murder. The army didn’t even treat the students who were mortally wounded, which added to the death toll.”
– A testimony from a teacher who witnessed the shooting of their students
The military and the junta of Myanmar (Burma) recently received severe criticism from the international community after it murdered twelve young students in retaliation to the Myanmar people’s resistance against the military coup d’état.
The coup occurred on February 1st, 2021. The Myanmar military detained politicians of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and took control of the government. During the coup, the military captured and jailed Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights activism against the military junta in the 1990s. The recent coup cost the lives of numerous Myanmarese citizens and displaced over 295,700 people in the country.
In particular, the majority of Myanmar’s doctors and healthcare workers joined the resistance movement against the military junta. As a result, the country’s major hospitals and other healthcare facilities are all but paralyzed while threats against healthcare workers are increasing with every passing day. In addition, there was a major disturbance in the supply chain for medical and hygienic supplies. As a result, the level of medical care and hygiene for the people of Myanmar drastically declined.
To do our part, GFoundation provided feminine hygiene products to vulnerable Myanmarese women who live in refugee camps in Yangon, which is a Southern region of Myanmar where 60% of the country’s refugees reside. We are overjoyed to report that, at the end of September this year, we were able to deliver your generous donation to 650 women who live in four refugee camps across the Yangon region.
While our collective efforts improved the level of hygiene and medical care for many Myanmarese women, we also recognize that there is still more work that needs to be done. According to the local news outlets, the complete collapse of the supply chain in conjunction with the collapse of the value of Myanmar’s national currency is resulting in higher costs for fuel and general goods across the country.
This increase in the price of general goods means that the women of Myanmar have less access to feminine hygiene products and lack the financial means to purchase them.
The demand for feminine hygiene products in Myanmar is still very high. Women who were unable to purchase menstrual pads have to make do with the pad that they have worn for an entire day. These women can’t even wash themselves in the nearby streams because this could potentially make them a target for soldiers who might be near.
We at GFoundation pray for the day when the coup in Myanmar will come to an end and for the people of Myanmar to be able to return to their normal lives. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to providing hygiene products for the women and young girls of Myanmar. Please continue to stay in touch and walk together with us so that we can ensure that the women of Myanmar can safely go through their menstruation.
