Report from the Sagaing Hills
One of our local team members has begun to research how monks and nuns from the Sagaing Hills are being impacted by the military coup. As this region has historically been a very important site where spiritual seekers have sought seclusion to pursue intensive meditation for centuries, it is a place where many meditators have been concerned as to how they were faring as the coup stretches on.
Following is his initial report. If you feel inclined to offer a donation to feed the monks and nuns, and others, in the Sagaing Hills, we will allocate it for this purpose.
In normal days, the monks from different monasteries in the whole area of Sagaing Hills go around the town of Sagaing to collect alms-food. For the nuns from all different nunneries in the area of Sagaing Hills, it is not sufficient to go and collect just in Sagaing town and hence, they have to usually go to Mandalay every 7-8 days on Pre-Uposatha (Invitation) Day and Uposatha Day, staying at some nunneries in Mandalay while they do so. They go to collect alms-food around different quarters of Mandalay for two days that can be enough for their nunnery for the following week.
However these days, the nuns can't travel at all. They don't dare to go to Mandalay due to (i) many travel restrictions, (ii) unpredictable armed conflict in Mandalay committed by the military, (iii) a decreased number of buses now running between Sagaing and Mandalay.
The monks are having their own challenges. Due to the terror that this evil is making in our country, so many people from areas that the army has made unstable are sending their children away, since we know these soldiers are not just killing our youth but even burning them alive now. Many come to try to take refuge in the monasteries and nunneries in Sagaing Hills. There is a precedent for this in fact, as many refugees also sought safety here in World War II as the Allies committed to avoid fighting the Japanese here, given the sacred history of the region. As for now, there is an increasing number of young novices, nuns, orphans, and poor children residing there. These compassionate monks and nuns are not cold-hearted to refuse these children and they decide to accept these them and teach education, while also teaching basics of some Buddhist studies for the Sasana. Still, the increase in population to an area that was already not having sufficient food is concerning to us to manage.
From my own research, I estimate there are around 5,000 monks and 3,000 nuns living in different areas around the Sagaing Hills, both planes and hilly areas (including valleys, caves, crags, etc.). According to the 2014 National Census, there are 307,194 people in total living in the town of Sagaing, and given current circumstances, they are simply not able to provide enough food, medicine, and shelter for this monastic population any more, to say nothing of the recent influx of refugees.
We had challenges already last year with the COVID pandemic. But at that time we had a coordinated response. For example, Malun San Hlu Alms-Rice Donation Association and two other associations of Cooking Oil & Salt donation led by Venerable Teikkhinda and another of Beans & Peas donation led by International Buddhist Education Center (IBEC) led nation-wide drives to collect food and medicine which could be donated to the Sagaing Hills. However, after the coup in February 2021, these local big and small organizations have had to stop entirely with their mission, because of the danger our military poses to everyone, even donors, and even monastics. Although a few local donation organizations have tried to find a way to continue working to collect and donate alms-food, they could not manage to find sufficient food for all monasteries and nunneries in all parts of Sagaing Hills.
The sad result of my report is that the monks, nuns, novices, lay supporters, refugees and orphans now residing in the Sagaing Hills simply do not have enough food to eat. And although my country is one of the most generous in the world and we have always looked after our monks and nuns, this is a barrier we cannot overcome. No matter how poor the economics there is always something to share. Even when a once-in-a-century disease rattles our nation we find a way to carry on. But when they can arrest us for collecting and giving donations, and when they can shoot you in the street for no reason at all, we don’t know how we can find the resources to provide sufficient necessities.