An Army Without Soldiers

Out along the border of Myanmar and Thailand is a woman making great change for her country. She carries no weapons but is disarming the Myanmar military one soldier at a time through peaceful acts of bravery, courage and compassion. She's a wife of a defected soldier and on a mission to help other wives free up their soldier husbands from the bloody grip of the junta.

Her husband was a general captain who had a bright future full of opportunity for him and his family. When the coup began last year, however, everything changed. He found himself in a battlefield with his own people, his own civilian friends. With his wife far out of town in hiding, camping out in safe zones hidden from the coup, she would encourage him to sneak away and camp out to experience life as a civilian. He knew this is where he belonged.

Being in the military was their only source of income. How could they survive without his work? He was hesitant to leave...

Day after day as the coup intensified, he would hear the commands given by the generals to fire among the civilians. He was even there when they were ordering the attacks and air raids over the Kachin State; a full force of brutally harming and killing civilians. The lack of empathy in their voices and actions made him sick. The next time he camped out with his wife, difficult conversations were had full of tears as they spoke over their fate. He had to get out, he had to fight for what was right. His wife affirmed that they could make it and would find a way to survive. There was no choice but to run.

The opportunity came when he was transferring from one station to another. With the help of civilians, he slipped away into the night with his wife. They left it all behind...their house, car, belongings, everything.

They stayed hidden and travelled for two months along with other families of defected solidiers traveling from the Mandalay area to where they are currently hunkered down near the border, still in hiding. They feel they are safe but normally they are not safe. The military is always trying to seek and attack.

She’s a revolutionist and an advocate for wives of defected soldiers, doing everything she can to support families who defect. So many soldiers don’t want to be in the military and feel the exact same way as her husband: they feel stuck and stranded in a no mans land because they care so much for their family and need to provide for them. They worry endlessly that if they defect their family will go homeless and starve or even worse.

Thanks to this heroic woman and her endless drive, more than 50 families of defected soldiers have been provided basic needs including children’s clothes, food and medicines. Along with the basic needs, she is also starting up vocational trainings online for the families, especially the women. It’s imperative that self sufficiency and sustainability are taken into serious consideration for their future. Through vocational trainings in agriculture, sewing and language classes, families will become better equipped to support themselves.

Urgent funding is needed to support the families of defected soldiers. Children’s clothing, food and medicine is top priority and any amount donated will make a huge impact. Funds also support the process of defecting a soldier which makes the decisions easier for the husbands to leave. If they know there is a safety net waiting for them, they will be more likely to take the risk and leave everything behind…everything.

In the words of this brave woman, “The Military can have all the guns in the world but if there are no soldiers left to use them, we win.”

Please donate today. Please consider reoccurring monthly donations which makes it easy for you to continually support those in need.