A Community Torn Asunder
As you might remember, we designated part of your donation fund to Hlaing Thaya and South Dagon, two impoverished districts of Yangon which the military has hit with impunity. This is not surprising, as in one recent podcast a guest explained that because soldiers can be seen in many ways to follow the classic image of the schoolyard bully, they tend to cause the most harm among the most vulnerable, where they know they can get away with it.
One of the volunteers bringing your donation to these areas (usually in the form of food and medical supplies) has written the following description providing a detailed account of life here, three months into the coup. The following report is devastating. It paints the picture of an already disadvantaged community that the military has been systematically trying to tear apart even further, shredding any further possibility of hope or decency. The author’s direct engagement in these neighborhoods and intimate knowledge of how they have been affected provide valuable insight into what is actually happening, although it is gut-wrenching to read.
As you do read on, however, please keep in mind that part of our donation fund is transferred on to this volunteer, who immediately puts it to use within this community. Therefore, please consider making a contribution.
“The police and army have mandated that only donations can be given through their own designated administrative committees, which ensures that only informants receive these items.”
“People are so poor, they can only eat when we bring in rice. When we deliver these food items, we saw residents immediately open rice packets and started cooking to eat. Some are actually eating dried rice without cooking it. Other have cheap plum toffee snacks, a cheap sweet with no nutritional value.
Most are simply are too scared to go out, so they are eating only dry foodstuffs all day, such as dried fish, eggs, canned fish, etc. This is because to buy vegetables, meat, and fish, you have to go to the market in early morning, and this is impossible for many under the current conditions.
Compounding the issue is that the stall sellers are now arriving late, in response to the few buyers who are afraid of being shot or arrested if they go to shop. The number of open stalls is also dwindling, so there is less food available overall.
Whenever rumors of war and civil strife begin to circulate, those who could afford to will begin stocking up foodstuffs that can last longer. Poorer people cannot have the capacity to prepare for their future.
People who live in the outskirts of Yangon, among the slums, tend to hold odd jobs and seasonal work, and so this group has quickly become jobless. Donors have tried to come to support these communities, but the military has responded by arresting them, confiscating their cars, and claiming their goods and redistributing them to those supporting the USDP or acting as neighborhood informants. The police and army have mandated that only donations can be given through their own designated administrative committees, which ensures that only informants receive these items.
In these poor areas, many cannot buy medicine costing as little as K100 (less than 10 cents). And some are so desperate they have to borrow at such crippling rates of K40 credit for every K100! Daily borrowing rates can be K15 to K20 for every 100 kyats!
As a result, and likely this was the military’s intention, people in these communities have begun distrusting each other. If you don’t bang pots you are considered informer, yet if you bang pots you can also be considered informer….”