These days, everything we hear about what’s happening in Myanmar knocks us sideways. Nonetheless, as the awful news stories and daily horrors build, we must continue to try to not overlook individuals, including the vulnerable, innocent people of Myanmar, my country famous for our bright smiles. Although we in the country have been suffering from the iron fist of a selfish and inhumane dictator, we remain brave in the face of these challenges, helpful to one other, still altruistic and surviving.

We recently spoke to just such a brave and altruistic young lady who, for the purpose of safety we will call “Phyu Phwe,” which means “pure and white.” There are many wonderful stories about her good works.

Phyu Phwe spoke to us about one of her activities: she runs a small, community-based organization to help HIV-positive women. It is located in Hlaing Thar Yar township in Yangon, home to approximately 700,000 of the city’s population of 5,000,000, according to the 2014 Myanmar Census. Most residents of this populous quarter of town are low-income. Most work as physical laborers in factories, and are mainly internal migrants from Ayeyarwady Region after the Nargis Cyclone in 2008, etc.

Phyu Phwe said that most of the women she takes care of are widows or divorcees with grown-up children. As many people witnessed, the people of this section of Yangon–on the bottom rung of the social ladder, and known as the ‘vice city’ of gangsters– were more than courageous. Many youths from this quarter were arrested and imprisoned, not to mention killed, by the junta's forces as the coup was initially launched. Many among these brave souls were the HIV-positive widows’ and divorcees’ sons. For these already suffering women, it has been very challenging to visit their sons in prison. Phyu Phwe said that while a few have been able to visit their sons, the rest have sent relatives or surrogates. She explained that this is because of the fear of the dalans, the pro-military, secret informers who live in that quarter and report on those they wish to see arrested or punished. These cruel informers knew these women’s sons were involved in the protests, and so the possibility always exists that they can be wrongly informed on and picked up by the military, based on personal hatred, or some other reason… or even no reason at all. As a mother, they are not scared themselves of arrest and prison, but only concerned about being sure that they can continue to send food to their sons in prison.

Another tragedy is that most of these HIV positive women have been displaced. There have been news stories about more than a hundred thousand people who fled on flat-bed trucks and tuk-tuks after the military forces used and escalated the lethal force against the anti-coup protesters in March 2021; many of these were residents of Hlaing Tharyar Township. Some of them were lucky enough to camp out in backyards, or in huts belonging to others, but the rest had no friends or relatives to stay with, even for a short while. Until now, they weren’t able to settle in other safe places yet. In response, Phyu Phwe rented some small houses for them around Yangon, where they could temporarily be safe. From there, she helped them find a lodgings to stay in more permanently, besides also providing some of them with regular financial support for their rent.

Phyu Phwe described the dire need she has in helping support five of them. She pays 50,000 kyat per month for each woman ($28), and of course, these women have no means of repaying her kindness. Without Phyu Phwe’s help, they would have nowhere to go and no means to support themselves even if they could. She stated that nowhere is safe anymore in Myanmar now, whether in the cities or rural areas.

To help these women and for fund-raising, Phyu Phwe launched a business. The women she supports make handicrafts, such as sweaters, jackets, etc. However, due to the huge drop-off in tourism since the coup, the business has not been making much money, and supporting these women gets harder every day. In conclusion, Phyu Phwe concludes simply, “Just a kind request to help our people, especially women and children.”

If you feel so moved by Phyu Phwe’s request, please consider a donation earmarked for her project today. Please also keep in mind that a generous donor has offered to match all donations through the month of March, and so anything you give now may count as double!

Donate to Phyu Phwe

The struggles of Hlaing Thar Yar