A nunnery in Pyin Oo Lwin
The following report was shared by our local team member who shares an update from one nunnery in Pyin Oo Lwin, which is especially charged with taking care of nuns from ethnic regions of Myanmar, which tend to face greater hardships than others. It is a devastating snapshot of just how difficult the military coup has made life for all residents of Myanmar. And as much struggles as the monks have been through, the nuns have had to make by on even less, as they typically receive less in the way of donations from lay society. For this reason, please consider a small contribution which can allow us to support these female renunciate commiunities.
This morning, I received a message from a local resident of a village in Pyin Oo Lwin Township. She wrote me a text informing me of a nunnery on a hilly area where the young ethnic nuns are guarded and which is in dire need of alms-food. He wrote me the following:
"Today, I went up the hills where we can get a view of the overall area. The sight is very clear and visible from our house. The head nun is in her 70s. She entered the Sāsanā together with her two daughters. Two of them are graduates in Buddhist Studies. She and her daughters renounced their wealth for Sāsanā and to look after the ethnic young children whose parents asked them to look after the kids. Some were 3 years old. Their parents could never come back due to their poverty (as some went to China to work but no more news from them back to their relatives) and some armed conflicts in remote ethnic areas.
The nunnery was founded 4 years ago. There are 48 nuns and 5 little boys. Apart from grade-7 and 8, little nuns are taught at that nunnery school. After grade 8, they go to Buddhist Literature school. We saw a couple of young nuns at the age of 5.
A group of five adult nuns alternately go alms-round to the town two days in a week to collect rice and other offerings. Since it is mostly rainy in Pyin Oo Lwin on the Shan Mountains these days, the young nuns get wet and they walk around in the rain for the food of younger nuns. Sometimes, they can find shelter from the rain as some lay people invite them to stay in their house for a while. Sometimes, they can't. Yes, it is true. Everytime we see them in faded, dirty, and even torn nun robes. They can't even buy new nun robes.
Also, these days, they are having more and more hardship to get alms-rice because of the rocketing prices of everything. One nun at the age of 16-17, said, "Previously, we get enough food around mid-day and we can go back around 1.00 or 2.00 pm. Now, we cannot. We have to still go around for the young ones. The houses which used to offer rice every two days, are closed sadly; they just come out and offer a few times only, because they are also suffering. Sometimes, the door is open but no one is in the front, waiting to offer us now."
This is about the nunnery where the little nuns are from different parts, Lashio, Naypyidaw, and other far towns. They are Lahu, Lisuu, Karen, and Buma. The head nun commented, "When the country falls in the darkness, the Sāsanā's light fades. However, I believe in the power of the Sāsanā and the Guardian Devas won't neglect us," in her long sigh.