Monastic Resilience Amid Crisis: Providing Shelter, Education, and Hope in Myanmar
Myanmar’s ongoing crisis has profoundly impacted every sector of society, including the monastic institutions that have long served as pillars of education, refuge, and spiritual guidance. In the wake of escalating armed conflicts, economic instability, and mass displacement, monasteries and nunneries have transformed into sanctuaries for internally displaced persons (IDPs), offering food, shelter, and education to those in need. During our recent donation efforts, we visited various monastic communities across the country, from the conflict-affected Sagaing Region to the bustling city of Yangon. What we witnessed was both heartbreaking and inspiring—a testament to the resilience of monks, nuns, and lay supporters who continue their mission despite immense challenges. This essay explores the struggles faced by these monastic institutions, their crucial role in supporting displaced communities, and the urgent need for continued assistance to sustain their efforts.
During our recent donations over the last week, we visited different monasteries and nunneries where free basic education is provided for the children of poor and low-income families. We witnessed the hardship of both the monks and nuns during this crisis wherein even their lay devotes face challenges for their daily survival due to the currency inflation and rocketing prices of everything in the country. We have already learned about the situations of the monastics and lay people in the upper part of the country, e.g. Sagaing Region where we live. When we visited Yangon, the commercial city of Myanmar, we learned about the daily hardship of the people in this biggest city of the country.
First of all, I would like to report to you about the hardship of the monastics in Sagaing Region, my home region. Due to the armed conflicts recurring in the region over the last four years after the coup, the villages’ monasteries and nunneries have become IDP camps where the lay people fleeing from their homes can take refuge and shelter. The compassionate monks and nuns do not only provide temporary shelter but also feed the villagers for a certain time. In some cases, even the monastics were evacuated from their monasteries and nunneries due to military campaigns by the junta’s troops.
Let me tell you an example of a situation wherein the monks cannot study their monastic studies or perform their monastic duties in peace and safety. In Yangon, we unexpectedly met a monk from a monastery in Monywa, my hometown area. He retold me about the nightmare that he faced on his 52nd birthday last year. He was preparing to offer a breakfast and lunch for the monks in his monastery which is located at the bottom of the hills. Around 4.20 A.M, a camp of the junta’s troops at the top of the hills was attacked by the insurgent guerrillas and the helicopters from the nearest city, Monywa, flew over the monastery and its environment which are the hills. Hence, the monks could not receive his birthday breakfast and they were about to ran and hide around. Fortunately, the armed conflicts were over around 7.30 A.M and hence, the monk and his family prepared again to offer lunch for the resident monks in the monastery. At that time, the villagers ran into the monastery since the junta’s troops raided the village. At the same time, the troops from the hills came down and blocked the villagers in the monastery. The villagers were forced to sit down in front of a monastic building until 4.00 P.M and they were investigated. Thus, the monk could not conduct his birthday merits to offer breakfast and lunch. Soon after the incident, he decided to leave his monastery and village. He himself is a disabled man and he was supposed to do that! He has adapted himself to the new environment in a monastery in Yangon where he could, at least, live in safety and peace.
Another story is about the monk who could no longer study for his monastic exam to graduate as a Dharma Teacher (Dhammācariya), in his monastery in Monywa. He registered for the examination and he was studying in his monastery. However, due to the recurring armed conflicts nearby the monastery, he finally decided to leave his monastery, like the first monk and he has relocated to a new monastery in Yangon. As we stayed at the same monastery, we met him and heard his story. Similar to these monks, we also met a head nun of the nunnery where 60 nuns resided and studied in the upper part of the country. We met her and her students in Yangon since they had resided there so that they can peacefully study and prepare for their examinations in March. Unlike the monk who is sitting for the Dhammācariya Exam, the nuns will just sit for their exam in Yangon as they have not registered for the exam in their area. For the monk, he registered for the exam in Monywa and he could not re-do or take it in another area, and hence, he has to go back to his home area though it is too risky with the road insecurities. This is about the situation of the monastic life for a monastic individual in the upper part of Myanmar these days.
In the other hand, we visited different nunneries where the monastic education is taught and free basic education is provided for the children of poor families regardless of religion, ethnicity and gender. As we also commonly witnessed in the upper Burma, the nunneries in Yangon also face the same situation. Especially, we discovered a fact that the nunneries where free education is provided for children, either novices or nuns or laity, that we call ‘nunnery schools’ in Yangon also accept new children of the IDPs coming from Upper Burma and other conflict areas across the country and educate them. We were told by a head nun of such a nunnery school that she accepted and accommodated the newly arrived students whose families fled from Sagaing Region, quite after the mid-term exam of the school year. In fact, they are from the neighboring township of my home township. As the head nun and her assistant nuns who teach the children at the school, were also originally from the same township, the IDPs came up to the city as it was the only source for them and their children’s education. Another fact is that some of them lost their homes and agricultural land. We heard that the other nunnery schools compassionately accept the students from the new expanded ceombat zones, such as Ayeyarwady Region and Rakhine State where the armed conflicts have recently escalated although the final examinations of the academic year are very close. Before late 2024 and January 2025, their students also included different ethnicities such as Pa-o, Palaung and other Shan identities, in addition to the major ethnic group-Bamar.
As we reflect on our visits, we are reminded of the urgent need to continue supporting these monastic institutions. Their survival is not just a matter of preserving religious education but also of ensuring that vulnerable children and displaced families have access to basic needs and opportunities for a future beyond war and suffering. In this time of crisis, their existence is a testament to the enduring power of compassion, resilience, and community. It is our hope that more people will recognize their invaluable contributions and extend their support in whatever way possible.
The situation in Myanmar remains dire, and the hardships faced by monastic communities—both in conflict zones and in urban centers—are profound. Yet, in the midst of these struggles, the spirit of generosity and dedication among monks, nuns, and lay supporters continues to shine. It is this spirit that will sustain these communities through the darkest of times and help them emerge with renewed strength and purpose.