A Sanctuary of Learning: Supporting Yangon’s Nunnery Schools in Times of Hardship
In the midst of Yangon’s sprawling urban landscape, where narrow lanes weave through clusters of bamboo huts and factory-lined streets, a quiet yet profound effort to support vulnerable communities is taking place. During recent visits to the northern outskirts of the city, we had the privilege of being able to continue to support nunnery schools that serve as both sanctuaries and educational lifelines for children from low-income families. What unfolded was a journey of deep gratitude, unexpected encounters, and a reminder of the resilience of those who dedicate their lives to serving others, even in the face of political and economic hardship. What follows is a reflection on these visits from our monastic team leader, the challenges faced by these nunneries, and the generosity of those who extend a helping hand to sustain them.
During my last visits to Yangon to help facilitate our support for the nunnery communities in Mingaldon Township, we were very delighted to help these vulnerable nunneries and the communities of lay people who rely on them for their children’s education and so on. We felt the sense of their gratitude as soon as we entered their living quarters where the houses and bamboo huts amid the factories are situated close to each other and the lanes are too narrow. The people welcomed us and some men helped us park our car where my team went, in a small space between some of their houses. As soon as we stepped into their narrow lanes, we could estimate how helpful the nunnery schools are, to these low-income families in the outskirts of Yangon.
The location of the nunnery schools which we donated is in the northern outskirts of Yangon and you can easily reach there heading north when you get out of the airport, instead of going into the downtown of the Great Yangon. As we stayed at a monastery in this area outside of the most populated downtown areas, we could see how hard the locals are now living in this commercial city of Myanmar ̶ at the bus stops, so many factory workers coming back home in the late evenings. I believe we cannot see these sights except this area in the northern outskirts and Hlaing Tharyar in the west of Yangon across Hlaing River.
The first school we visited and distributed the donations of Metta in Action (MIA). At that nunnery, we unexpectedly met a group of Japanese people and their guides ̶ that we learned later ̶ who sponsored building a three-storied school six years ago before the coup and COVID-19. The Head Nun surprisingly said that she was too happy to see both the groups. She explained that a foreigner nun encouraged the nunnery to open a school offering free education for the children of the families living in the quarter while another team offered a school building housing 224 students for their safe and convenient study. Since both the teams visited the nunnery on the same day, she and her assistants ̶ including the volunteer teachers, were surprised and happy to welcome both had never met each other before! I also commented and talked to the Japanese donors that everything in the Universe came about with a cause and, “Who would know if our meeting now came from the past meetings in the former lives of Samsāra? Who knows we were relatives?” The Japanese donors cordially agreed with this Karmic law and the Pathāna, the Relationship between the Cause and Effects in our long-lasting Life Cycle.
The Head Nun invited us to look around the nunnery and showed us the building which they constructed step by step (year by year) through yearly donations from MIA and international donors. It houses young boarding nuns and they made a healthy floor for them with MIA’s support last year. I heard the inspiring stories about the international donors’ support for the nunnery and school. The Head Nun showed us the backyard garden where they grow vegetables to feed the residential nuns and told us that they grow them organically. It was amazing to see the foreseeable management of the Head Nun and her assistant nuns. She said that their regular lay sponsors can only offer a few Pyi (kilos) of rice per month or on an irregular basis these days. Also, she opened her heart that some local sponsors who do not deeply understand their volition, had stopped their support for the school due to the current political crisis. I can truly feel sympathy for these monastic schools and nunnery schools as we deeply understand their situation. We know their hardship, we know their focus on the education of children from poor and low-income families, we know their compassion to accept and accommodate newly arrived students from IDP families who were evacuated from their villages in the conflict areas, and so on. Who cares about these deep feelings of the compassionate monks and nuns? That is why, I am so deeply moved by the support from the international donors.
During our lunch, a 10 or 11-year-old nun came and greeted us. In fact, the young nun is an orphan who lost her parents when she was an infant, and the Head Nun brought her to the nunnery to look after her. It was at the time they were starting up the nunnery school. I learned that foreign meditators have helped the nunnery and school annually since 2009, and the donors visited there every year before the pandemic. During the pandemic and the first 2 years after the coup, they all have not been able to visit the nunneries again.
As we left the nunnery, the gratitude in the eyes of the young nuns and the resilience of the teachers and caretakers stayed with us. Their work continues despite immense challenges, providing education, shelter, and nourishment to those who have nowhere else to turn. But the struggle is growing, and with political instability and economic hardship, support is dwindling. These nunneries rely entirely on the generosity of donors to sustain their vital mission. Every contribution, no matter how small, ensures that these children receive the education and care they deserve. Now, more than ever, their survival depends on our collective kindness.
