Voices of young Arakanese women whose dreams for the future have become uncertain
In Arakan State, where an intense military conflict is raging, local people are facing bitter challenges in various areas such as food, health and education due to the ongoing fighting and the military council’s “four cuts” strategy.
The Arakanese youth, including young women, are also struggling with limited job opportunities, lack of access to technology and incomplete education. As a result, their dreams for the future have disappeared as they struggle through life day by day.
Especially young women from the rural areas of Arakan State, including university students, have no access to upward mobility in their lives. As a result, they’re busy with housework (kitchen work) and all kinds of odd jobs to meet the basic needs of their families.
Although each young person has their own hopes for the future, they now stumble through each day with uncertainty. In light of these circumstances, Development Media Group (DMG) has gathered some voices of young women in the rural areas of Arakan.
Ma Hla Htay Phyu (Tin Ma Village/Kyauktaw Township)
Even after returning to their village after being displaced by the fighting, there is nothing to do. We have no money to attend training or learn other technical skills, and there is no one to teach us. Now I just do whatever work there is in the village. I go to the forest to collect bamboo shoots and pick djenkol beans to sell in the village. I go to the forest and try to earn about 5,000 kyat a day. I also do hired labour like transplanting rice and pulling seedlings. Since I can’t learn or study anything, I just do whatever work I can find.
Ma Myat Yamone (University student / Pauktaw Township)
I was attending university in Sittwe and taking computer classes. When we had to flee Sittwe, I could no longer use the skills I had learned in our village. There is no work, so there is no income. Now we don’t even have enough money to buy firewood for cooking, so I’ve to go to the mountain to cut wood. To be honest, I never thought I’d be doing this kind of work, but now I’m here. At the moment, all the women in the village just cook at home and, when they have time, go up the mountain to cut firewood. It’s the only way we can make ends meet. There’s absolutely nothing else to do – when there’s time, we cook, fetch water, cut firewood and that’s it.
Caption – Young Arakanese women being trained in a design and sewing school. (Archive photo)
Ma Khaing Hnin Wai (Gwa Son village / Mrauk-U Township)
“I used to work for 10,000 kyat a day to plant rice and grow seedlings. Now there is no work at all. I sleep, eat, play and watch movies. As young people, we can’t do what we want and we no longer have any opportunities. The future is now completely uncertain. I had planned to do a design course in Sittwe. But because of the bad political situation and the closed roads, I can no longer do anything. In the village, civil society organizations or NGOs no longer offer training courses on agriculture or animal husbandry as they used to. When we want to go to Yangon, there are many difficulties due to financial constraints and inconvenience in getting there. We don’t know what will happen from day to day. At this time, everyone is feeling down.”
Ma Swe Swe (Buthidaung Town)
“All the young people feel lost. There is nothing to do, no choices to make. Many young people have decided to take up arms. Now we young people just help with our parents’ work, cooking, and we’re all lost. If we want to start our own business, we can’t afford it financially. We really don’t know what to do anymore”
Sent by Aung Htein (DMG)