Locals who have fled fighting in Hpasawng Township in Karenni (Kayah) State are currently living in an Internally Displacement Person (IDP) camp and are in urgent need of food, medicine and other essential supplies, according to the IDP management committee.
After fleeing their homes, the residents sought refuge in the monasteries, in the homes of their acquaintances and in other nearby villages. They later set up an IDP camp, where they have now been living for about a month, according to a member of the IDP management committee.
“We mainly need mosquito nets, pots and pans and broad blades. We distributed rice, cooking oil and canned fish. At first, there were fewer people and each household received the supplies. But as more people arrived and the donors were not as many as before, canned fish, cooking oil, onions and monosodium glutamate (MSG) run out,” says the committee member.
The committee member added: “That’s why we have to be frugal with spending. Each member of a family gets two tins of rice. If it’s for a week, they get a week’s supply. The most important things are food and medicines for health care.
There are reportedly many young children and elderly people in the IDP camp, with more than 20 people suffering from chronic illnesses.
As there is no clinic in the camp yet, health workers only visit the camp on Mondays and Fridays to provide medical care to the people.
In addition, the camp is preparing to open a school for the coming academic year, from kindergarten to middle school levels. For this. around 170 students are already registered. However, there are still no teachers available for the high school level.
“The teachers here are not enough. If students want to attend Grades 11 and 12, there are no teachers at all. The camp only has teachers for primary and middle school levels, but none for high school, as they said yesterday. When I asked them to make a list, they said there are no teachers for the high school level. So they will not open it, they will only open it up to middle school. They said they plan to open in early June,” the committee member explained.
The residents of the IDP camp are from Kwet Thit Taung Paw, Su See, Southern, Northern wards and Par Pu and Nang Kit villages in Hpasawng. There are 265 households with over 700 people living in the camp.
As the number of IDPs increases, there is also a need for water containers and kitchen utensils such as cooking pots, pans, plates and cups.
Sent by Kantarawaddy Times.
