CONTEXT

Since February of this year, Myanmar, formerly Burma, has returned to the headlines due to the military coup that led to the deposition of the democratically elected president. The army has declared a state of emergency, closed borders and silenced communication systems as it continues to violently repress popular protests.

The coup helps to widen the gap between rich and poor. Millions of people risk starvation and the impossibility of accessing medical care in the midst of a health emergency. Meanwhile, the military continues to perpetrate violence against the population: to date about 700 dissidents have died.

FRANCISCAN’S PRESENCE

Although Christians in Myanmar constitute a religious minority, the Friars Minor represent a real point of reference for the population. The orphanages run by the Franciscan nuns welcome many children who have lost their parents to the civil war, while in general the Burmese people know they find support in the defense of civil rights and the fight against poverty in the Franciscans. Also for this reason, vocations in Myanmar are constantly growing.

THE PROJECT

The project in Myanmar has a twofold objective. On the one hand, it intends to raise the necessary funds to deal with the emergency linked to the local political situation, providing basic necessities, clothes and medicines to those in difficult conditions.

The friars in Myanmar have also expressed their willingness to build a convent in the north of the country, a place to welcome vocations and support the local clergy. An indispensable instrument for cultivating a future of peace and making it lasting.