Burmese Buddhist monk: everyone in Myanmar wants Aung San Su Kyi and democracy
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – A Buddhist monk from Myanmar’s central Magwe Division, reflects on the tragic situation of the nation to AsiaNews. We met him during a period of study in India on Pali and Buddhism. To save his identity we have given him a pseudonym.
The international community must know that every one wants democracy in Myanmar.
Aung San Su Kyi is the best leader for Myanmar, and I pray for her release especially as she approaches her 64th birthday on June 19th. Aung San Su Kyi is the saviour of our people. The people of Myanmar loved her father General Aung San very much. He is our country's founding father and the national hero, people had faith in him, and we have that same faith in his daughter.
The conditions are most pathetic: the Military Junta is silencing our people, any dissent is crushed. The regime is holding more than a thousand political prisoners while basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship were severely restricted
Our county had an abundance of natural resources, yet so many of our people are living in poverty. In the villages the health services are particularly pathetic, there is a very high level of malnutrition, and there are very few trained health personnel. There is a shortage of midwives, who are the main providers of health care to women in rural communities”.
Women in Burma face considerable health problems due to poor living conditions, inadequate health services, and lack of basic education. Deficient health care is more evident in the ethnic minority regions, where constant relocation and the heavy losses of men's lives have left women with the responsibility of providing for their children.
Maternal mortality rates are significantly higher in our place and it is common for our women to be suffering from Goiter, anaemia, and other diseases like malaria etc.
Most of our people lack even basic education, and it has reached its lowest levels of education, there are few teachers in the rural areas, and even the level of education is very poor quality, leaving many of the younger generation in a situation where they are unable to find decent jobs and have some level of self sufficiency”.
(With the collaboration of Nirmala Carvalho)
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