Transforming rural communities in Myanmar

Our grateful thanks to you from all the Health & Hope team for your support and generosity towards our work. We are very pleased to be able to share this update on our work from the last few months.

Our work has grown significantly over the last three years, and it is not possible to capture all the activity across our growing projects, but I hope you are able to see the impact of your support and the difference that it is making in the lives of so many people.

Despite significant funding cuts at the beginning and end of 2025, we have been able to maintain most of our projects across northwestern Myanmar and in the border areas.

Our health work has expanded greatly, thankfully due to additional funding last year and we are now working in three States/Regions in the northwest. This is bringing life-saving care to many thousands of people in inaccessible and hard to reach areas. This was the heart of why Health & Hope was initially started, so we are delighted to see this expansion.

This growth in health work is against the backdrop of a deepening crisis across the whole country, where more than five long years of conflict continues to devastate and fracture all normal rhythms of life.

We are so grateful to you for your ongoing kindness to the people of Myanmar. It is your encouragement, generosity and support that has enabled us to keep going. We are looking ahead with continued optimism to all we can hope to achieve in 2026 and beyond.

Context Update

It is now more than five years since the military staged an illegal coup in Myanmar. Since then, the country has been plunged into a chaotic and brutal civil war,and this is a sobering milestone in the country’s ongoing crisis. The relentless airstrikes and artillery attacks continue to devastate the lives of thousands of people. The recent sham elections excluded millions of people and coincided with greater levels of violence, intensified surveillance, arrests and conscription pressures.The junta has now established a government and a cabinet, and Min Aung Hlaing is now president and the aim is clearly to further entrench military rule under the guise of government.

The country ranked again as the second most conflict-ridden country and with the most fragmented conflict in the world with over 1,200 distinct armed groups reported to have been involved in at least one violent event. Population displacement is now at 3.6 million, with 20 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Airstrikes remain the biggest risk in our target areas, with many of our implementing partners suffering significantly. Tragically, these usually result in loss of life, significant injuries and devastating damage to many lives and homes.

The courage of our teams continues to amaze us as we see them enduring constant risk to their own personal safety and security to bring help and relief to those in need, whether in our relief or health work.

Operational Challenges

We are focused on reaching the most inaccessible regions with our support, which brings significant challenge to our teams just to access remote villages. This requires patience, tenacity and courage, traversing very difficult terrain.

Physical access to villages is further hampered by military checkpoints, severely limited telecommunications and connectivity, and limited access to procurement of project supplies. Rising costs due to inflation also cause significant problems.

Health

Community Healthcare

Our focus remains on primary health care, providing help where there is no other. This is delivered through training and equipping of Community Health Workers, providing mobile clinics to access remote villages, and supporting static clinics with resources, medicines and health personnel.

• We have now trained over 350 Community Health Workers (CHWs) and are working into 872 villages with a target population of over 450,000.
• Last year we provided 26 mobile clinic teams and supported 23 fixed primary health clinics.

We cannot report all the incredible work being conducted by our teams. Last year alone we estimate that there were 170,855 consultations provided by our CHWs and clinical mobile/fixed clinic teams.

We are also continuing our clinic providing care to those communities displaced across the border. With little access to health care facilities, our own medical team provide care and assist with access to hospitals and onward care if needed.

Tragically, we continue to hear of people dying due to easily preventable diseases if only treatment had been provided in time.

Home Based Clinic

Between October and December 2025, the Health & Hope Home-Based Clinic provided free medical consultations to a total of 156 patients, addressing a range of acute and chronic illnesses. These patients are refugees who have little or no access to health care services.

Community Ambulance Launch

We are excited to launch our community ambulance to extend our healthcare services in order to support, protect, and give hope to people who face huge challenges in the most remote places.

The ambulance is now functional and equipped with medical supplies to serve remote locations. Six patients have thus far used the service which is expected to increase as awareness grows, and as more operational costs are available.

Education

Freedom to Education Programme

This programme provides scholarship opportunities to talented young people. Our students in Year 12 recently completed their final exams. This is the culmination of two years of hard work. There has been a marked improvement in their overall academic performance compared to the first year, demonstrating the students' remarkable dedication and the effectiveness of the structured support system in place to provide additional tuition and pastoral care.

The impact of several years disrupted education has been sadly evident as students have had to work incredibly hard to catch up with their studies.

Our university scholars have progressed steadily into the new academic year. The majority are performing well in their respective disciplines, demonstrating strong commitment. We hope that six students will graduate this year.

Myanmar Education Support

In addition to supporting students in higher secondary and tertiary education, we have also begun a programme with a local partner to enable greater continuity of education for younger students.

Through the support of 93 teachers in 11 schools, we have been able to provide uninterrupted access to education in safe, community-led learning spaces for over 1,300 children and young people.

Attendance is increasing, and in mid-term examinations last year, 80% of supported students passed. Teachers have also reported better classroom engagement, homework completion, and overall academic confidence among the students.

Humanitarian Relief

Myanmar relief projects

Sadly, the huge needs in the area mean that humanitarian relief remains a core activity. Due to changes in funding, our largest funder withdrew support at the end of 2025 three months before the project was meant to close. This project has been providing cash grants and nutritional support to over 26,000 people every month since July in conflict affected communities. While the early closure is very disappointing, our teams have worked incredibly hard to ensure the support reached those in need right to the very end of the project.

Food banks

Our food banks are still in operation providing subsidised essential foods to displaced communities.

Positively, one has closed, due to a lessening of needs and the community requesting support to be directed to those more in need than themselves.

We were able to re-stock all six remaining sites in November which was very gratefully received by the beneficiary communities. 1,787 people benefitted from this and are accessing the food banks.

We were also able to support a further 1,885 people with food supplies who were recently displaced. 235 people were also given emergency medical support or referred to secondary health care facilities.

Livelihoods

Tailoring

24 of our trainees completed their initial training at the end of 2025. Several of these young women have now started to work towards saving for their own sewing machine, which is the next step in the project and building towards generating their own income.

Airstrikes and insecurity interrupted training in one location at the end of the year which has now re-started. The aim is to see over 50 women equipped with new income generating skills.

Chesa (name changed) shares some of her thoughts having completed training:

“Since leaving, I've applied my skills as an independent tailor, securing steady income from community orders.

I am currently working for myself. Amid war, my training earnings help meet some basic needs, though all struggle for full sustenance. My earnings now reliably cover food, shelter, and healthcare.

Since training, my life has improved. I now have consistent earnings, family support, and hopeful future plans.”

Thank you

I hope you are both encouraged and inspired by all that our teams have been able to achieve in such difficult times.

As ever, thank you for standing with us.