Ending Abuse Myanmar Project #51826

Women for Freedom

by We women foundation

Project Report | Jan 29, 2024
"Stay or leave, we keep being under pressure"

By Ursula Cats | Founder and Director

The women we have been supporting in our Women for Freedom project, are still inside Myanmar.

In the past months we have support three volunteers on a monthly basis,

Onn is sharing information with women inside Myanmar. She is part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and is teaching students who are not able to go to school, because they are also part of the CDM.

Mi Mi is helping to organize and send things to one of our volunteers who is in prison. She also cooks for the volunteer who is in prison and buys books and other things that she needs.Then she sends this to the mother of the volunteer who is in prison.

We also support books, food and personal care for the volunteer who is in prison.

One of the woman we supported before had to flee to Thailand. Another woman we supported with her study in Japanese language, has been able to secure a scholarship to study in Japan and is now in the process of moving.

Some of the women we support cannot stay and live a free life in Myanmar, they still need to move on a regular basis or hide.

The other things we have done the past six months in our Women for Freedom project, were online English classes. One class was Basic English, ten students attended and an IELTS class, five students completed this class.

Many people had to flee Myanmar, because it is not safe to do activist work and stay inside Myanmar.

"For Pann Pann, the decision to leave Myanmar was not an easy one.

She had spent months evading authorities by moving from one relative's house to another. She continued to live in Bago as several of her friends were killed by the junta. Finally, a friend in the US helped raise money for her one-way air ticket to Chiang Mai.

Fear is also what forced Augustine Thang to bike across the border from Myanmar's Chin state to Mizoram in India in January last year, with his wife and two young children.

He never went back, although he is still praying for an opportunity to.

The 34-year-old was a deputy manager at the Chin state's department of social welfare when the coup happened. He joined the civil disobedience movement a week later.

Fear of reprisals from the army and the pressure of having to provide for his family proved too much. "It was a difficult decision. I love my country, my village, and I want to work for my people, but I chose to leave because our lives are valuable," he said.

Thang now takes on ad-hoc jobs in construction. "I wanted to become director of my [former] department and to focus on child and youth development. Now I do not have regular work. I help friends and they share their earnings with me. This is not satisfying," he said."*

We keep on supporting women inside the country, as it is extremely important to do so, they need the means to keep on fighting for freedom. Thanks so much for your never ending support, let's keep on working together to assist the women inside Myanmar, who are not giving up , they need your support!

*Source: Myanmar: Young Burmese confront dashed dreams in exile: Myanmar: Young Burmese confront dashed dreams in exile - BBC News

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Sep 20, 2023
We keep on working on Leadership!

By Ursula | Founder and Director

!!!!Thank you!!!!

Dear Supporters,

The last months we have worked with twenty women on improving their English and preparing them for their IELTS exams. One of them is now studying abroad and one has passed her IELTS and is still looking for additional funding to get into university. Many women expressed that they had learned a lot thanks to the interactrive teaching methods and the coaching theo got outside the classroom of our volunteers teachers. We feel very grateful towards our volunteers Aroonima and Redeit, who have worked hard to give the students all the tools they needed.

Redeit also worked hard on our annual awareness and fundraising campaign, she did all the communications and involved many new people in the work of We women. Awareness was raised around the world, with a specific focus on the US and The Netherlands. Thanks to this campaign Three amazing women can continue their university studies.

This year we support Bee, Lurn and Mwe. Bee is a second-year Biomedical Science student at Rangsit University in Bangkok, Thailand. Despite difficult life circumstances, this resilient individual has persistently pursued education with a GPA of 3.9 and the goal of becoming a doctor. Lurn is a second-year Master's student studying Social Science at the RCSD under Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She is a true innovator who turns every difficulty into an opportunity and has diligently worked towards improving education for all. Nang Mwe is our third student, a second-year Social Science student at Chiang Rai Rajabhat University in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Mwe is a true emerging leader who has faithfully served her community and knows what her community really needs to achieve sustainable transformation.

Besides all the above activities, we keep continuing support to the activists inside the country, young women who keep on fighting for democracy inside Myanmar.

Women's education and supporting their journey toward leadership are pivotal. Empowering and educating one woman truly has an amplifying effect of uplifting her community and the country as a whole. EDUCATE ONE, EMPOWER THOUSANDS!

We want to thank you for your contribution! Many of you have been with us for years, and we are tremendously grateful for your support and partnership. We additionally take this time to officially recognize our new supporters and welcome them to the We women family! Your support across the world encourages us to continue our work and strengthens our mission of uplifting and supporting women. We are immensely grateful for your contributions and continued support!

Warm regards,

Ursula

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May 22, 2023
The struggle in Myanmar continuous

By Ursula Cats | Founder and Director

Bee in the lab

Dear supporters,

Already two years since the last coup took place and still the military is in charge. Everyday people keep on fighting for freedom and democracy. Poeple inside the country and outside country. Next to supporting women inside the country, who do CDM (Civil Disobedience Movement) work, We women has been growing their education activities. English Classes at different levels are starting and more funds for scholaships will be raised this year.

Bee, who received a scholarship last year and is now attending her first year of her BA in Biomedical Science, has been very busy studying, she works with her friends in the library every day and when it is exam time, she won't have time to socialize, as she wants to receive the best grades possible. Bee is sharing the following with us:

"This semester I took the following classes; Anatomy, Physics, Math, and some general subjects. I faced many challenges. First of all, I did great in Anatomy exam. I got 44 out of 50 for midterms exam. For physics, I found many difficulties in this subject, at least I passed. To go back to my favorite course, Anatomy, the more I study the more it interests me. Especially in the lab class, I have to deal with a dead body every week, I lost my sense of smell and my appetite as well, and yet I still enjoyed observing the body. Anatomy is very important for my future career. If I am going to be a doctor, I do need a solid background in it. I want to thank you for making my dream possible, thanks for sharing your kindness with me. I deeply appreciate it."

We have also partially supported Lurn last year, she is now starting her second year of her MA in Social Science at the RCSD at Chiang Mai University. Lurn is an amazing woman who works and studies at the same time, this is tremedous hard work, but she keeps on going, Structuring her life in a balanced way, when work needs her attention, she is completely available at work, when university work needs to be done, that is what she focusses on. What is also important for Lurn, is her sleeping rythme, so as much as she can she will go to bed early, only when an assignments needs finishing, she will make an exeception. Lurn is sharing the following with us:

"Without the support of my friends, my coworkers, and you, I never would have been able to envision getting to this point in my life. A loud cheer for everyone around me who keeps telling me that I can't give up to improve myself to create more positive chances for my brothers and sisters who are still on their journey and hoping for a better future in which they will be able to get an education.”

We will keep on working as much as we can to continue our support for the brave women of Myanmar. So many of them keep on needing support and by assisiting the strong upcoming leaders of Myanmar, we can contribute towards longterm impact on a big scale. Already Lurn is educating the youth of Myanmmar, so they also have a chance to change their lifes and the lifes of the poeple around them. In this way many of our alumni are also in the field educating and assingt thousands more. So our slogan Educate one, Empower thousands is alive and kicking!

Thank you all for supporting our cause, thank you for joining our passionate team!

Warm regards,

Ursula

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