The room bore the scars of war. Huge bullet holes covered the walls, panes of glass were missing, and of course there was no electricity, like in most buildings in Karenni State. About twenty participants sat around on an odd mix of plastic and wooden chairs, some in terrible disrepair. The meeting was part of a course training grief counselors under the watchful eye of a very animated and caring Catholic nun named Sister Ma Ruan.
The sister explained the impact that grief counseling has had on the internally displaced people she serves. “We make one-by-one counseling sessions. The second time I met them, I saw very much improvement.” After repeated sessions over the course of a year, the sister said there was even greater improvement. “They learn how to control their emotions. They learn resilience and self-care, and also spiritual care. They begin to have more self-love and self-value, you see, after around one year.”
The sister and her group of ten volunteer counselor-trainers made a proposal for a one-year mental and psychosocial support program to the Karenni State civilian government, the Interim Executive Council (IEC), but funds are very tight. “So really it is very hard, and we pray a lot to get support for this project.” The sister received some of the necessary funds and continues to look for additional support from other organizations while continuing her life-saving work.
The program extends across multiple IDP camps throughout the state. Karenni State’s population has one of the highest percentages of displaced people, which by some accounts is about 80 percent of the total population. Compounding the issues of grief and displacement, many people are disabled, often victims of landmines, mortars, drones, or airstrikes, which are frequently directed at civilians and displaced persons’ camps. In her current cohort of counseling patients, she has three disabled people.
Disabled people are invited into every new cohort of patients. “This is our policy,” she said. Generally, about 15 percent of the group members are disabled. The sister said it is important for them to attend because “they have to talk and learn to meditate.” These coping skills, the sister says, must be incorporated into their daily lives. Then the sun radiated from her face as she smiled and said, “They have to learn to smile.”
The counselling journey is a process, with multiple meetings and sessions over time. “For follow-up sessions, we want to get the result.” She went on to say that it is important for participants to share their success stories with others. “This is the way we can handle our emotion and our stress and our depression, so that we can release ourselves. So we can see the center of God and also see our inner space. When we are capable of seeing our inner space, we know who we are.”
She clarified that when she speaks about connecting with God, she means religion. “Now this is very good, the diversity: Baptists, Buddhists, and Catholics,” she said, listing the three major religions in this part of Burma.
The conflict in Karenni in Burma has displaced roughly 80 percent of the population of Karenni State. Nearly everyone has lost someone, witnessed violence, or been forced from their homes. The needs are unlimited, and the resources are not, which is why one nun ends up running multiple programs at once.
Beyond grief counselling, Sister Ma Ruan runs several projects with internally displaced and disabled people. One point she raises is how hard life is for disabled people in Burma because the civilian government does not have the money to build accommodations for them. In Western cities, there are ramps, elevators, and handicapped access, as well as buses and other public transportation. But in Karenni, most of the disabled are living in IDP camps where they may have to walk a long way to get water. They have to collect firewood to cook, and with most IDP camps unable to provide people with a full set of rations, they must find a way to work or obtain food, all of which may be extremely challenging or even impossible for someone who has lost the ability to walk, see, or carry heavy loads.
Sister lamented, “There is no pavement for them to walk, no handrails to help them not fall down, and no toilet seats.” Even going to the toilet is a problem because wounded and handicapped people may lack the ability to squat in a bamboo outhouse.
“Now I try to get also the young disabled people to study in Rangoon,” Sister explained. “But I don’t know where some of their parents are.” This underscores another tragedy of this war. Many families are separated, and many have lost family members.
Those who come for grief counseling are suffering from multiple losses and exposures to trauma, while those who are disabled may lack a family who can care for them. But Sister encourages them to study because this is their best hope for a better life. However, many lack basic education. “Originally they are simple people, just farmers. So they don’t know how to support their children to get an education. They don’t have much knowledge about that.”
One of the income-replacement projects she was working on is fish farming and home gardening. She believed these were activities that could be modified to accommodate disabled people and help them grow food and live independently. Sister’s proposal is consistent with the views of Khun Bedu, the vice president of the Karenni State Interim Executive Council, who also wants the IDPs to work on raising chickens and pigs and to begin cultivating land to increase food security in Karenni State.
Another group Sister works with is women who have survived abuse. This is a further example of the destruction the war is causing through alcoholism, which may stem from trauma or add to trauma, resulting in domestic violence. “So many survivors, women, they have been abused by their husbands,” explained Sister. “So we have a shelter now. We brought them to our house, to our safe house. And we help them. We share some skill training, maybe, for example, like sewing, like knitting, to make clothes, to make a shawl, to make a scarf to sell.”
Of all the country’s needs in Burma, Sister said she wanted to focus on disabled people. “It’s really painful for me to see them.” She became emotional as she said, “They’re so young, very young, very young. It’s very difficult.” Most of the amputees in Karenni State’s only rehab clinic are in their late teens or early twenties. “But they are very strong,” Sister affirmed. “They can determine to do the work, to give their leg, to give their arm, to give their life also.” But she believed that despite these handicaps, through hard work and prayer they can overcome and build a life. Then, in a moment, her hopeful tone became serious again as she said, “But sometimes it’s too early for me,” meaning the victims are too young.
Antonio Graceffo is an economist and China expert who has reported extensively on Burma.
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