Generally, pallbearing has been considered the domain of male volunteers among the various “free funeral service” associations across Myanmar. But a group of young women in Sittwe are playing an integral part in the free funeral and social welfare services offered in the Arakan State capital.

“My wife told me that she did not have her two legs. My second son told me, crying, that he’d lost his legs. My third son is dead,” Ko Oo Maung said of the tragedy that befell his family on April 4, 2021. 

“I miss my father and my mother. I am so sad as I cannot stay together with my parents,” she said with evident grief. 

From birth onward, the natural progression to old age, sickness, and death is one of the things that most will inevitably experience. We strive to experience the essence of happiness as we struggle to live a higher standard of life before we die.

They were killed after entering a forest situated east of Min Ywar village to look for firewood in March 2020, during a period of intense fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Arakan State.

As soon as I entered the village, I saw green trees and grass growing, their verdance due to the fact that it was the rainy season. I also observed burnt corrugated iron roofs and fire-ravaged, leafless trees, as well as blackened stumps.

Daw Ma Than Shwe suffers from hypertension, which at its worst can result in temporary unconsciousness for the septuagenarian. She cannot afford to go to the local health clinic, however, and instead has to rely on medicines from mom-and-pop drug stores.

The Kaladan River is a place full of memories and longing for Ma Su Chay. The memory of her husband’s severed body parts washed up along the banks of the river will not soon leave her, in a world that is so different — marked by added hardship and sadness — than it was a year ago. 

Tragedy struck a family in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, when their 12-year-old daughter died under suspicious circumstances in June of last year. Nearly a year later, many may have forgotten the incident, but this nightmare still haunts the family, who are desperate for the truth behind their daughter’s violent death.

People were searching the wreckage, looking for anything still usable. The air was filled with a smoky smell as kitchenware and boxes could be seen scattered across the scorched earth. 

“Bullets are falling like rain. Artillery shells are landing; it looks like earthquakes are rocking. I have never seen such a situation in my life,” Daw Hla Yin Oo, a woman in her 40s, recalls of her experience last March in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township.

For millions of people in Myanmar, including hundreds of thousands in Arakan State, electrification via the government power grid is a luxury not yet within reach.

Ma Than Soe sits quietly in front of the house and stares vacantly into the distance. She was once known as an active and happy girl. Now, she looks like another person; her smile and friendliness are not seen in her.

As a feature that sticks out and is scattered around town, bamboo gives a different look to Mrauk-U, the seat of Arakanese kings from the early 15^th century to the late 18^th century. Today many long poles made by lashing bamboo rods together dot high-rise buildings and other edifices across town.

Teenage girls and women in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps in north of Arakan (Rakhine) State are hoping the support of sanitary napkins from international aid organizations after they have endured three previous cycles without hygiene pads.

“I hate those who did this to me; made me disabled,” said the 17-year-old Dainet woman, Ma Moe Moe Nwe.

“Suddenly, artillery shells rained on our house. When I looked, Aung Zin Phyo had a big hole in his belly and was covered with blood. My mother, Daw Ma Kyaing ran to me but she fell down before reaching me. My sister ran to me as well and fell down in my arms, and I carried her and ran to hospital but we couldn’t save her life,” said Yazar Tun, brother of the deceased Ma Nyo Nyo Win.

“The government is the most responsible party to protect people. But, both armed groups have a responsibility for people affected by the war because they possess weapons and civilians don’t.,” Daw Htoot May, Amyotha Hluttaw representative.

It was on 13 June. While guests were enjoying food at the ceremony, an unexpected turn of events took place. A column of military that included about 600 soldiers, marched from Taung Oo village and entered into Kyauk Say Pyin village.