The resuming war in Rakhine state has had huge effects on the lives of the people in the area, including our Transformational Community Development (TCD) villages. The Junta escalated airstrikes for a couple of days, causing severe fighting between the Junta and the ethnic armed force. As usual, the Junta blocked all roads, cut off channels of communication, and conducted severe military operations in Rakhine. However, the ethnic armed force is advancing the fighting and has already occupied more than six townships in Rakhine State, including Kyauk-taw and Pyun-na-gyun townships where our TCD villages are located.

We lost connections for two weeks with our Champion and the villagers. We didn’t get any updates and worried about what might happen to the community in the midst of war. We could not help except for praying for their safety and we prepared our minds to accept whatever news came up about the communities in the area. During this time of unknown situation, we contacted one of our friends in Sittwe, who still could use limited internet in her office. She said, “The fighting is severe in that part. We have a plan to provide some donations for the Internally Displaced People (IDPs), but there is no way we can access the village. We couldn’t contact anyone in the community.”