Following the devastating earthquakes in Myanmar and Thailand, which have left thousands dead and displaced millions, international aid has fallen short—especially as U.S. funding cuts hinder relief efforts. In response, CWS is working with local partners to provide emergency assistance, ensuring that affected communities receive critical aid despite global funding shortfalls. The Urgent Need for Humanitarian Aid in Myanmar On …
Stories of Change
A newly-poured concrete road in the village of Mee Thew Chaung, Myanmar.
Paved Roads Make Travel Easier in Myanmar
Maubin Township in Myanmar is in the Ayeyarwady River delta. Every year, the river floods. This is leading to riverbank erosion that impacts homes, community buildings and farmland. It’s so extreme that in some cases villages move every 7-10 years!
Since 2018, CWS has worked with a dozen communities near Maubin to focus on Disaster Risk Reduction. This means putting systems and infrastructure in place that will prevent disasters or lessen the severity of their impact. By the start of 2022, 17 villages had participated in activities from emergency drills to road repair work. Most recently, communities have partnered with CWS to install solar electricity at public buildings such as evacuation centers and heath posts.
For communities that deal with flooding and other challenging weather conditions, road renovation is an opportunity to make life a lot easier. Dirt paths – often marked with sizeable holes and usually muddy or flooded between June and September – are the most common transportation routes among villages and to larger towns and cities. For many communities, safe and reliable roads are the second most priority (the first is year-round access to safe water). Roads mean the ability to get to schools, markets, health centers and temples. The existing paths, though, are dusty when the weather is dry and rainy when it’s wet. By paving a road, you make it safer and cleaner. You also enable people to go faster, since many people use bikes or motorbikes.
Our team knows that with reasonable training, village volunteers can team up with skilled masons to transform their dirt paths to paved roads. It can be done quickly and with a minimal investment. The more durable way to do this, which CWS helped communities start doing in 2021, is to pour concrete footpaths that are three feet side and four inches thick. When a community decides to do this, CWS funds the purchase of cement, gravel and sand. Each 1,000 feet of paved road uses 130 bags of cement, 1,000 cubic feet of gravel and 750 cubic feet of sand. It takes about three hours of construction time for each 100 feet of road work. Communities organize volunteers to do the construction work. Skilled masons (paid by CWS) lead the volunteers through the construction. Each foot of construction costs $1.40.
Building roads may not be glamorous, but it means a huge increase in the quality of life of the people who use them. It takes less fuel for a motorbike to use a smooth, paved road, so it’s less expensive for families to get goods to market. Sick children or adults can reach health centers faster and in more comfort, and it’s easier for them to travel farther to district hospitals for more advanced care. Running errands and getting to school are also much easier and more convenient.
Ko Tun Min, who lives in Ta Khun Taing village, said, “Our village road was muddy in the rainy season, and it is very risky to walk around. Our elders and pregnant women dare not to go outside during rainy season as they are worried about falling. Although we planned for improving the roads in the past, we simply did not have the funds to do it. However, now our village road is better than before, which allows us to travel more safely during the day and night for all activities from getting to work and markets, to attending schools and reaching health posts for medical treatment.”
Stories of Change
Daw Cho Mar Win with some of her chili harvests.
Two sisters in Myanmar team up with CWS to earn 50% higher profits
“For us, we have no choice except for agriculture,” says Daw Cho Mar Win. She lives in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady river delta. Despite being less than 60 miles from Yangon, families in the Ayeyarwady delta rely mostly on farming, fishing or hourly wage jobs on small construction projects.
“In our community, we must work harder during the winter and summer to save money for living expenses in the rainy season,” Daw Cho Mar Oo explains. The rainy season is June to September, when the river often floods and earning a living can be a challenge.
Daw Cho Mar Win, in particular, earns a living alongside her sister, Daw Cho Mar Oo. They proudly own three acres of land, where they grow chili peppers. They sell to wholesale exporters, who buy from small family farms like theirs and export the produce to China. Eventually, the sisters’ chilis end up in sauces or seasoning packets for instant noodles.
The sisters prepare their land in August. They plant chili pepper seedlings in September for harvesting four months later. A hired crew of about nine laborers help during the harvest period, which lasts about 20 days. One acre of land produces about 5,400 pounds of peppers which earn the sisters 400,000 Kyats ($219) net profit. In the past, they planted two acres of chilis and earned $438 per year.
For a long time, the sisters have wanted to expand their chili production. They wanted to plant their third acre of land but didn’t have the savings to buy supplies. Thankfully, CWS was there to help them accomplish their goal.
CWS has worked with villages like Daw Cho Mar Win and Daw Cho Mar Oo’s for more than three years. A big part of our work together focuses on food security and livelihoods. One part of this work is to establish Village Savings and Loan Associations. These are community clubs where neighbors pool their money and borrowed from the group funds at a low interest rate. Each of the 15 members of the sisters’ group contributes 2,000 Kyat ($1.10) per month. Members can borrow loans of 150,000 Kyats ($82) and pay it back over three months at a 5% interest rate. By comparison, private moneylenders in the area often charge interest rates of 10% or more.
Daw Cho Mar Win used one of these loans to buy the supplies she and her sister needed to plant a third acre of chilis. “The VSLA program is very effective for people like us who can’t save big amounts of ash and can’t borrow from lenders who charge high rates,” Daw Cho Mar Win says.
After expanding to three acres of chili pepper fields, the sisters earned a total 1,200,000 Kyats ($658) net profit. With one loan, they were able to increase their profits by 50%!
Stories of Change
Daw Aye May and her chickens.
Hope for a new chicken farmer in Myanmar
Daw Aye May, a 56-year-old widow, used to make a living selling herbs in an open-air market. That was before COVID-19 public health restrictions curtailed public gatherings at large markets and travel beyond township borders. In the village of Sar Phyu Su, 40 miles north of Yangon, Myanmar, salaried job opportunities are limited. And when she lost her husband in 2019, Daw Aye May thought her future was gone too. Then along came the pandemic which disrupted an already limited economy by reducing the ability for farmers to sell products in more distant and larger markets.
Although Daw Aye May lives alone, she has emotional and limited financial support from a son and daughter, both married and in their thirties. When selling herbs was no longer a possibility, she started to consider how else she could earn money. Then in July, she heard that CWS was sharing chickens with families in greatest need. She learned that funding had come from vending machines set up by the Latter-day Saint Charities. She had never heard of CWS, nor of the Church of Latter-day Saints. Moreover, she had only seen vending machines in American movies, and those machines contained drinks and snacks.
Within weeks of picking up two hens and a rooster from a hatchery delivery truck, she had eggs. “I didn’t have any idea about how to raise chickens, but just wanted to try. I just fed the chickens and let all the eggs hatch,” she said. In fact, she let the first 12 eggs hatch into young chicks. Shortly afterwards, she collected another 13 eggs from the first two hens and sold 10 eggs in the village to earn $1.81. That’s more than half the official daily minimum wage of $3.53. “I was so happy as this was my first time to make money from chicken raising business,” she said proudly.
CWS sourced a local breed of hens and roosters for villagers because they are easier to raise free-range style. Daw Aye May now has 30 hens and five roosters in less than five months, and with no prior experience in raising poultry. “I learned that chicken meat from the local breed earns more money. For example, 3.5 pounds of my chicken sells for $5.06. Meat from foreign species sells for $2.89 for the same weight.”
She spends just 37 cents per day to feed the flock as they forage around a fenced yard area for scraps and insects. Daw May Aye expects to gather 30 eggs per day starting next month, earning up to $5.42/day in sales within a cluster of walkable villages.
The newly inspired chicken farmer gushed, “I thank CWS for sparking the light of a more hopeful future for me. Honestly, I wasn’t initially interested in chicken raising. Now, I want to be a poultry businesswoman. With a flock of 35 hens and roosters already, I will expand the flock further. My plan is to collect and sell more eggs in neighboring villages where I am allowed to travel. Also, I will use chicken manure in my home-gardening as organic fertilizer. Lastly, I say ‘Thank You’ to CWS and LDS, as these simple words express my sincerest gratitude.”
Stories of Change
Secretary General Saw Kyaw in his office at the YMCA.
How do you share 30,000 chickens with families? By working together.
Vending machines are uncommon in Myanmar. And vending machines filled with practical items for vulnerable families are unique, even in the United States. But last Christmas, the Church of Latter-day Saints stocked vending machines in a few U.S. cities with gifts for families around the world instead of snacks. Among the gifts were two hens and a rooster per family.
Fast forward 9 months later and across the oceans to Myanmar. By the end of 2020, as a result of those vending machines, more than 10,000 rural families west of Yangon will raise chickens for eggs and meat. What an unexpected windfall for families facing food insecurity!
It takes disciplined and trusted partners to execute complex projects. The YMCA of Maubin is one such partner for CWS. In 2005, the YMCA opened its office in Maubin Township, sixty miles southwest of Yangon. Secretary General Saw Kyaw leads YMCA staff and volunteers in community development efforts. A biblical quote serves as inspiration for the office: “That they all may be one.” (John 17:21). Under the direction of the Secretary General, the YMCA offers vocational training like motorcycle repair, hair styling, sewing and basic computer training.
In 2015, YMCA partnered with CWS to assist people flooded out of their homes in Maubin Township. Then in early 2020, YMCA facilitated 45 days of sewing classes for 20 women from the villages that CWS works closely with. When the opportunity to share chickens with families arose, the YMCA jumped at the chance. They found families in 27 villages interested in raising a local species of chickens. Secretary General Saw Kyaw explains: “We provided 10,317 chicken to 3,439 families in 27 villages. Each family now has three Chittagong chickens which they like because they are easy to raise.”
Families hailed from among the poor and vulnerable who could not afford to pay the usual $5.42 per chicken. Parents lined up for chickens in anticipation of making egg dishes rich in protein for their children. Hens start laying one egg per day beginning at age 5 months old. Older children describe the chickens as “cute” and help their parents collect eggs.
Not only is chicken raising valuable for families, but it also helps CWS and YMCA staff hone work skills. For example, the YMCA identified vulnerable families and managed logistics delivery. After arrival from hatcheries, Village Leaders coordinated orderly pick-up and enforced social distancing. CWS Field Coordinators managed communications with hatcheries, drivers and Village Leaders. The Field Coordinators collected signatures and snapped pictures of delighted families beside delivery trucks.
Secretary General Saw Kyaw praises the collective effort. “Our team learned new procedures and documentation processes while working with CWS. We appreciate the support and collaboration which helps our confidence after each project. We always welcome CWS as our good partner,” he remarked. CWS intends to fulfill the intentions of donors by sharing over 30,000 chickens in Myanmar. Collaboration with partners, YMCA included, paves the road to better food security.
Stories of Change
Ko Ye Naing with one of his chickens.
Local chickens mean a hopeful future in Myanmar
Farmer Ko Ye Naing is always looking for opportunities to improve his family’s livelihood. The 38-year-old father of two and his wife, Ma Nandar Win, live on a three-acre farm 55 miles west of Yangon, Myanmar. They grow about 700 pounds of chili peppers, which they sell for about $500 yearly. He also works as a broker: he buys chili peppers and corn from 20 other family farms and sells them to wholesalers in Yangon, Mandalay, and Kayin. He earns about $1,700 profit each year for his family through this work.
Ko Ye Naing first got to know CWS when he volunteered on a committee in his village. The group focused on emergency preparedness and risk mitigation activities coordinated by CWS. He and his wife also participate in CWS nutrition programs for caregivers of young children, since they have a 4-year-old son named Mg Htet Naing Lin.
When the opportunity to raise local chickens came along, Ko Ye Naing and Ma Nandar Win were excited to be selected for the program.
“In the area where I live, local species of chicken are very hard to find and cost about $7 each. However, I prefer this species because they are easy to raise at home. They are strong and resilient, and the meat is healthy and nutritious,” Ko Ye Naing explained. “ I had planned to breed local chickens as a business at home, but I didn’t know where to buy young hens and roosters. Although commercial breeds are abundant, they are not good to eat because of chemicals in the feed and antibiotics used,” he continued.
Through the CWS program, which was made possible through the Light the World campaign of the Latter-day Saints Charities, Ko Ye Naing and his family are raising free-range local chickens. They told our team how grateful they are to have this opportunity. They told us how neighbors have dropped by to see the chickens, which they described as “beautiful.” The two hens and rooster each weighed about 2.2 pounds when the family received them. All have doubled in weight after nearly two months on a diet of broken rice, corn and foraged bugs. Ma Youn Lai Naing, the family’s seventh grade daughter, is responsible for feeding the chickens.
Soon, the hens will start producing eggs for the first time, and the family will have a regular source for a variety of egg-based dishes.
“As I have wanted to breed local chickens at my house for a long time, I’ve already decided to expand the flock. In fact, I bought four more hens. My goal is to sell local chickens to interested buyers. And, I will fence my yard as recommended for a larger flock. I thank CWS and the Church of Latter-day Saints for helping our family start this new business,” Ko Ye Naing said.
Stories of Change
Top: Saw Edmond, Eint Phoo Myat and Mi Mi. Bottom: Saw Edmond feeds some of the chickens.
A chicken hatchery’s largest order ever in Myanmar
Chicken farm owner Saw Edmond lives in Ywar Thit Pine Village on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar. He and his wife, Mi Mi, have owned and operated their hatchery business for the past twelve years.
After years of struggle, the couple now have a profitable business. When they first started, they didn’t know the first thing about running a hatchery. They could neither identify chickens by breed, nor how to guard against livestock diseases. Now, they raise and sell Chittagong breed chickens. Saw Edmond and Mi Mi grew and improved their business through years of study and mentoring from other, more experienced hatchery owners. Their sixth-grade daughter, Eint Phoo Myat, helps with some chores around the hatchery when she’s not in school.
In 2019, Myanmar’s Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department reported that chickens were the most common farm animal for families in Myanmar, with more than 70 million in the country. The next most common was cows at 9.5 million, which shows that chickens are clearly the top choice for families. The Chittagong hens that Saw Edmond and Mi Mi raise start laying eggs when they are six months old. They continue to lay eggs until they are about four years old, and one hen can lay upwards of 100 eggs. Farmers and hatchery owners usually keep Chittagong hens for about five years before they humanely slaughter them.
Mi Mi and Eint Phoo Myat collect eggs daily to put them in a cool and dry place before moving them in an incubator. Chicks hatch 21 days later and are moved with their age cohort to designated areas on the farm. The family feeds and vaccinates the chickens for the first four months, and then the baby hens are mature enough to sell to a family as egg-laying hens.
“At first, I sold each mature chicken for 3,500 Kyats ($2.49) each. We saved our money and invested in incubators with capacity for up to 1,000 eggs. And now I have 230 hens laying eggs daily. After paying farm hands daily wages for manual work, and then subtracting feed and vaccine costs, I make about 60,000 Kyats ($42.70) profit per day. COVID-19 didn’t affect my business as I already had feed and vaccine reserves for 3 months,” Saw Edmond explained.
Most customers come from neighboring villages. The average order is approximately 100 chicks. Recently, though, Saw Edmond received his largest order ever. It was for more than 3,000 chickens.
CWS was the customer.
As part of our program to help families overcome hunger and poverty in Myanmar, we are distributing chickens to thousands of families. Each family receives a small starter flock as well as information and workshops on raising chickens, building chicken coops, making chicken feed and keeping their flock healthy. When possible, we purchase supplies from local vendors to support the local economy. Saw Edmond is one of those vendors.
Saw Edmond was grateful to receive this historic order from his hatchery. “I appreciate CWS for these large orders, since the revenue is helpful for our general operations and livelihood. I also want to invite CWS and interested people to visit my hatchery; I will explain you everything you want to know, ” Saw Edmond said with joy.
Paths out of Poverty in Myanmar: Haircuts, Textiles, Rice and More
Marvin Pannell | January 6, 2020
You may have heard about CWS and the ACT Alliance before. ACT is a coalition of churches and faith-based organizations that work in countries all over the world. It’s a platform for its members, including CWS, to coordinate our programs to be as efficient and effective as possible. To that end, many countries, including Myanmar, have ACT national forums. There …
Stories of Change
U Myint Swe shares first aid basics at a recent training session.
First Aid training has the potential to save lives in rural Myanmar
U Myint Swe has been helping drowning and bike accident victims since 1979 as a Red Cross volunteer. The 54-year-old retired police sergeant first earned a First Aid Trainer certificate in 1986, and then he went through a refresher course in 2000. Since then, he has led or co-led at least 30 basic First Aid courses with the Myanmar Red Cross Society.
U Myint recently led a five-day, 35-hour First Aid training for three villages in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady River delta region, where CWS partners with families and village leaders to promote community-based resilience and development. In all, 36 volunteers from Auk Htone, Bar Ma Nee and Ma Yan Kone villages joined the training event. Through instructor demonstrations, directing and coaching, everyone learned to dress wounds and treat burns/scalding and insect bites. The key topics of head injuries and CPR were also covered. Trainees completed a written, verbal and practical test at the end of the course. Four co-trainers led the course, and all participants were greatly appreciative for the chance to learn new, and reinforce known, information and skills.
Because many accidents and injuries happen around the house, U Myint believes First Aid skills are essential for every family, not just health care workers, firemen and emergency responders. And yet, it takes time and resources to reach every village family. Luckily, the Myanmar Red Cross–CWS partnership has made First Aid classes affordable and accessible to more villages, where certified trainers like U Myint thrive with engaged and enthusiastic trainees. Active participants fuel his motivation to make sure topics are easy to understand and practical to use because, most of all, skills must be memorable – and second nature – to use as needed.
U Myint knows from experience using CPR to save three drowning villagers that First Aid is a valuable life skill. He is thankful to CWS for ongoing support and collaboration with the Red Cross. “The most recent training was a success because trainees participated with enthusiasm, and we trainers were very motivated, So, it was worthwhile to feel tired,” he concluded.