As we begin a new year we wanted to say thank you for joining us as we strive to provide new perspectives and tell untold stories from Myanmar.
Last year saw the Kite Tales launch its fellowship, supporting seven journalists and three illustrators to produce anonymous diary entries chronicling their day-to-day lives inside and outside the country.
We hope last year’s stories have given you a window into the troubles and tragedies of life for journalists and the general population after the coup, as well as people’s resilience, determination, and bravery.
In case you missed them the first time around, we’ve pulled together a list of our favourite diaries from the year so far as well as some testimonies from the journalists themselves. Your generous support made this all possible and we are profoundly grateful. We hope to continue this work into 2023 and would be so appreciative of any further support you might be able to give (our fundraising page remains open and is here).
It will soon be two years since the putsch and the junta has not let up on its all-out assault against media freedom, so we begin with The Secret Reporter, a piece from our Yangon fellow about the decision to continue trying to work in the country.
In On The Run, our Kayah fellow talks about the terrifying nights she spent on the run with her family, telling the children that the sound of artillery in the distance was only thunder as they tried to sleep in the open air.
Our stories have also sought to give an insight into current affairs, like this piece from our Central Myanmar fellow talking about the impact on ordinary people of the pandemic, coup and surging commodity prices.
And in this piece our Kachin fellow talks about the horror of a deadly military strike on a festival near the jade mining town of Hpakant.
One theme that has been pervasive in these personal stories is the extreme emotional toll that the coup and its aftermath has taken on people. Fellows have talked about their loss of job and vocation, the terror of being on the run and the sadness and isolation of seeing colleagues and friends leave.
In our latest piece, our fellow in Chin State recounts the story of a little girl traumatised by the fighting that drove her family from their home.
Kite Tales co-founder Thin Lei Win recently had an opportunity to travel to Thailand for work, where she reconnected with old friends and made new ones through the mutual experience of being exiled.
They told her of harrowing experiences, the kind that have left many of them with both physical and mental scars.
One journalist said they cannot get out of their head the face of a protester who was recently shot dead. The reporter was so intent on doing their work that they just focused on taking notes and pictures of the protester, and it was not until much later that the horror hit them. Now that experience haunts them.
Another friend recounted the panic-fuelled hours when they were desperately looking for blood donors for their mother after surgery. Doctors had told them they had three hours. They succeeded, but they had to do it without the community groups that would normally help in such situations, because their members were either on the run or already detained, just for supporting the pro-democracy movement.
Yet another was placed in solitary confinement - in a small, windowless concrete cell - because she helped a friend who was wanted by the military on bogus charges to escape. She says she looks back at her time in prison with careful detachment - that is the only way to ensure the experience does not overwhelm her every waking hour.
Life in Thailand is much better in many ways, but trouble is never far behind. Carrying a Burmese passport is a challenge at the best of times, so there is a constant, nagging mental strain on those who are in Thailand without a stable job to sponsor their stay for a prolonged period. A significant number of people fall into this category.
Pretty much everyone has lost something, whether it’s loved ones, a precious pregnancy, or the chance to live a peaceful and dignified life.
We are very proud and humbled to have been able to share the personal stories of reporters from across the country with you this year and hope that you will continue to support this project in 2023 (Here’s that GoFundMe link again). Stay tuned for many more stories in the months to come.
Enough from us. We leave you with quotes from two existing fellows:
"I received funds from the Kite Tales Fellowship. During the post-coup period, this supported my family with emergency food and shelter while we were on the run. We are able to write about our own experiences too and it provides us with a space for reporters to share our feelings and our situation. Thank you."
“After the military coup in Myanmar, many journalists lost their jobs. It started during COVID-19. Things worsened with the coup. At a time like this, the diary of a reporter can be written even on a notebook, a phone or a computer, and you can support your family to some extent. So I thank everyone who supports us.”
Thank you!
Thin and Kelly
