This archive report was first published on 24 December 2019.
December 24, 2019
Yangon, Myanmar - In a small Buddhist nunnery in Yangon, 18-year-old Dhama Theingi dreams of becoming an engineer and playing football. However, her life is far from ordinary. She and 65 other girls, aged between four and 18, are child nuns from the Palaung ethnic group who were forced to flee their homes due to conflict in eastern Shan state.
"There was a lot of fighting," Dhama Theingi explained, recalling why her parents sent her hundreds of kilometers from home nine years ago. "It wasn't easy to study and the schools were far away."
"There was a lot of fighting," Dhama Theingi, 18, told AFP, explaining why her parents sent her hundreds of kilometres from home nine years ago. The girls of Mingalar Thaikti nunnery rise at 4am for two hours of prayers before breakfast. They then criss-cross the neighborhood to collect alms, chanting outside houses to receive a spoonful of uncooked rice or small change. Collecting enough money early is crucial as they use this to buy snacks or lunch. Monastic life is often harder for girls than boys in Myanmar. The country's strict Buddhist hierarchy combined with a conservative and patriarchal society means monks are offered far more respect than nuns, who generally receive smaller donations. They are also commonly teased for choosing a monastic life as a last resort after failing to find a boyfriend or husband. Despite the challenges, some of the girls have resolved to remain nuns rather than returning to the secular world. However, others, like Dhama Theingi, are itching to leave and start training as engineers. "There are lots of things we can't do as nuns and it really annoys me," she said. Sein Maw, Yangon director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, said there are nearly 18,000 child nuns and novice monks attending monastic schools in the commercial capital. "Armed conflict and poverty mean numbers of students just keep going up," he said.
