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From A Barren Land

It was a lazy afternoon when I reached Nanthar Myaing village. The villagers were having their nap inside the bamboo huts. Children were throwing water to each other while the scorching sun over the head was not showing any sign of calming down. The dusty roads and less number of big trees had made the village look cruel, bare and depressing.

“We had to sell our own land to move here. This land is infertile, so they gave it to us” said Daw Khin Than, a 65 years old woman who lives in the Nanthar Myaing village for twenty-four years. The village, situated in Madaya Township, is locally known as the resettlement village for the leprosy affected people. I was introduced to the friends of Daw Khin Than, in the village. I met Minnie, U KyawNyin, Daw Than Ji, Daw Khin Than, Daw Khin San Ji, who also had to move here from Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Yangon and many other places, for leprosy. They welcomed me as if they have found someone from their lost families after a long time.

Barrenness and stigma associated with the disease build the character of the village. The village has a population of 1,400, of whom 360 persons are affected by leprosy; others are their following generation. Although most of them are now disease-free, they are not allowed to move from the village. Busking, woodcutting, charcoal making, agriculture and animal husbandry are the main ways to earn their bread.

To start a new life, the villagers of Nanthar Myaing left their past and the loved one far behind. The first arrival in the place, they were greeted with nothing but the dirt, rock, and with a handful charity from the authority to build houses. They have come a long way after that and had been struggling ever since to live a better life. “We are paid a monthly allowance of 150 kyats/0.15USD (for patients of 15 years and over), 450 kyats/0.15USD (for patients over 50 years), 600 kyats/0.62USD (for patients over 60 years), which is nothing but a joke. The money does not even pay our bandages’, said U Ye Zaw, resident of the village and also a social worker.

Donnie, 85 years old woman who serves the church said “I know I am a patient and it’s not possible to change people’s attitude, so I have accepted the truth and devoted my life to God”. Minnie, U KyawNyin, Daw Than Ji, Daw Khin Than too by her side.

Deformity of their body and the numbness could not bury their warmth and cravings for life. Their belief and courage turned the infertile, miserable land into productive one. It is the tale from that barren land, the people who live there, relationship between the land and them; their adaptation toward the disability of feeling pain, their love and faith for the new generation to bring changes.

Photographs & Text: Sadia Marium | Website: http://mariumsadia.com