Here's a short but poignant graphic novel from our storytelling fellow and illustrator JC about the past five years of #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar.
kite-tales.org/en/article/l...
Kite Tales Storyteller Fellowship แกแแฝแแบ แแปแพแฑแฌแแบแแฝแพแฌแแปแฌแธแ
แฝแฌ แแแบแแถแแแพแญแแฌแธแแซแแแบแ แแปแฑแธแแฐแธแกแแปแฌแธแแผแฎแธแแแบแแซแแแบ ๐
แกแฎแธแแฑแธแแบแแญแฏแทแแผแฎแธแแฐแแปแฌแธแกแแฑแแผแแทแบ แกแแปแแบแกแแแบแแปแฌแธ แแฐแแฎแ
แฝแฌ แ
แฏแแฑแฌแแบแธแแญแฏแแบแแแบ แแฎ form แแญแฏแแแบแธ แแผแแทแบแแฑแธแแซแ
(forms.gle/p7YpThhbbhBj...)
Ethnicity แแฒแท gender แแฎแแปแพแแญแฏแทแแผแญแฏแธแ
แฌแธแแผแฎแธ freelance แแแแบแธแแฑแฌแแบแแปแฌแธแแพแแทแบ แฆแธแ
แฌแธแแฑแธแแซแแแบแ
แแฑแฌแแบแแฏแถแธแแแบ: Feb 28
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Weโve received many applications for the Kite Tales Storyteller Fellowship โ thank you ๐
If you emailed us, please also fill in this short form so we have standardised info:
(forms.gle/p7YpThhbbhBj...)
We prioritise freelancers & diversity.
Deadline: Feb 28.
Weโre opening a small round of support for Myanmar journalists who could really use a hand.
We can support up to eight people, and we want to do this as thoughtfully and meaningfully as possible.
Please help us spread the word within your networks.
This piece by our co-founder Thin Lei Win @thinink.bsky.social is a call to assist the people who are fighting to keep Myanmar's stories alive. If you care about accountability and human rights, please read, share, and support Myanmarโs independent journalists.
kite-tales.org/en/article/f...
Yet the junta may finally succeed in silencing Myanmarโs independent media in a way it has not previously been able to, because Western governments that once championed a free press as a cornerstone of democracy have largely turned away, at precisely the moment their support is most needed.
Websites & social media platforms were blocked, news outlets banned, newsrooms raided, journalists arrested.
Yet the reporting never stopped. Newsrooms regrouped wherever they could, with whoever they had left, & continued, often at great risk, to document what was happening to their communities.
Tomorrow - Feb 1 - marks 5 years since darkness again fell on Myanmar, when the military staged a coup and embarked on a brutal campaign of terror against its own citizens that included dismantling the infrastructure that allowed people to stay informed.
kite-tales.org/en/article/f...
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
#MyanmarIndependenceDay
And that's all the events we have for the week, Thanks to those that have sent us events to add recently, much appreciated.
Couple of other bits. 1stly this piece in @kitetalesmm.bsky.social from a former political prisoner about their experience in Junta Prison.
kite-tales.org/en/article/d...
6/
That's all the events we have, We are certain there are more Myanmar related events that we haven't seen yet. Will keep looking.
Got quite a few highlights. 1st @thinink.bsky.social writes on the coup, the precarious yet amazing work of Myanmar journalists & the work of @kitetalesmm.bsky.social
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Over the past few years, we've tried to keep attention on Myanmar through @kitetalesmm.bsky.social, supporting local reporters & illustrators to write about their own lives and the lives of the people they report on.
kite-tales.org/en/article-c...
"Behind us, soldiers and police fired their guns, chasing us... "This is it," I thought."
This vivid diary from a Shan journalist recounts a day in the Summer 2021 when a protest turned deadly and they narrowly escaped the military.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
Jan 4 is Myanmar's Independence Day & the military junta may be trumpeting its recent sham elections as progress, but make no mistake, 22,000+ political prisoners continue to languish in jail. A reporter who spent months in the notorious Insein jail gives an insight.
kite-tales.org/en/article/d...
Junta-organised elections begin today (Dec 28) in Myanmar, nearly 5 years after the coup. The votes, neither free nor fair, are being held amid civil war. This diary by a Shan journalist about a town's descent into lawlessness encapsulates what's been in happening.
kite-tales.org/en/article/n...
Myanmar journalists in exile are "unable to escape the grim realities of the junta's brutality because their days are spent gathering news of the loss, grief, and despair back home" but downplay their trauma, writes our fellow from Kayin State.
kite-tales.org/en/article/w...
A journalist from Mon State fled Myanmar to continue her passion but said she had to stop working or risk losing her pregnancy.
"The moment I left my job, our family's financial struggles returned. My father... began secretly collecting rubbish to make money."
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
An exiled Myanmar journalist on funding cuts:
"Last year my newsroom secured money from the United States that meant I could finally begin planning to reunite with my mother. Then Donald Trump began slashing support for independent media & all my dreams unravelled."
kite-tales.org/en/article/b...
A Yangon journalist, who stayed on after the coup, wrote of feeling "like a trapped rat" & finally making the heartbreaking decision to leave her home.
"As the plane takes off, I look out the window. The sight tugs at my heart. This is the city I grew up in."
kite-tales.org/en/article/h...
A new tale about #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
kite-tales.org/en/article/e...
Our fellow in northern Shan State wrote in vivid detail about the terrifying night when soldiers & police conducting house-to-house searches reached her home, & turned it upside down. They were looking for those responsible for bombing a local police station.
kite-tales.org/en/article/e...
"I was never someone who grew up saying: โWhen I grow up, I want to be a journalist.โ Now I canโt imagine doing anything else," wrote a Kachin journalist affected by Trump admin's aid cuts that crippled Myanmar exiled media.
A new tale on #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
kite-tales.org/en/article/j...
Yes, we are back with new diaries, after a very busy period of work & life interrupted our work here. Even though we haven't been posting much, we continue to support struggling Myanmar journalists.
We have more diaries in the pipeline and will be posting again regularly so please like and share!
"The losses have been immense, yet I find myself clinging to a fragile gratitude: we are still alive."
One of our previous fellows in Central Myanmar was lost her home in the April earthquake. Here, she wrote about her experiences as well as of her neighbours.
kite-tales.org/en/article/l...
His journey offers a window into the lives of countless children in Myanmar, each carrying their own hopes and struggles. Here's the original diary.
kite-tales.org/en/article/t...
Zawโs story is very common. Across Myanmar, about 10% of children (5-17 yrs) work. In cities like Mandalay, many can be found in teashops, on construction sites, or in homes as domestic workers.
We hope Zaw is still able to learn & keep chasing his dream, despite the quake & political instability.
"Teashop Diaries: The Student.โ tells the story of Zaw (not his real name), a boy who worked in a teashop to support his grandparents. Alongside his long hours, he managed to study three days a week through the MyME project. His dream was simple yet powerful, to one day become a footballer.
It's been nearly 5 months since a massive quake struck Myanmarโs central regions, leaving deep scars on communities already struggling under the military junta.
As we continue to keep affected communities in our thoughts, we look back on a tale from Mandalay.
#Mandalay #KiteTales #childhooddreams
A little boy looks up, not in wonder, but in quiet fear. Above him, paper planes drift in the wind, echoing the lives that were torn away too soon. Over the past weeks, airstrike on a school killed 20 students, while 10 more lives were lost when a wedding reception was bombed. Both were carried out by the Myanmar military junta. These are not isolated tragedies but targeted attacks against civilians, their homes, and their lives. No child should fear the sky. No family should bury their future. Children should feel safe in their classrooms, be able to play outside, and allowed to dream under the clouds. Let us not grow numb. Let us remember. Let us rage, mourn, and keep telling the world: our skies are not safe, and silence is not an option.
โWhere the Sky Should Be Safeโ
Let us not grow numb. Let us remember. Let us rage, mourn, and keep telling the world: our skies are not safe, and silence is not an option.
Artwork by @jcillustration.bsky.social.
