Dear Thuriya

My fascination with Ashin Thuriya, a novice monk and his two brothers Ashin Wimala and Ashin Tezawbatha began during a chance encounter in 2009 in a quiet neighbourhood in Mandalay when he was eight. I watched from afar as they walked barefooted on the streets collecting alms, approached them with my guide, Soe and followed them back to their home –– Sulamuni Brick Monastery. Hence began a dialogue sustained through photography, observation, Soe’s conscientious translation and subtle, yet powerful non-verbal communication. I cannot explain why I feel so strongly about Thuriya and his brothers, but I hope to stay in touch with the boys for as long as I can. 

DEAR THURIYA is part of Saved by Buddha: Sulamuni’s Seven, an ongoing long-term documentary project.

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NESTLED in a quiet residential area in Mandalay, the Sulamuni Brick Monastery is home to seven young novice monks from the Palaung hill tribe, one of Myanmar’s 135 ethnic minority groups.

Under the care of abbot Ashin U Wiseinda, also of Palaung descent, the boys, who come from a village in the tea-producing province of Thibaw in the northern Shan state, will spend the remaining years of their childhood in a monastic school sheltered from the harsh realities of life in Myanmar.

“I want to help my tribe improve by teaching the children Buddhism and Myanmar language so they can work in the city,” says Ashin U Wiseinda. “Hopefully it will lead to better lives for them.”

For many hill tribe families, annual school fees, study materials and uniforms at a typical government primary school, which add up to at least 60,000 kyat (US $60), are heavy financial commitments to bear. Monastic schools, on the other hand, provide a moral compass with its religious and cultural emphasis and more importantly, free education that will pave the way towards a brighter future for their children.

Dating back to the 11th century, the Buddhist monastic school system in Myanmar was a binding social tool that provided education for children from all walks of Burmese society. It also helped the country achieve a literacy rate that surpassed other Far Eastern countries in the early 1900s. Even the Father of Burmese Independence, General Aung San, received his primary education at a monastic school in Natmuak, Yangon.

However, as the pages of Myanmar’s turbulent history filled up over the years with scars from a messy era of colonialism and the disastrous establishment of socialist rule, the role of monastic schools changed in importance too.

As the British established their presence over 62 years of rule, missionary schools gradually replaced monasteries as educational hubs in the cities, despite still being the centre of learning in rural areas. It was eventually in 1962 that the junta abolished the monastic education system in a nation-wide effort to consolidate power and implement the ways of socialism.

While the rest of Asia jumped on the bandwagon of progress over the next few decades, Myanmar, once the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia and the world’s largest exporter of rice, sank into a black hole of poverty and civil unrest. It was only in the early 1990s that the government decide to revive monastic education as a way of coping with the growing number of orphans and children whose families were caught in the country’s deepening economic crisis.

TODAY, an estimated 190,000 orphans and children from impoverished backgrounds attend the 1,300 monastic schools in Myanmar. The number is growing, as monks and volunteer teachers work hard to spread the message of hope that education will bring.

Take Ashin Ardaksa, 42, who became a novice to escape a troubled childhood, for example. He opened his village’s first monastic education centre three years ago to help others like himself. From a humble 46 students, the centre now caters to 240 needy children from a cluster of villages in Bagan.

“Even though our economic and political situations are not good, people still have a healthy spiritual well-being and seek knowledge,” he says. “If we start from our home, I believe our actions can slowly influence the whole country to progress.” Around 89 per cent of Myanmar’s 50-million citizens are followers of Theravada Buddhism. According to the Education Ministry, monastic schools are required to use the same grading system, curriculum and examinations as state schools. In addition, students develop an ethical and moral foundation through the teachings of Buddha.

Many of the larger monastic schools in cities like Yangon and Mandalay accept orphans from remote areas who have been sent by monks from their villages. Relying heavily on donations, they operate as boarding schools and provide the children meals and lodging. Although it is not compulsory for the children to become novices, it is encouraged so the child can collect his own share of daily food alms.

AS the monastic education system only provides for children up to 16 years of age, the road ahead for Myanmar’s underprivileged youth to continue learning is fraught with challenges. Other than the lack of a support network, many of them are also pressurised to return home and start work in the fields.

Daw Katthrakayi, 51, who runs the Withakha nunnery in the outskirts of Yangon, says that sometimes, the push for children to study is a lost cause, as most rural families do not understand the potential of the changes education can bring. “For them, life is nothing more than good harvests and healthy children,” she says. “They don’t realise that with education, a child can be the master of his own life and have a chance to experience the world outside.”