"We work with 39 villages in the southern Chin state," explains Aung Khant, program manger at Solidarités International. "Of the 39 villages, we can access two by car and 10 by motorbike. We must hike to get to the remaining 27."
Solidarités International is one of the few international NGOs with boots on the ground in Kanpetlet, one of the poorest towns in the Chin state, the poorest province in the country in the hilly west of Myanmar.
The ethnic Chin people -- the tribe whose older women still wear the traditional facial tattoos -- number approximately 1.5 million and are spread between Myanmar and neighbouring India. At best, this majority Christian ethnic group has been ruthlessly ignored by the military government that has ruled the country for the past five decades; at worst, they have been one of the most persecuted in all of Myanmar, as groups like Human Rights Watch have alleged.
To Read More... Click...