Singaporean nuns bring hope to conflict-ridden Myanmar

By Joseph Tulloch

In 2021, a military junta seized power in Myanmar, plunging the country into a state of civil conflict, substantially worsening what was already a difficult humanitarian situation.

For several decades, the Canossian Daughters of Charity, a religious congregation with a strong presence in Singapore, have been at work in the country, aiming to build a brighter future for Myanmar’s youth.

Canossian Sister Janet Wang spoke to Vatican News about her religious congregation’s work in Myanmar.

Training future teachers

Canossian Sisters from Singapore first began making trips to Myanmar in 1996 – a journey of around 2,000 kilometres. They went, says Sr. Wang, in response to a request for help from the late Burmese Archbishop Matthias U Shwe, then Bishop of Taunggyi.

The Archbishop had invited them to educate the country’s young, and to help with the formation of groups of young evangelizers. Volunteers travelled regularly from Singapore to Myanmar on  mission outreach trips for more than a decade, organising everything from leadership camps and English lessons to Bible courses.

Then, in 2008, the Canossians set up their first centre in the country, which became home to a small group of Sisters and lay partners. That community began a programme aimed at the integral formation of educators, with the motto: “Serve With Love.”

In 2012, they opened Canossa Home, which housed residential facilities for the formation of educators, as well as a boarding house for children from poor families living in villages with no schools.

These educators are trained to give quality care to children and teenagers staying in boarding houses run by the local Church – who otherwise would have no access to professional training – by educating them to one day become teachers themselves.

Since the centre was opened in 2008, the Sisters have trained about 350 young women, most of whom have now returned to serve in communities throughout Myanmar.

In 2017, meanwhile, the Sisters opened a preschool for children in the area.

‘Gate of Hope’: training for the tourism industry

In 2017, the Sisters opened another centre – entitled “Gate of Hope” – near the tourist hotspot of Inle Lake. Here, they train small groups of young women for the hospitality industry, allowing them to find work in hotels and restaurants.

The difficult financial situation in Myanmar, Sr. Wang says, makes this work all the more urgent.

She notes that the cost of rice – which Myanmar itself produces in large quantities – has tripled in recent times, and that the collapse of the tourist industry has left many people without work.  

To help combat these difficulties, the Canossians have begun a Food for the Poor Project, distributing 300 packets of food to children and families in need every week. They have also continued their efforts to teach young people English.

“It puts them in contact with the rest of the world,” says Sr. Wang, “and allows them to go abroad and search for jobs.”

As well as working with the communities based near their centres, the Sisters travel to remote areas of the country. “We give material help as well as moral and spiritual support,” says Sr. Wang. “We want to communicate God’s love and care for them in these critical times.”

Keeping hope alive

Since the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and the military coup in 2021, volunteers from Singapore have not been able to travel to Myanmar.

The Sisters and volunteers in Singapore keep in touch by sending parcels with food and other necessities. The communities in Myanmar, meanwhile, are kept running by six local Canossian Sisters and trained local lay staff, mentored by an experienced Sister from Singapore.

And, on the 13th day of every month, in honour of Our Lady of Fatima, Sisters, volunteers, educators and children in both Myanmar and Singapore meet on Zoom and to pray the rosary together.

They pray for peace in Myanmar, says Sr. Wang: “What we need above all now is peace and harmony.”