Temples are traditionally safe zones. People in Myanmar gather and hide in temples to leave behind lives full of troubles. In this Western region, there are still a lot of riots and fights about who owns the land. I can’t imagine what it was like in the 60’s when the militants were pillaging villages. This is a refuge, a paradise.
“Many times family and friends are not ready for you to become a nun,” Ma Su Nawe told my guide. “They fear that they will lose you and wonder how you can live without working. Sometimes they think that you are selfish, and that you have made a decision that will bring them suffering. They may think that this is just an escape from your responsibilities.” Ma Su Nawe followed her calling and faith. She still visits with her family.
China’s economic transformation has brought wrenching social change. Young people have abandoned ancestral villages, leaving their parents in the countryside – a generation now struggling with solitude even as its health deteriorates and its economic circumstances languish. Their animals are their saving grace. The connection between them is inseparable. They are both survivors. One wears the traditional cultural revolution clothing; the other keeps warm the old-fashioned way.
