A medical student was taking a shower near his home in the jungles of eastern Myanmar when he heard military jets flying overhead. Dressed only in the underground, he ran to a bomb shelter. But there, he faced another danger: a black snake. Grabbing a stick, he killed it before it could stop him.
“It was scary,” said Khuu Nay Reh Reh Win, 21, who was inspired to become a surgeon after working as a medic in the rebel army. “The fear of death from a snake is as real as the fear of bombs.”
This is the life of students at Karenni Medical College, a school established two years ago in territory controlled by rebel forces. The campus, with classrooms and dorms made of bamboo and bamboo, was built deep in the forest by the professors and students themselves.
It is one of 18 small universities, colleges and schools that have been established in the rebel-held area in the four years since Mymar forces announced that they ousted the military leaders, according to anti-junta officials in five regions of the country. They don’t have the money for much-needed equipment and supplies, and their facilities are simple. But the hope is that these schools can help build the foundation of a new democratic society in this country.
“We woke up without waiting for the Revolution to end because if young people are restricted from education for a long time, they can change their ways and miss out on higher education opportunities,” said Dr. Myo Khanti ko ko, founder and President of Karenni Medical College.
Myanmar’s civil war has won songs of life in the country. Thousands of people have been killed by the army. Tens of thousands more were arrested. Millions have become refugees in their own countries. The economy is in ruins.
The Anti-Junta forces are a loose mix of armed separatist ethnic groups fighting against the military, and units formed recently from the ranks of pro-democracy protesters.
In the past 15 months, nationalist revivalist forces have scored many victories in the countryside, and the anti-juntas now want to control more than half of the country, fueling optimism among supporters.
But the junta retains control of Myanmar’s major cities and the capital, Naypyidaw, as well as considerable wealth and spiritual power. The clear cut victory is always that the rebels, without a strong transmission of countries, the most important, structure of anthony device, security analyst in Bangkok, security analyst in Bangkok, and group of war books.
The 18 schools, which are all located in rebel-held areas of violence, are recognized by the federal government, said the Deputy Minister of Education, Sai Khaing Myo. Students pay little or nothing to be had.
The teachers are also trying to establish a school system for elementary and high school students, many of whom live in refugee camps.
Universities and colleges, with a student body ranging from the lower grades, offer degrees in the sciences, liberal arts, agriculture, technology, and nursing. Some have references to international universities and send students abroad to study.
To avoid airstrikes, schools remain hidden as much as possible. Some took buildings that were partly manifested by fighting. Others were displaced from their habitats or hidden under the jungle canopy.
Some students go to college in refugee camps where they live with parents and siblings. Some enlisted in the rebel army and went to class where they did not fight.
One school, the Ta’ang Arts Academy in Shan State, is dedicated to culture and community. Its first class has 27 students. The director, Owm SA Ngarr, said he hopes to save the local culture while using music “as a way to heal the trauma of the conflict.”
The biggest challenge, said the management, was the lack of money to buy equipment, pay salaries and improve facilities.
But everyone lives in fear of the junta Jets and drones.
“Every day, we teach under the constant anxiety of aerial bombs, listen carefully to the sound of airplanes and look at the sky anxiously,” said the child Hsan Chit su, the founder of (chemistry professor at) Phanshaw University in Karenni State, a Liberal Arts College opened in March.
In the days after the 2021 coup, doctors in Mandalay are leading public mobilization ballots across the country. Now, some of them are leading the efforts to establish medical schools in the region dominated by the volcano.
Khin Maung Lwin, who left the protest in his post as the line of the University University, Mandalay, established a school of Medical Science in Kachin State in 2023 and the professors who participated in the civil society movement.
The school, which has about 100 students, was forced to close twice when bombs started falling nearby. Professors and students temporarily moved to a safe place near the Chinese border, where students helped care for the wounded.
“Many of these students have gained extensive hands-on experience in grief therapy,” said Dr. Khin Maung Lwin.
Nelly Phoe, 22, who plans to become a surgeon, is typical of many students at Karenni State’s medical school, the second to open.
His family’s house was destroyed by Junta Artillery. His mother and younger brother live in a refugee camp. My two older brothers are soldiers in the Karenni tribes for the defense.
But his life is not easy at Jungle Medical School.
A big snake once lay next to his pillow while he was sleeping. Sometimes, due to inadequate facilities, you bathe in the pond where the cows drink. When drones and jets flew overhead, he quickly interrupted his studies, turned off his flashlight and fled to a bomb shelter.
And if the snakes and wind attacks weren’t enough, he and the other students have to deal with the local cows that roam the college and eat their clothes. A veterinarian from the region said that these cows may have developed a desire for soap because their food does not contain salt.
Mr. Khuu Nay Reh Win Win, a student who met the snake at the shelter in Bobe, said that the cows had eaten everything but their medical hats and his scrub which was removed from the school.
“I lost more than 10 shirts to cows,” he said.
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