Devoting one’s life to preserving and spreading Buddha’s teachings is already one of the most challenging callings a Burmese woman can take up.

No easy task at the best of times, the current situation in Myanmar since the military seized power makes being a Buddhist nun even harder than usual.

Burma Associated Press visited a nunnery in Yangon to learn more about how the country’s turmoil is affecting nuns.

The morning BAP visited the nunnery, the grounds were completely soaked due to heavy rain that had begun the night before and had continued into the  next day.

Nuns were busy preparing to leave for their usual morning walk to seek alms despite the rain.

However, at the last minute Daw Ae Thein Gi, the head of the nunnery, made the decision to call off the trip because of the wet weather.

She explains that she decided to call off the walk because she did not want her charges to run the risk of falling ill from spending long hours out in the rain. The donations she expected they would “be able to collect did not justify the risk, she added.

It isn’t just the weather that the nuns have to contend with when it comes to seeking donations; the country’s political and economic instability, and COVID-19 have also disrupted their efforts.

“Normally, we used to go out two days before Uposatha day, a Buddhist worship day normally observed once a week, but now we don’t go when there is heavy rain as people are burdened by economic hardship,” Ae Thein Gi says.

Even the deeply ingrained Burmese practice of giving alms to nuns and monks, something normally seen just about anywhere in the country, has been disrupted by the political and economic uncertainty roiling the country.

While Buddhist monks face some of the same difficulties, the situation has been particularly hard for nuns as they normally have fewer regular donors compared to their male counterparts.

Under normal circumstances  some 110 out 140 nuns under Ae Thein Gi’s supervision walk along the roads in the township where the nunnery is located, she   says.

“Donations these days are half what they used to be. In the past, even small grocery shops would give small donations of things like garlic or coffee powder instead of money, but with the cost of living soaring they can no longer even afford that,” Ae Thein Gi says.

“Times are so hard that even small things are hard to donate,” she adds.

Admittedly, she says, donations first started shrinking when COVID-19 hit the country hard in 2020, but the situation is now compounded by the economic hardship the country is undergoing.

Even regular donors have started cutting back, she says.

People who used to donate every month are now doing so every three months instead and she says she now has to cut back on the meals the nunnery cooks to compensate.

“I try to cut back where I can , but it is difficult, especially with rice. If there isn’t enough rice, their health will begin to suffer. So, I try to ensure there is enough rice,” she says, adding that she now uses more beans as a substitute for meat that is now more expensive as a source of protein

“I am hesitant to call up donors when we don’t have enough rice since people who used to donate 50 bags of rice in the past can now only donate five to 10 bags,” she says.

In addition to having to deal with food shortages, she says she now has to worry about a lack of medicines to deal with the colds and flus that are common during the rainy season.

All this is made more difficult by the fact that they now have to worry about physical security when that never used to be a consideration at all.

“No one has come out and openly said we should not go out to seek donations, but we have to plan for that these days. We need to find out what the security situation is in a particular area, whether there were any ‘incidents’ there, before we can think of going there. We can’t freely go anywhere anymore,” she says.

She now tells young novices to avoid crowded places and to not pick up random bags or packages and constantly worries about their safety while they are out.

She used to only arrange transportation for young nuns to go out to receive donations, but now also arranges transportation for the return trip for safety’s sake.

“It is an added cost in a time of hardship, but it is better for the safety of the young ones,” Ae Thein Gi explains.

At another nunnery in Yangon run by Daw Pyinnyar the situation is much the same.

Daw Pyinnyar says her facility hosts nearly 250 nuns, including young novices who live there.

She too tells of a significant drop in donations.

She says where they used to serve meat for meals twice a week, this has been reduced to once a week. Additionally, she says there have been no donors of meals so far this year, even as they receive smaller donations when they go out to seek alms.

On top of the cost of food, the nunnery also has to pay the salaries of teachers brought in to teach the novices.

Daw Pyinnyar now constantly worries about the rising cost of living and the accompanying belt tightening.

“I worry about what the future holds since I have a lot of young girls under my care and the question of whether there is enough food for them is always on my mind,” she says.

In case there is any question about these hardships being isolated cases, Daw Thone Nandi, says the nunnery she oversees is also experiencing similar difficulties.

She too says the facility she oversees has had to cut back on the frequency meat is available for meals as prices have risen.

“While we are not yet starving there is also absolutely nothing extra,” Daw Thone Nandi says.

She says her main concern for now is the nunnery’s finances.

“Essentially, people who used to donate K10,000 now give K5,000, those who used to give K5,000, now can only afford K2,000. People have told me that they hope to go back to their usual giving once things are more normal.”

Due to the drop in monetary donations, the use of everything from cooking oil to eggs used every week in the nunnery  is now strictly rationed.

“In the past, I didn’t have to worry about the cost of food. If I want to provide chicken for a meal, I could. Now I have to think twice about it or maybe substitute something cheaper to make sure we don’t run out of money,” Daw Thone Nandi says.

Even with the conditions as they are, the nuns that BAP spoke to say they are hopeful and will continue to do what they can to deal with the situation.

Daw Thone Nandi says she believes the nuns under her care will not starve, and that focusing on her religious learning brings her comfort.

Meanwhile, Daw Ae Thein Gi says she hopes that her benefactors will be able to pull through the hard times that the whole country is sharing.

Burma Associated Press