The Himalayan foothills of northern Myanmar form the ancestral homeland of the Kachins, an ethnic group that has endured decades of brutal repression at the hands of the Burmese military. Starting in 1962, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) waged a low-grade insurgency against the Burmese military.
Finding Faith In Myanmar
Published December 28, 2008
Loud voices jolt me awake. It's past midnight and I'm here in the Himalayan foothills of northern Myanmar illegally. Adrenaline pumping, I roll under the bed as shouts shake my hut's thin bamboo walls:
"Happy Christmas! Merry Christmas! Jesus Christ is born!"
I check my clock. 12:10 am on December 1st. Here in Kachin, the Christmas season has begun.
Unlike ethnic Burmese, who form the majority in Myanmar, the six tribes collectively known as Kachins are devout Christians. Their faith has bound the Kachins together as one people and helped them endure decades of repression, suffering and loss.
For me, a nominal Christian, living among the Kachins opened my eyes to the enduring power of religious faith...
Pulitzer Center grantee Ryan Libre received the Eugene Smith, Howard Chapnick Grant to open Documentary Arts Asia (DAA) center and library in Chiangmai, Thailand.
Ryan Libre receives the 2010 Nikon Inspiration Award for photographs on the Kachin struggle for independence in Myanmar.
Grantee
Tim Patterson is a travel journalist based in Vermont whose work has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Worldhum.com and the Common Language Project. Tim is also a contributing editor...
