Children and youth from urban and rural areas attend a program at Sacred Heart Church under Pathein Diocese of Myanmar on June 26. (Photo: Pathein Diocese)
A Catholic parish in western Myanmar has stepped up efforts to address poverty and promote social interaction between young people from rich urban centers and impoverished villages.
The Sacred Heart Church at Myaungmya, under the Pathein Diocese, organized a gathering of some 140 young people on June 26 aiming to create bonding between the rich and the poor, said its organizer Father Bosco Aung Tun Lay.The young people participated in team-building activities including music and dance, said a report about the event on the diocesan portal.
Father Lay said the program helped village youths overcome their alienation. "Due to their [poor] economic status, young people who are living in villages feel strange to those living in towns although they are from the same parish," the priest said.
“After meeting and working together, they became more friendly and open to one another without inferiority. They feel more confident to talk to one another,” said the priest said.
Participants said the program helped them to learn about each other better and get rid of preconceived notions.
“I could not even do anything in front of them like dancing, and singing, because I was afraid of them,” said Celestine, from remote Phoe Gaung Chaung village. “Now, I have become very friendly with them, and no more alienation from them,” he said referring to young people from cities.
Goreti Poe Lay, a young girl, said that she is happy to be elected to the executive committee of the church’s youth group.
“There is no inferiority among us. We can relate to one another. We are more friendly and closer to each other than before,” she said.
The church is also making efforts to overcome the isolation of young people through social and cultural activities, Father Lay said.
Currently, the priest said, the parish is supporting 35 young people to study music as a part of its social integration program. A priority for the parish is to tackle poverty among children and young people in the region.
Children living in poverty is a major concern for the hierarchy and the social activists in the region.
The Ayeyarwady Region, which covers Pathein Diocese, is among the five states that contain about 60 percent of the poor children in Myanmar, according to UNICEF. The other poverty-hit regions are Shan State, Sagaing Region, Rakhine State, and Magway Region.
A post-Covid study carried out by UNICEF found that 36.4 percent of poor children in Myanmar live in rural areas compared to 15.4 percent in urban areas.
World Bank data shows ongoing conflicts and the pandemic have triggered a 2.2 percent rise in unemployment in Myanmar, pushing millions of families into poverty.
The church in Myaungmya is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the region. Catholicism here dates to 1848 thanks to European missionaries.
The Sacred Heart Church has some 5,400 Catholics.