It’s been two years since we hosted the last Student Leadership Camp. In the last two years, many things have changed. Most parts of the world have already recovered from the impact of the Covid pandemic but Myanmar, formerly Burma, has not. While the world is slowly recovering, Myanmar is now facing another crisis — a deadly war between one of the most vicious military regimes and the people of Myanmar led by young people and different ethnic armed groups.
On our second day of the camp, we started hearing bomb shelling during the day as we prepared for the outdoor team-building games. The setup was more like a training camp. The participants had to crawl under some ropes tied across each other. Then teams will have to bring each member into a circle. After that, each member of the team will carry water to fill up a big bottle. Then the two teams will have to fight each other in the tug-of-war game. One volunteer shared, “Wajau, this is like the training I went through just early this year.” I was curious and asked about the training. He mentioned that in the town where he lives, the majority of the young men enlisted to join the training of the KIA (Kachin Independent Army). “Were you scared,” I asked him. He answered, “I am no longer afraid to die, Wajau.”
Many young men and women volunteered and enlisted in many of the ethnic armed groups like KIA. But there are also those who choose to remain and serve in a different way. Many of the students I used to work with in the Catholic Student Action Myitkyina (CSAM) movement are now working in Church-based organizations or non-government organizations. But there is also an ongoing exodus of many of the young people particularly young men because of the new conscription law passed that requires all young men between 18 and 35 years old to serve the Burmese military.
After we finished preparing the grounds for the outdoor team-building activities, we returned to the main hall to listen to the lectures given by one of the newly ordained priests in the Diocese. The whole camp is designed to allow the young person to discover who he is as a person, as a Catholic and as a member of the CSAM.