Of all the villages visited by I Love Myanmar, Htaw Pai is by far the poorest. Village temporary houses consist of no more than a simple wooden or bamboo frame covered with canvas. These temporary shelters are the smallest ILM has seen in the region, some measured no more than 6x 10ft and unlike other homes we have seen, these were bare.  Initially, villagers did not even have utensils to cook the rice they had received.

Six households own land in the village. Although crops are growing well, only 72 of 165 acres were planted and farmers do not think the harvest will be sufficient to last till their next harvest.

In this village, fishing is seasonal (Nov-Feb) and even farmers need to supplement their income as they are very poor; hence all farmers fish and all fishermen work for those with fields when needed.  

However, villagers are so poor they do not have nets or equipment to fish with. They resort to borrowing nets from surrounding villages and when they return the nets, a portion of their catch goes towards the lender.

Boats are also extremely important in the area, not only for fishing but transportation. During the dry season when their water lakes dry up, villagers utilize their boat to carry drinking water from other villages. However there are only 8 boats amongst the 31 households.

To add to their misery, although the river that flows in front of their village is currently teaming with aquatic life, the village is unable to purchase fishing rights from the land owner, hence are unable to fish. If caught fishing, villagers will have their nets confiscated.

Left: River rights needed to fish in river in front of village

ILM donated 31 houses to be built in Htaw Pai. Villagers have already donated part of the land allocated for the building of new houses, however a portion of the allocated area is held by a landowner from a different village that was only prepared to part with the property if it was purchased. Yet it was clear the village had no economic ability.

Left: Portion of land allocated cleared for house building

I Love Myanmar Team

Although the initial purpose was only to monitor the house building progress and gather data, seeing the situation, the team acted quickly and decisively to assist this village.

The next morning ILM staff met with the owner of the river; after negotiations, the right to fish in the river was purchased for the village of Htaw Pai.

In addition, ILM also facilitated the discussion between the landowner from neighboring village and Htaw Pai villagers; after a lengthy dialog, the landowner finally agreed to switch land and free up necessary space for the construction of houses.

ILM had intended to order 10 boats for Htaw Pai originally; however a total of 23 boats will be donated for the village now to ensure each household has a boat.

Fishing nets and enough rice to last till their harvest early December were purchased in the town of Bogale. ILM hopes to distribute these goods as soon as possible to the villagers accompanied by a gospel team to make known the love of Christ to the village of Htaw Pai.