Help Myanmar's Storytellers
The Kite Tales Digital Storytelling Fund will support struggling young Myanmar journalists, artists and other creative professionals, as the military snuffs out media freedoms and takes the country back into isolation.
Thanks to your donations and a grant from a Foundation, we are more than halfway to our target and are now able to support five journalists and one illustrator. You can read their writings on our site here . We will also be sharing their diaries through a monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.
We are also offering a choice of photo prints to anyone who donates more than £100 as a sign of appreciation. You can find the photos here .
Who we are
The Kite Tales is a non-profit storytelling project and UK registered charity set up by two experienced journalists - one Burmese, one British - to chronicle the lives of ordinary people in Myanmar. The return to military rule makes that mission harder and all the more important.
The situation
Until the morning of February 1 last year, Myanmar had a vibrant arts and media scene of journalists, photographers, filmmakers, artists and musicians.
Then soldiers toppled the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, turned their guns on protesters and ended a decade of relative freedom for the country’s 54 million people, who had hoped to put the old dark days of army rule behind them.
Fear has returned, and so has financial hardship - the coup came on the heels of a devastating economic downturn caused by COVID-19.
Many journalists have been forced to leave their families and flee the country. Others are in hiding, struggling to make ends meet, while trying to avoid arrest or worse.
As the world’s attention turns elsewhere, it’s more important than ever to support local reporters, who are risking their lives to tell the world what is happening in the country, as well as those whose storytelling takes a different form - from poetry to music.
How the funds will be used
We are raising this money for a fund to support Myanmar storytellers. They will each receive a stipend of £220 per month, which is a considerable amount in Myanmar kyat - the local currency - giving them breathing space to continue to tell the world what is happening in Myanmar.
Our aim is to support at least 10 storytellers for one year. The more money we receive the more people we can support.
The recipients, whose identities are confirmed and cross-checked through our extensive networks across the country, will be kept anonymous for their safety.
They will produce bi-weekly diaries or other types of stories that we will share on the The Kite Tales website, to help ensure the situation facing the Myanmar people is not forgotten.
We are grateful for any contributions.
