Mizzima/Insight Myanmar

Myanmar doctor Pyae Phyo Kyaw has had to treat Karenni villagers who have lost limbs to landmines that he saw soldiers plant, and he has seen others die from treatable diseases because they simply couldn’t get the proper medicine. Combined with what that Karenni population has had to so long endure, it all strengthens his commitment to help build a more equitable society in Myanmar.

Yet, Pyae Phyo Kyaw’s story is not traditional. 

In a Podcast by Insight Myanmar, Pyae Phyo Kyaw describes how he is simultaneously helping his people on the one hand, while taking a sledgehammer to the barriers that have long defined Burmese society on the other. A gay doctor who has traveled deep into Karenni territory with his boyfriend to set up a mobile medical clinic in some of the hardest hit areas, Pyae Phyo Kyaw is attempting to dismantle, by word and deed, the structures of prejudice and mistrust that have long existed within his country.

This is an insight into Burmese culture and norms, as well as insight into the challenges for medical practitioners operating in an ethnic area of Myanmar where medical treatment is hard to come by and many suffer because the commonest forms of medicine are not available. 

Check out the Insight Myanmar Podcast interview with Pyae Phyo Kyaw here:

https://insightmyanmar.org/complete-shows/2022/3/4/episode-94-pride-and-...