Farmers burn their fields in the Shan region to get ready for the next crop.

Silk is made from the fibers inside the stalk of the plant.

In Myanmar, many women who live in the Inle Lake village harvest lotus to extract the fibers for silk.  This is a luxury item in Myanmar and vital to the Inle Lake economy.

Beautiful colors are used for the dying process, this orange silk is ready to be spun.

Look at this beautiful blue color too.

Sponsored by Shanta and Axiem

Children work outside of the school building on a beautiful day, supervised by their instructor.

Village elders and men welcome us to the village with a traditional dance and drum.

These young women founded a women’s group and started a community banking project. Now, many women have been able to take out a loan, start a business for them or their family.

In the future, we have plans to improve the road to Tan Tung village.  It is a dirt road with no gravel and when monsoon season hits, it becomes nearly impassable.

Farmers tie a rope around their waist and climb down the side of the hill to harvest green tea.

Axiem partnered with Shanta to install clean water in the Tan Tung village.  Before, villagers did not have access to clean water unless they went outside of the village.  Thirteen water faucets were installed in the village, thus every 7 houses have their own faucet.

This farmer was able to learn the skills he needed to start his own crop and his plants are doing great!  Shanta sponsors programs with the goal of sustainability, both environmentally and financially.

This woman was part of the Pig Farm Initiative and was able to learn the skills she needed to start her very own pig farm. She had a successful year and was able to take her profits from that year to send her daughter to school.  In Myanmar, education is not free or considered a public right.

Bagan, Myanmar