Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development

Skulls (sun bear, wild boar, deer, mythal and hornbill) decorating the Van Kio Museum, Surkhua Village, Chin State, Myanmar. Hunting was, and still is, a huge part of Chin culture. Van Kio was a famous and successful Chin chief under the British. Surkhua today is one of MIID's project villages.

As part of MIID’s pilot nutrition project in Chin State, villagers from 17 townships were given chickens, training and materials to care for them in a more industrial scale than average Chin villagers. Chin State has some of the highest rates of stunting in Myanmar, something projects like this hope to address.

Part of MIID’s Dana-funded program in the Pao zone of Shan State

A young mother from Surkhua village, Chin State, Myanmar. As part of MIID's Chin State project, young and expecting mothers learn about the importance of nutritious eating during pregnancy and the critical first 1000-day window of a child's life.

Pu Taan Ki, a collector of mainly southern Chin antiquities living in Hakha, Chin State. His house boasts skulls from sun bears, wild boar, hornbills, deer, mithal, buffalo, bison and monkeys, alongside British WW2 horns and munitions, and traditional Chin spears, rifles and headdresses.

Steven, an MIID staff member, in a traditional Haka jacket. 

Kalay, a vital and growing town along the main Myanmar-India trade route. It also serves as the gateway for much of Chin State, including the capital, Hakha. The vast majority of Chin people are Christian, and with a large number of them now present in Kalay there are a huge number of churches around the town.

Villagers gathering outside Falam town with their hunting rifles to mark Chin Independence Day, 2018.

Would you expect to find freshwater crabs at around 1500m elevation next to a stream about 2cm deep? No? Well, we managed it!

These freshwater crabs live in surprisingly deep holes next to the very shallow stream. Here, a State Agricultural Institute Lungpi student (Chin state, Myanmar) tries digging for some more. 

He was not successful, and got incredibly muddy for his efforts.

Part of MIID’s Dana-funded program in the Pao zone of Shan State.

Cakung is helping his relative's wife Thaki clear her field for shifting cultivation. The first step is to clear the area around the field, then carefully raze the existing woodland before planting can begin. A team watches the edges of the blaze throughout the process to ensure the fire does not spread beyond what is intended. 

A grandmother weaves traditional Chin fabric in Tiphul village, Chin state. The skill is in decline, as weavers in Kalay and elsewhere produce the same fabrics faster and cheaper.

Unusually for monsoon season, an exceptional sunset over Hakha.

Members of MIID's farmer field school and State Agricultural Institute Lungpi praying in Surkhua village before a training day. They are in the Van Kio museum, dedicated to a famous Chin tribal chief of the above name.

Too much light pollution, sadly.

Thang Law Kee, an MIID staff member, in a traditional Mindat jacket. 

Descending through clouds on the Falam - Kalay union highway in Chin State, Myanmar. Elevation at this point is about 1000m. 

A grandmother and grandson in a small village near Hahka, Chin state. Chin state suffers significant brain drain, with many working age people moving to Yangon and abroad. The result is large numbers of very old people caring for the very young.

Slash and burn for shifting cultivation farming in Tiphul village, Chin state. Shifting cultivation is a misunderstood method of farming, that can be very sustainable if practiced properly. 

Pu Kham Thang in a traditional Tedim jacket. 

Workers at a Department of Fisheries fishery in  Kalay, Sagaing Region, demonstrating fish catching and samples of their stock.

A village gathers on a small island in the lake of the Laiva dam, Chin state, to pay their respects to three teenage boys who drowned in the dam the day before. Most people in Chin cannot swim.