Since the military coup in 2021, the country has experienced an economic collapse that has deeply affected both ordinary people and monastic communities, leaving many facing food insecurity. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 13.3 million people now are not receiving basic levels of nutrition in Myanmar, due to political turmoil, armed conflict, economic downturn, pre-existing poverty, and climate-related shocks. Better Burma’s local monastic support team has established a charity called ‘ကပ္ပိယကာရက’ (Kappiya Kāraka) to safely carry out its activities to address this challenge.

Through research that recently conducted on the ground by our local team, we learned that many monastic communities—both those in cities with large monastic populations as well as those in rural areas across the country—are not receiving enough food regularly, and that aid programs also do not typically reach them. To support these monastic communities, Kappiya Kāraka will organize almsgiving during the daily alms rounds of monks, nuns, and novices. In addition, we will survey communal almsgiving associations, enabling those in particular that are struggling to continue their charitable work. By directly supporting monastic communities, we alleviate the growing financial burdens of their regular supporters.

Our charity initiative, ကပ္ပိယကာရက (Kappiya Kāraka), organizes regular almsgiving activities in the Sagaing Hills, one of Myanmar’s sacred sites. Located in central Myanmar, Sagaing is renowned for its rolling hills adorned with clusters of pagodas, monasteries, and nunneries. Based on Nandar Min Lwin's The History of Famous Pagodas in Sagaing, and a 2018 report by the Sagaing Township Department of Religious Affairs, we estimate that there are probably about 8,000 monks and 6,500 novices in 1,390 monasteries, and 8,000 nuns in 475 nunneries in Sagaing Township.

Our second target group for support will be the monastic community in Mandalay, Myanmar's last royal capital, whose monastic population is comparable to that of Sagaing.

We will primarily provide alms, including rice and nourishing curries such as chicken, fish, or eggs, to monks, nuns, and novices on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis, according to our capacity.

Another of our goals is to support local almsgiving charities that have struggled to continue their work since the country's economic collapse after the 2021 coup. Many monastic communities worldwide rely on communal almsgiving groups with varying levels of reach. However, a lack of volunteers and local donors have led many of these groups to either drastically reduce or even completely cease their charitable activities over the past three years. Our initiative will work to revive and sustain these essential networks of support.