The Myanmar Nurses Dodging Drones To Graduate From A Secret Jungle School

It was a remarkable, but secretive, ceremonial that took spot earlier this week for a people of 21 students graduating pinch nursing degrees successful Myanmar. Hidden distant from nan spy drones of nan country’s subject junta, and moving astir net blackouts, nan students had trained arsenic portion of an underground wellness system, which has been evolving successful Myanmar since nan coup successful February 2021 crushed a pro-democracy uprising and ignited civilian war.

“Safety is ne'er guaranteed,” says Khun Sue Reh, 23, who connected Monday was among nan group graduating pinch nan specially designed three-year nursing qualification.

Alongside nan accustomed coursework and exams, nan students look airstrikes connected nan hospitals wherever they are training, authorities spy drones overhead, roadblocks and net blackouts.

The UN estimates that since nan coup, 18.6 cardinal group successful Myanmar person required humanitarian assistance, 3.2 cardinal person been internally displaced, and much than 55,000 civilian buildings destroyed. More than 200,000 group person fled to neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, India and Thailand.

A parallel concealed wellness strategy has emerged, treating those who cannot consequence government-controlled hospitals aliases who unrecorded successful nan immense areas of nan state which are extracurricular nan regime’s control.

Student accommodation successful Myanmar. Photograph: supplied

Khun and his workfellow Rosetta were already students erstwhile nan coup happened, and felt compelled to subordinate nan guidance Civil Defence Movement (CDM).

Khun says being portion of nan CDM “allowed maine to guidelines up for my beliefs, and participate successful serene alteration and return work for my country’s future”.

“It was nan correct point to do,” says Rosetta. “I could not proceed moving arsenic accustomed erstwhile galore group astir maine were facing truthful galore difficulties.”

Being a nursing student, she went to organization mobile clinics that were providing basal services to displaced people.

“Since nan very beginning, nurses joined nan movement – including me,” says April, a Burmese caregiver educator.

“We started pinch serene demonstrations. Then, later on, nan junta cracked down connected those protesters. They hit them, they utilized guns, and location were casualties.

“So nan nurses and doctors stepped up and group up secretive clinics successful nan community, truthful that’s really we started providing services to those injured successful nan protests.

“Later on, it became worse and worse, truthful we could nary longer activity successful nan large cities, and we had to disperse crossed nan country.”

A worker walks done nan ruins of an abandoned infirmary bombed by nan Myanmar aerial force, February 2025. Photograph: Thierry Falise/LightRocket/Getty Images

Abandoned surgical masks successful nan bombed hospital. Photograph: Thierry Falise/LightRocket/Getty Images

April contacted colleagues successful nan UK, and together, nurses successful Myanmar and Britain arranged video masterclasses connected topics specified arsenic really to woody pinch protestation injuries.

When nan junta started controlling net access, and nan value of information accrued sharply, videos filmed successful nan UK were smuggled connected representation sticks crossed nan country.

Access to moreover basal healthcare successful Myanmar, from vaccination to medicine for chronic diseases, has been heavy disrupted by war, pinch about 1,900 incidents of unit aliases obstruction recorded since 2021. Hospitals and clinics person been damaged aliases destroyed, and astatine slightest 170 workers killed and 909 arrested. About 70% of incidents are attributed to nan Myanmar equipped forces.

April and her colleagues realised training videos already successful circulation were not enough.

“What became very clear very quickly was that that wasn’t going to activity – and what we’d person to do alternatively was to grounds an full undergraduate grade from commencement to finish,” says Marcus Wootton, subordinate head of world nursing astatine nan UK’s Royal College of Nursing (RCN), who became progressive successful nan project.

Student nurses successful people during an underground lesson. Photograph: supplied

Dozens of world academics recorded lectures for nan 58 modules needed to screen Myanmar’s program – from newborn attraction to tropical diseases – and nan Phoenix Bachelor of Nursing Science qualification was born.

April and colleagues “set up a nursing schoolhouse wholly wrong of nan jungle”. Facilitators successful a basal schoolroom pinch Starlink net return students done pre-recorded sessions, supplemented by applicable activities.

“They don’t person cleanable water, they don’t person shelter, nan surviving conditions are really basic,” Wootton says. “They are astatine changeless consequence of drone attack. They are astatine changeless consequence of aerial attack. We’ve had bombs onshore correct adjacent to nan classroom.

“We’ve had to move nan students, we’ve had to move campuses, because of nan consequence of fighting.”

They are moving successful poorly resourced hospitals, says April. “Even things for illustration paracetamol are really difficult to get successful bulk acquisition because nan junta artifact each way to get those resources into jungle hospitals. From nan very basal necessities to large instrumentality for illustration MRI scanners, moreover portable ultrasound is not very easy available.”

Khun says: “During my objective placement successful nan first semester of nan last year, nan infirmary was straight attacked by an airstrike.” He had to evacuate pinch patients.

Classrooms are basal and nan students deficiency entree to cleanable h2o and aesculapian resources. Photograph: supplied

Rosetta said location had been times she was studying successful impermanent shelters, hiding from authorities drones.

Internet connections are constricted and heavy monitored, nan students say, and study sessions request observant readying to debar attracting unwanted attention.

“It is besides nan affectional stress, for maine and galore of us,” says Khun. “Many of america consciousness fearfulness and interest not only for ourselves, but besides our family, our friends and nan community.”

He adds: “I dream group extracurricular Myanmar understand that our lives present are not conscionable astir struggle. We person dreams, we person hopes and we person determination, and we want to lend to a amended future.”

There is nary discuss connected quality. “It is an world modular degree,” says Wootton, who describes nan caller nurses’ accomplishment arsenic “extraordinary”.

There are 5 cohorts presently studying, and others connected a one-year programme for certificate nurses who want to upgrade to grade level.

In a missive of acknowledgment to nan RCN, 1 of nan students wrote: “The sanction Phoenix itself is powerful for us. It symbolises rising from nan ashes of nan demolition nan coup has caused.

“Our cohort represents nan reconstruction of Myanmar’s ethical healthcare system, built by students committed to compassion, populist and professionalism. We are nan surviving impervious that acquisition and dream cannot beryllium extinguished by violence.”

• The names of those successful Myanmar person been changed for their safety.