A Mural in Myanmar

About the Project

From 2018-2020, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pyay, Myanmar. During my second year, I started an art class to encourage students to engage creatively in their otherwise constricted government curriculum. As a final project, I asked students to draw pictures representing their hopes for their world. By piecing together elements of their ideas, the above is what we came up with.

Now with the country suffering amidst a coup and COVID, I think a lot about the reality of my students’ futures and what they will be able to envision for themselves. It’s debilitating to watch from afar as the country burns itself and any remnant of hope to the ground. I often imagine the vacant school grounds where the mural still stands and hope for myself that its sentiment can last at least as long as its literal hues.