Workshop with Kaw Dai Organization, Lashio

Soon after Dérive and INK’s trip to Shan State Kachin Baptist Organization, the two projects headed to Kaw Dai, an ethnic Shan lead and attended artisan training organization located on the outskirts of Lashio. The two projects were showcased along with an afternoon of presentations and class exercises.

Despite being located in a state intended to represent their homeland, many Shan find themselves disenfranchised from the political and economic processes that increasingly serve the interests of Myanmar’s Bamar majority. Various armed conflicts percolate across Shan State, pitting Shan forces against the Tatmadaw (the Myanmar military). Schisms and micro factions also exist, creating conflicts among different Shan groups in which average Shan civilians often finds themselves caught in between.

Many of the artisans at Kaw Dai are either internally displaced persons (IDPs) or have witnessed the atrocities of war first-hand. Lashio, considered on the frontier of stable territory within Shan State, is often the closest large city that people from rural areas may go to in search of work or safety. Kaw Dai offers more than vocational training, but job support and housing for the duration of each apprentice’s stay.