With braided hair, pink plastic clogs and a large grin, 18-year-old Moe Pyae Sone stands straight earlier than a digicam and tells of her determination to depart her household, her faculty and her village.
“I’m from northern Shan state and I’ve come to Kayin state for the revolution,” she says to Radio Free Asia.
Moe Pyae Sone pauses for a second at an internally displaced folks’s camp simply south of Myawaddy, the place ethnic rebels lately overran army junta positions.
Carrying camouflage pants and a tactical vest over a standard crimson garment, she remembers her participation in protests – like so many different younger folks – in opposition to Myanmar’s army junta after the Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat.
Understanding of her need to battle, her mother and father requested her to stay in class, she says. However in 2022, she secretly offered a pair of earrings to pay for journey bills.
On the opposite facet of the nation – in Chin state – she joined insurgent forces and ultimately grew to become a coach.
“In Chin state, I’ve gained fight expertise,” she says. “I’ve participated in fairly just a few battles.”
She speaks matter-of-factly and infrequently lets unfastened with a nervous giggle.
Earlier this yr, she made her method to Kayin state to hitch with one other group of anti-junta fighters.
She’s the eldest of three siblings. She says her mom nonetheless lives in the identical village in Shan state.
“After all they fear about me,” she says.
Then she jumps behind a pickup truck with a half dozen others. She turns round to wave goodbye – nonetheless smiling – as they drive off towards a junta outpost.
Edited by Matt Reed.