Apex Clean Water Project

Helping to provide clean water to minority villages across the world

Apex funded a water pipeline from the mountain to the villages' wells.

Myanmar / Burma - May 2017

Project 1 - Sho Mey village
Over 350 years - 45 houses with over 250 people
Located in Myanmar/Burma, Rakhine state, Mrauk U township

Apex Water Project 1

Project 2 - Moe Cung Kyi village
42 household altogether with 230 people

Project 2 - Apex Water Project

Project 2 - Apex Water Project

 

One of the last tatooed women in Chin Villages

Tattooed woman in Chin village

Chin legend has it that when a Burmese king travelled to the region, he was so impressed by the women’s beauty that he kidnapped one to take as a bride. Because of this, Chin families began to tattoo their daughters to ensure they would not be taken away. Other Chin tales say that the tattooing was done for beauty, and perhaps more plausibly, to differentiate the different tribes in case one was kidnapped by another. Another explanation may have to do with religion. Since the time of British colonisation, many Chin minorities have converted to Christianity or else accepted it alongside the animist beliefs. Some Chin remember being taught by their local pastors that only those who had tattoos would be deemed fit to go to heaven. The Burmese socialist government banned the practice of face tattooing during the 1960s as part of their programme of getting rid of the old and ushering in modernisations, with missionaries in the Chin also criticizing it as barbaric. These women are the last generation to all bear facial tattoos; when they die, a chapter of Chin history will be relegated to the textbooks. (Credit: BBC Travel)