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The morning of 28 March 2025 began like any other in Bone Taw Naing Ngan village tract in Myanmar’s Mandalay Region. Aung Kyaw’s wife was near her children, carefully painting floral designs onto clay pots. “My family’s livelihood and business were in good condition, and our income was stable.”
Then the earth beneath them moved.
On 28 March 2025, central Myanmar was hit by two powerful earthquakes, with epicenters near the cities of Mandalay and Sagaing. At 12:50 PM, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck along the Sagaing fault line, followed within minutes by another 6.4 magnitude tremor. The disaster claimed over 5,800 lives and left tens of thousands injured and without shelter, exposed to extreme heat and heavy rains. In the aftermath of the earthquake, 6.3 million people, including 2 million children, were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
In Aung Kyaw¹’s village, three deep fissures cracked through the earth under his house. The supporting pillars shifted. The structure where he and his wife had raised their six children began to collapse.
We had to move to a safer area. I kept thinking about how we would survive if our house collapsed, and that concern stayed with me throughout.
Myanmar
Context and action- 54 million inhabitants
- 150th out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index
- 191,693 people assisted
Homes across Sagaing and Mandalay Regions were severely damaged by the March 2025 earthquake.
As one of his daughters was in the early stages of pregnancy and physically weak, the family could only travel a short distance and sought shelter in a nearby, safer village farther from the river and less exposed to landslides. The family eventually gathered at the local monastery, which had become a temporary hosting site for displaced residents.
The pottery work that kept his family fed and the youngest in school could not continue.
When we went to the markets where we usually sold our goods, the situation had changed. With widespread anxiety among people and loss of income caused by the earthquake, it became difficult to carry out trading.
The family’s pottery business, which employs all household members, is central to their livelihoods.
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL provided assistance in earthquake-affected areas as part of an emergency response that began in April 2025, just weeks after the earthquake, with support from the European Union. Working along the Sagaing fault line, detailed assessments were conducted to identify the most vulnerable households, many of them in semi-urban or rural communities that had received little or no support from other responders. SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL prioritized earthquake response activities in these underserved communities.
Aung Kyaw at his home in Bone Taw Naing Ngan village tract in Mandalay Region, smiling beside his handmade model house, one year after the earthquake. The bamboo wall behind him is from his rehabilitated home.
Aung Kyaw and his wife left shortly after the earthquake.
When SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s team came to the door, he recalls: “The questions asked were precise and accurate. After answering those questions, I felt confident about the support we would receive.”
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL, through its assistance funded by the European Union, enabled families to make their own decisions about how to rebuild, in line with what was locally available and what each household needed. For Aung Kyaw, the assistance provided was for shelter reconstruction and for repairing his latrine, which had also been damaged. SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL teams visited regularly throughout the process, providing technical guidance to ensure the rebuilt structure met basic safety standards. For Aung Kyaw, it meant his life and work could begin again.
The family home was rebuilt using thanks to the support from SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL and the EU.
With the support we received, we were able to completely rebuild our home and now feel safe. My pottery work is also running smoothly again.
Aung Kyaw with his wife and daughters, sitting behind the handmade model house and in front of their rebuilt house, in Mandalay Region, central Myanmar.
¹ The names have been modified for protection and confidentiality purposes.
Photos : © SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL