The doctors offered medical assistance to residents of three camps over the Thingyan holidays.

While many in Burma were relaxing or splashing water over the past week, doctors from the country’s Gurkha Social Association were busy offering medical assistance to civilians displaced by the ongoing war in Kachin State.

Members of the group spent this year’s Thingyan holidays providing medical treatment and healthcare information to residents of three camps set up for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The first camp they visited was the Ziun IDP camp in Myitkyina’s Laekon Ward, where they were joined on Sunday by members of the Kachin Democratic Party, according to the party’s leader, Duwa Kwang Gao Awng Kham.

Then on Tuesday they went to two camps in Waingmaw Township—Mainar RC and Mainar KBC—together with three Kachin State ministers who also participated in the medical assistance program.

“At first we mainly assisted in the education sector, but since healthcare is also important, we decided to get involved with that, too,” Mahn Bahurdu, the chairperson of the Gurkha Social Association, told KNG.

According to the association’s vice chairman, Bersu Kuma, there were 12 doctors on the team.

This is the second time the association has provided medical assistance at the camps since it started its healthcare program for Kachin IDPs last year.

The Gurkha Social Association was established in 1957 to provide assistance to Gurkha students who could not afford to go to university.

“In the past, we provided assistance to Gurkha students from primary to high school who could not afford an education. However, since last year, we have started providing assistance not only to Gurkha people but also to other ethnic people in need,” Bersu Kuma told KNG.