Resettlement

The homes of some families, such as this one in Kwih Lah on the western shore of the Shwegyin River, were left largely intact by the departing Burma Army soldiers, permitting them a house to return to. However, most of their possessions had to be left behind when they fled into the hills weeks earlier and were subsequently looted or destroyed by the soldiers. Upon returning, the men returned to the fields to salvage whatever they could of their now largely-ruined harvest, while the women and children attended to household chores in an effort to pick up the pieces of their lives, and although the soldiers had withdrawn, the villagers had to remain ever vigilant and prepared to flee once again lest they return.