They have given up everything and are working in the shadows to overthrow the junta.

A hundred days on from the military coup that ended Myanmar's brief dalliance with democracy, three women tell AFP about their lives and their struggle, living between anger and hope.

AFP has changed their names because of the danger they face in speaking out against the regime.

- The writer -

"They murdered my future," said writer Ma Hninsi.

Since the coup, the 55-year-old has lost her literary magazine, her lifestyle and her circle of friends.

A political prisoner for six years under the previous military regime in Yangon's notorious Insein prison, Ma Hninsi's world collapsed again with the coup on the morning of February 1.

"There was a lot of confusion as communications were cut off. The streets were empty, only army supporters were parading around," she said.

The resistance organised itself quickly and Ma Hninsi demonstrated every day in Yangon.

"For the first weeks, in the streets there were many people, women, children," she said.

"People were angry, but the atmosphere was peaceful. We sang and danced."

But then the atmosphere changed.

"One day, the military started shooting. We understood that they had nothing left to lose," she said.

More than 770 civilians have been killed in the junta's crackdown on protests, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a monitoring group.

The junta reports a much lower death toll, and blames the violence on "rioters" engaging in "acts of terrorism".

On Armed Forces Day on March 27, around 100 people were killed in crackdowns on protests, according to the AAPP, the bloodiest day since the coup. Near Ma Hninsi's home, students were surrounded.

"I took advantage of a calm period to hide five of them in my car and evacuate them. Within minutes, we came across a patrol," she said.

Since then, Ma Hninsi has been hiding, writing and meditating every day "to relieve the stress".

She is also collecting money to support workers taking part in the civil disobedience movement which is paralysing entire sectors of the economy.

"The solidarity is enormous. Everyone helps as much as possible," she said.

"We will win. It's not a dream -- it's a certainty."

- The humanitarian -

Htoi Zin has spent her whole life in Kachin State, in the far north of the country, near the Chinese border.

Over the past three months, many anti-junta activists have sought refuge in the territory, which is partly controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic armed group that has fought the military for years.

From this isolated region, political resistance is being organised and Htoi Zin, 32, helps the new arrivals settle in.

"They have often travelled for several days to avoid security checks. Many are depressed, they have lost everything, sometimes they have witnessed atrocities," she said.

She provides them with a roof over their heads, food and Chinese SIM cards to get around the junta-imposed mobile data blackouts, helped by online donations from Myanmar but also from the United States, Japan and Singapore.

"Often small amounts of a few dozen dollars, but it can be as much as $1,000. I exchange the online donations for cash at merchants," she explains.

Since the coup, the long-running conflict between the military and KIA has flared once again, and the two have combined to send prices for everyday goods in the area soaring.

"Twenty kilos of rice costs $30 (now), when it was $19 before the coup, and it's the same for oil or tomatoes," Htoi Zin said.

"If this continues, we will soon not be able to afford it."

- The rebel -

"I am too old to take up arms, but I support the insurgents 100 percent," said Nan Poe, an activist.

On March 1, as soldiers hunting her interviewed her neighbours, the 53-year-old fled her Yangon home by the back door, not stopping even to put on her shoes.

She went east to territory controlled by ethnic Karen rebels, which has given refuge to many junta opponents.

A month later, the Karen National Union (KNU) armed group seized a military post and the army retaliated with air raids, the first in more than 20 years in the region.

For a week, Nan Poe hid in the jungle, helped by villagers.

She crossed the border into neighbouring Thailand, but after three days was sent back by the authorities and now she prefers to stay in Myanmar.

"We have to stand up alongside the Karen youth who are fighting for our people," she said.

As clashes between the KNU and military rumble on and air strikes continue, she helps build makeshift shelters on the hillsides, digging holes that she covers with sandbags and wood.

"At dawn, as soon as we hear the planes, we run to put the children in the shelters," she said.

"I tell them to be brave, that victory will be on our side."

Myanmar counts cost of coup, 100 days on
Yangon (AFP) May 10, 2021 - One hundred days after the military seized power in Myanmar, the nun who pleaded for protesters on her knees in the street says the coup has cast a pall of fear and depression over the country.

The image of Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng kneeling in the dust, arms spread, begging police not to shoot "the children" went viral in March as an uprising swelled in Myanmar.

Today, the 45-year-old nun works in a clinic in Myanmar's northernmost Kachin state, tending to patients injured by security forces, sickened from stress, and even those who try to kill themselves.

"With the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and brutal actions of the military, there are more people who feel depressed and want to commit suicide," she told AFP.

"People are living in fear and they feel hopeless."

On Tuesday, 100 days will have passed since the generals made their lightning power grab in the early morning of February 1, ousting and detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The period has seen Myanmar plunge into chaos as the army struggles to control widespread opposition to its rule.

Around 780 civilians have been killed, according to a local monitoring group, as security forces have sought to suppress near-daily protests with brutal crackdowns and live rounds.

While praised for her bravery months ago, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng said she thinks instead of the youths who are still fighting.

"They are sacrificing their lives for their future."

Night after night, soldiers and police raid homes to arrest suspected activists -- both protesters and those taking part in the civil disobedience movement that has crippled the state's ability to function.

Despite the dangers, the movement persists, fuelled by a young generation who came of age since democracy dawned and the country began opening up a decade ago.

"We want to stand on the right side of history," said a protester in Myanmar's former capital Yangon.

- 'It's not going to quiet down' -

The bloody intensity of the crackdowns has ebbed in recent weeks -- partly as demonstrators have switched to flashmob tactics to avoid the risk of being shot.

But if the violence in Myanmar's urban centres has slowed, clashes between the military and ethnic rebel armies in its border regions have intensified.

"It's not going to quiet down," said Yangon-based political analyst Khin Zaw Win.

"The regime thinks that everything will be okay by June, but it is a delusion."

In eastern Karen state, the Karen National Union -- who are sheltering dissidents fleeing to their territory -- has captured military posts and been hit with multiple air strikes in return.

Clashes in northern Kachin state have also ticked up, and in a dramatic display of the rebel forces' capabilities, last week the Kachin Independence Army shot down a military helicopter.

Several groups have come out in support of the anti-junta movement, even providing basic training to the young protesters.

But so far, calls for the disparate rebel factions to unite into a "federal army" have not borne fruit.

A group of ousted lawmakers, who set themselves up as a shadow "National Unity Government" (NUG), announced the creation of a "people's defence force" to protect civilians from the military.

Details are scant and the NUG, whose members are in hiding, has not shown itself able to wield much influence.

But the junta on Saturday designated it a "terrorist group", blaming it for "bombing, arson, manslaughter and intimidation to disrupt state administrative machinery".

- 'The people did not choose this' -

So far neither calls for restraint nor United States, European Union and British sanctions have shown signs of deflecting the generals off their chosen course.

A summit of regional bloc ASEAN last month -- attended by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing -- yielded no more than a "five-point consensus" calling for dialogue, an end to violence and the appointment of a special envoy.

But even this limited achievement was undermined days later, when the junta said it would heed "suggestions" only when "the situation returns to stability".

On the global stage, hard-hitting UN-level sanctions have been stymied by China and Russia, who say they would be counterproductive.

Myanmar's economy -- reeling as workers nationwide down tools rather than cooperate under military rule -- is expected to contract by a staggering 10 percent in 2021, according to the World Bank.

And the UN Development Programme warned the combined effect of the pandemic and the coup turmoil could see nearly half of the population living in poverty by next year.

"The military has chosen the wrong moment to launch a coup and to face a civil war," said analyst Khin Zaw Win, adding that they have "lost all public support".

"The people did not choose this. It is the generals who did and they will pay the price."

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