Internet Access Amid Darkness and Lives Amid Threats You’re not connected A CDM student from Khin-U "If I have to tell you about the impacts of internet blackout, education stops; now, children in urban areas can still learn but children in rural areas do not. My younger brother was supposed to learn in preschool. Now, he is 8. He has not attended any class yet. My younger sister who was supposed to study in Grade 9, has to work in the field now. Some girls in my village got married as well" "There is no trade. Sales are getting less in the village. Recently, we have even run out of eggs. We could eat only vegetables in the village. There is no job either. We could not cultivate summer crops. It would probably be sufficient for the whole year if we could cultivate summer crops", another woman from Sagaing Region's Khin-U township who participated in the survey by Athan on the socioeconomic impact of the coup staged by the brutal military. She also implied that former civil servants joining the civil disobedience movement (CDM) came to find it very difficult to survive as they could no longer earn some income by doing business via the mobile banking system due to the internet blackout. "Following the economic crisis, particularly blue-color class faced problems. Another class is CDM employees. We, the villagers, could provide materials to CDM employees early initial after the coup. We cannot do anything for long-term assistance for them. Additionally, we had not received support from any organisations even when we had internet access as we don't know how to effectively use social media. This NUG-led government said they provided a certain amount of support and help or budget to former school teachers and showed their list. But, they (CDM employees) in this area including my village did not receive it. I don't know where the NUG provided its support. CDM employees in our community did not even receive a penny. When some youths who understood this situation tried to link the NUG and CDM employees living in our village, internet access was cut", a resident of Yinmabin highlighted the struggles of CDM employees in Yinmabin and criticised the weakness of the NUG's management on condition of anonymity. "Our village manufactures or produces nothing but relies on the cultivation of fruit crops. We have finished sowing but no one dares to do anymore. Sometimes, we have to hide during plowing while aircraft fly over us. They shoot if they see crowds on the farms and near the edges of the forest. No one in the village can do business well". (A Yinmarbin resident) 18