By the grace of God, as those who gathered would say, the Young Lives Myanmar Program officially launched its ninth batch on May 20, 2026, at the Catholic Bishop Conference of Myanmar (CBCM) Compound in San Chaung, Yangon. The occasion was marked not with fanfare, but with the Eucharist. A Launching Mass was presided over by Bishop Lucas Dau Ze Jeimphaung, together with three concelebrating priests, setting the tone for what the program has always believed: that authentic leadership begins in faith.
The event brought together 22 young participants representing 11 dioceses across Myanmar. For many of them, the journey to Yangon was itself an act of courage, crossing cultural, linguistic, and geographical distances to stand together as one community. Their presence on that morning was more than attendance. It was a commitment.
The launch was organized in collaboration with the National Catholic Youth Commission, reflecting the shared vision between Fondacio and the local Church in forming young people who are prepared not only for the world of work, but for a life of meaning and service. The CBCM Compound, which has long served as a home for Catholic formation and mission in Myanmar, was a fitting backdrop for this milestone.
For the Young Lives Development Center (YLDC) Yangon, this is Batch 9, but the significance of the number goes beyond count. Each batch represents a new group of young people identified as potential future leaders in their villages, parishes, and dioceses. Each one arrives carrying the hopes of their communities. And each one leaves, a year later, carrying something more: a clearer sense of who they are, what they are capable of, and what they are called to give.
The formation that awaits Batch 9 is hands-on, relational, and deeply personal. Alongside English and computer literacy, which are practical skills that open doors in an increasingly connected world, participants are accompanied individually by the YLDC team, who walk with each student through new challenges and discoveries. Life skills are developed not through lectures alone, but through experiential learning, household systems, cell groups, and inculturation sessions that bring together young people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In a country as diverse as Myanmar, this communitarian dimension of the program is not incidental. It is central.
What makes the Young Lives program distinct is its vision of sustainability. The goal is not simply to form individuals, but to create a cycle where young people shaped by the program go on to serve as youth directors, community leaders, and mentors for the next generation. The program plants seeds that are meant to keep growing long after the year of formation ends.
Fondacio has been present in Myanmar since 2000, responding to the invitation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference to support pastoral planning and eventually establish the national Karuna office. Over more than two decades, its presence has taken many forms, always oriented toward the peripheries and always in service of the Church and the young. The launch of Batch 9 is the latest chapter in that long story. It is a reminder that formation is patient work, and that the Church in Myanmar continues to invest in the leaders it needs for tomorrow.
As Batch 9 begins their journey, they carry with them the prayers of the communities they came from and the quiet confidence of an institution that has walked this road eight times before, and knows what is possible when young people are truly accompanied.
