One Year On: Colours of Recovery

Organised under Doh Eain’s Reach, Relieve, Recover (RRR) earthquake response and supported by the European Union, Colours of Recovery addresses the secondary crisis of disaster recovery: psychological trauma and emotional displacement. One year after the March 2025 earthquake, the initiative transformed community hubs across Amarapura and Mandalay into safe, creative environments for collective healing. Facilitated in partnership with a mental health organisation as well as an NN member, ADORE Myanmar, the initiative engaged earthquake survivors and frontline youth volunteers in therapeutic painting and reflective journaling workshops. These personal narratives and visual reflections were curated into a bilingual commemorative art book documenting resilience, loss, and mutual support. To connect grassroots realities with broader civic dialogue, the project culminated in public panel discussions and gallery exhibitions in Mandalay and Yangon. Colours of Recovery establishes a human-centred disaster recovery precedent: demonstrating how integrating psychosocial care into civic infrastructure fosters lasting community solidarity and destigmatises mental health.