Kelly Macnamara was Agence France Presse news agency’s first international news editor in Myanmar, based in Yangon from 2014 working with a talented team of local journalists. She has written about Myanmar for six years, documenting the seismic political changes as well as the social and cultural developments that have touched ordinary people. She is a writer and video journalist with over a decade of experience in print and television news.  She is the co-founder of Kite Tales, a website dedicated to bringing to life individual stories from across Myanmar. https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/contributor/kelly-macnamara/rss en Crisis and Conflict Thu, 19 Jan 2017 12:40:49 +0000 Kelly Macnamara https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/19/untold-stories-lament-100-year-old-tattoo-artist https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/19/untold-stories-lament-100-year-old-tattoo-artist As part of our “Untold Stories” series, we meet Makui Lainyiu, who regrets not having done more to pass on her community’s traditions to the younger generation. Her song is a rare glimpse of a world all but lost in the remote hills between India and Myanmar. Crisis and Conflict Tue, 17 Jan 2017 13:41:59 +0000 Kelly Macnamara https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/17/untold-stories-literary-family-keeping-myanmars-history-alive https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/17/untold-stories-literary-family-keeping-myanmars-history-alive The Ludu Library is a treasure trove in a nation still reeling from the oppression of army rule. Built to house books and manuscripts accumulated over the lifetimes of Myanmar’s most famous literary couple, it is one of the very few modern libraries in the country. Crisis and Conflict Thu, 12 Jan 2017 12:27:45 +0000 Kelly Macnamara https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/12/breaking-norms-noses-rise-myanmars-female-kickboxers https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/12/breaking-norms-noses-rise-myanmars-female-kickboxers As part of our “Untold Stories” series, we meet some of the women fighting against Myanmar’s ingrained gender discrimination by competing in Lethwei, a ferocious, no-holds-barred style of kickboxing. Crisis and Conflict Tue, 10 Jan 2017 13:30:17 +0000 Kelly Macnamara https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/10/untold-stories-life-lesbian-myanmar https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/10/untold-stories-life-lesbian-myanmar The next part in our “Untold Stories” series features Mya Thet Mu, who lived as an openly gay woman in exile in Thailand for 19 years, but faced public abuse when she returned to Myanmar. Now she brings together young people to challenge discrimination. Crisis and Conflict Thu, 05 Jan 2017 12:47:02 +0000 Kelly Macnamara https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/05/fleeing-fight-rights-kayan-women-myanmar https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2017/01/05/fleeing-fight-rights-kayan-women-myanmar In the second installment of the series “Untold Stories,” we meet a young feminist from Myanmar’s Kayan ethnic group who wanted to set up a women’s organization. But first she had to escape the military junta, crossing the border to Thailand in the dead of night.