Ma Lwin lives in the village of Min Pyin, 80 kilometers from Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw. The only thing linking the village's 1,000 families with the outside world is a narrow railway built in the 1940s. Inconvenient transport has been the cause of poverty in the village. China has been participating in Myanmar's anti-poverty efforts. A project called East Asia Poverty Reduction Cooperation was launched in 2016, which aims at helping local villagers to pursue a life of self-independence.