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***2018 UPDATE***
Hello friends! Liz and I are lucky enough to be going back to Southeast Asia this coming January 2019, and while we're there, we'll be stopping by Myanmar to check in on Nai Nai's family.
Since we first started the campaign, we have been able to raise nearly $5,000, some of which many of you gave in honor of our wedding last year. We were able to give the family over $3,500, which includes our own contribution and a few other private donations, on our last trip, and we are planning to take the rest with us on this next trip. The money you have generously donated will go toward rent for their house, as well as school fees for Su Su, both for a few more years.
As of September 2018, we have $1,750 that we haven't given to the family yet, and we are looking to raise a few more thousand dollars to continue to help with rent (unfortunately, we found out we had significantly underestimated the cost of a home, so purchasing isn't a real option), as well as university (gasp!) tuition for Su Su, who will be the only one of Nai Nai's kids to get through high school, let alone college. If we give the family another leg up, this will allow them to create their own legacy. When we help Nai Nai's family, we also help the village, as it is a very communal culture, with whoever has something helps others, sort of like what we are doing.
As always, we pay our own way for the trip and pick up supplies to give to the family and neighbors, so every penny you donate will go to the family.
Below is our original GoFundMe site, and it's open for any additional donations people would like to make. Many thanks from us and from Nai Nai's family!
***END OF UPDATE***
This is a photo of Nai Nai's family, in a little village called Nyuang-U, near Bagan, Burma. I first met Nai Nai in January 2000, on my first trip to Burma. He drove a horsecart and showed me around Nyuang-U and Bagan. We became fast friends. Although he clearly had very little money, he invited me to his family's home and had me over for traditional Burmese meals. At that time, he had three boys: Pyi Thu, Hein Hdud, and Kaung Myat. The entire family made a really special impression on me, and I helped with what I could, but I was traveling on a backpacker's budget so I couldn't afford much.
I returned to Burma in January 2007, this time with my good friend Jahan Dadgar, specifically to find Nai Nai again. As many know, the military regime of Burma has made it difficult, or nearly impossible, to communicate with Burmese citizens, so we just went back to the same village to look for Nai Nai and his family. We were delighted to not only find him again, but to meet his daughter, Su Nadi (or "Su Su" as they call her).
Again, we gave what we could and spent several days with the family, again being treated to wonderful, traditional Burmese meals. This time, we were able to give a little more. As we said our tearful good-byes, a part of me wondered if I would ever see Nai Nai again.
This past January, seven years later, I went back to Burma, this time with my girlfriend/partner Liz Kim. She'd been hearing stories about Nai Nai and his family for many years and was excited about traveling to Burma and meeting them.
We arrived in the Bagan airport with a photograph of Nai Nai in my hand. One of the taxi drivers we asked recognized him, but sadly, he said "Nai Nai sleeping," meaning he had passed away. So, with a very heavy heart, Liz and I took the photo and a flashlight and walked down the dark road toward where I remembered he lived.
The Burmese people are remarkably friendly, in an incredibly sincere way. We saw a man sitting on his front stoop (if you can even call it a "stoop") and asked him if he knew Nai Nai, this time holding a photo of his family in my hand. He recognized one of Nai Nai's relatives, Maw Maw, and although he didn't speak a single word of English, he physically led us down this dark road to Maw Maw's house. Maw Maw recognized me immediately, and we shared a tearful hug. Luckily, it also happened that although Nai Nai was gone, his family lived very close to Maw Maw, and she led us by the hand to see Nai Nai's wife, Chu Chu. She was there with Su Su, with the three older kids all at work. They had quit school when their father died several years earlier so they could help their mom and keep their baby sister in school.
It wasn't the house where they lived with Nai Nai because, we learned later, they had to sell their house to pay for Nai Nai's medical and burial expenses (probably equivalent to $1,000 USD, which is a LOT of money for the villagers of Nyuang-U).
Fortunately, we had a little extra traveling cash on us, so we were able to give Chu Chu enough money for a couple of months rent and to host a big dinner for her family.
We also picked up some school supplies and a special dress for Su Su (with red shoes to match, that was Liz's idea).
While we were in Nyuang-U, we posted photos and stories of Nai Nai's family on Facebook. We were amazed at the outpouring of support and questions we received asking how people could help. It was then that we decided to return to Burma this coming January (2016), this time trying to bring with us as much financial support as possible, maybe even enough for Chu Chu to buy back the house they had to sell?
Our goal is to help them purchase a house (really a dirt-floored hut), keep Su Su in school for the next few years, plus bring much-needed supplies (shampoo, toothpaste, tooth brushes, lotions, soaps, medicines, etc.) that are hard to get and very expensive where they live.
Liz and I are, of course, paying our own way for all of the travel, including stopping in Thailand first to get our visas and pick up the supplies we're bringing (much cheaper than buying them here in the States). We're also making a personal pledge of $500 that we're going to bring to Nai Nai's family. Can we count on our thoughtful and supportive community to raise the rest?
All funds raised will go directly to Nai Nai's family, as well as to benefit the small village where they live surrounded by their extended family. Thank you so much for any amount you can give!
Hello friends! Liz and I are lucky enough to be going back to Southeast Asia this coming January 2019, and while we're there, we'll be stopping by Myanmar to check in on Nai Nai's family.
Since we first started the campaign, we have been able to raise nearly $5,000, some of which many of you gave in honor of our wedding last year. We were able to give the family over $3,500, which includes our own contribution and a few other private donations, on our last trip, and we are planning to take the rest with us on this next trip. The money you have generously donated will go toward rent for their house, as well as school fees for Su Su, both for a few more years.
As of September 2018, we have $1,750 that we haven't given to the family yet, and we are looking to raise a few more thousand dollars to continue to help with rent (unfortunately, we found out we had significantly underestimated the cost of a home, so purchasing isn't a real option), as well as university (gasp!) tuition for Su Su, who will be the only one of Nai Nai's kids to get through high school, let alone college. If we give the family another leg up, this will allow them to create their own legacy. When we help Nai Nai's family, we also help the village, as it is a very communal culture, with whoever has something helps others, sort of like what we are doing.
As always, we pay our own way for the trip and pick up supplies to give to the family and neighbors, so every penny you donate will go to the family.
Below is our original GoFundMe site, and it's open for any additional donations people would like to make. Many thanks from us and from Nai Nai's family!
***END OF UPDATE***
This is a photo of Nai Nai's family, in a little village called Nyuang-U, near Bagan, Burma. I first met Nai Nai in January 2000, on my first trip to Burma. He drove a horsecart and showed me around Nyuang-U and Bagan. We became fast friends. Although he clearly had very little money, he invited me to his family's home and had me over for traditional Burmese meals. At that time, he had three boys: Pyi Thu, Hein Hdud, and Kaung Myat. The entire family made a really special impression on me, and I helped with what I could, but I was traveling on a backpacker's budget so I couldn't afford much.
I returned to Burma in January 2007, this time with my good friend Jahan Dadgar, specifically to find Nai Nai again. As many know, the military regime of Burma has made it difficult, or nearly impossible, to communicate with Burmese citizens, so we just went back to the same village to look for Nai Nai and his family. We were delighted to not only find him again, but to meet his daughter, Su Nadi (or "Su Su" as they call her).
Again, we gave what we could and spent several days with the family, again being treated to wonderful, traditional Burmese meals. This time, we were able to give a little more. As we said our tearful good-byes, a part of me wondered if I would ever see Nai Nai again.
This past January, seven years later, I went back to Burma, this time with my girlfriend/partner Liz Kim. She'd been hearing stories about Nai Nai and his family for many years and was excited about traveling to Burma and meeting them.
We arrived in the Bagan airport with a photograph of Nai Nai in my hand. One of the taxi drivers we asked recognized him, but sadly, he said "Nai Nai sleeping," meaning he had passed away. So, with a very heavy heart, Liz and I took the photo and a flashlight and walked down the dark road toward where I remembered he lived.
The Burmese people are remarkably friendly, in an incredibly sincere way. We saw a man sitting on his front stoop (if you can even call it a "stoop") and asked him if he knew Nai Nai, this time holding a photo of his family in my hand. He recognized one of Nai Nai's relatives, Maw Maw, and although he didn't speak a single word of English, he physically led us down this dark road to Maw Maw's house. Maw Maw recognized me immediately, and we shared a tearful hug. Luckily, it also happened that although Nai Nai was gone, his family lived very close to Maw Maw, and she led us by the hand to see Nai Nai's wife, Chu Chu. She was there with Su Su, with the three older kids all at work. They had quit school when their father died several years earlier so they could help their mom and keep their baby sister in school.
It wasn't the house where they lived with Nai Nai because, we learned later, they had to sell their house to pay for Nai Nai's medical and burial expenses (probably equivalent to $1,000 USD, which is a LOT of money for the villagers of Nyuang-U).
Fortunately, we had a little extra traveling cash on us, so we were able to give Chu Chu enough money for a couple of months rent and to host a big dinner for her family.
We also picked up some school supplies and a special dress for Su Su (with red shoes to match, that was Liz's idea).
While we were in Nyuang-U, we posted photos and stories of Nai Nai's family on Facebook. We were amazed at the outpouring of support and questions we received asking how people could help. It was then that we decided to return to Burma this coming January (2016), this time trying to bring with us as much financial support as possible, maybe even enough for Chu Chu to buy back the house they had to sell?
Our goal is to help them purchase a house (really a dirt-floored hut), keep Su Su in school for the next few years, plus bring much-needed supplies (shampoo, toothpaste, tooth brushes, lotions, soaps, medicines, etc.) that are hard to get and very expensive where they live.
Liz and I are, of course, paying our own way for all of the travel, including stopping in Thailand first to get our visas and pick up the supplies we're bringing (much cheaper than buying them here in the States). We're also making a personal pledge of $500 that we're going to bring to Nai Nai's family. Can we count on our thoughtful and supportive community to raise the rest?
All funds raised will go directly to Nai Nai's family, as well as to benefit the small village where they live surrounded by their extended family. Thank you so much for any amount you can give!