Fundraiser for Displaced Students from Burma

Hi, my name is Shwe.

I’m 29 years old, a pediatric nurse, and a former refugee — this is a story about hope, the power of education, and coming full circle.

Many of you may already know my story. It began in the fall of 1988 during a historic civilian uprising in Burma (Myanmar), when students, civil servants, and monks rose up peacefully to demand democracy. The military responded with brutal violence.

My father was one of thousands who took to the streets — and one of many forced to flee when the regime began hunting down those involved.

He found refuge with ethnic resistance groups along Burma’s borders. Somewhere between makeshift shelters, danger, and uncertainty — my siblings and I were born.

I spent the first nine years of my life in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. Although it feels like a lifetime ago, one feeling stands out vividly: hope. The adults around me — despite living in crisis — made sure I believed in a future.

They taught me that education was the one thing that could never be taken from me. It was my only way out. This remains true for every refugee student.

About Yaung Ni Oo School

In 1989, a group of revolutionaries — including my father and his comrades — established a school in the refugee camp. They named it Yaung Ni Oo, which translates to “A New Dawn.” It was created to serve children displaced or orphaned by war.

For over 35 years, Yaung Ni Oo has provided free education to thousands of refugee children from Kindergarten through Grade 10. Today, the school continues to serve 700+ students annually and houses 50+ boarding students, many of whom have no surviving family.

Despite the conflict outside its gates, Yaung Ni Oo remains a sanctuary — a place where children can learn, grow, and imagine a better future.

However, over the years, support for Yaung Ni Oo has nearly vanished. Since the COVID-19 pandemic — and especially after the 2021 military coup in Burma — international aid and NGO funding have dried up.

Meanwhile, the school has seen a dramatic increase in displaced students, as more families flee the growing civil war. When I visited the school in the fall of 2022, the schoolmaster apologized in advance that he only had rice and dried anchovies to offer us - he was already struggling to feed his students.

I immediately sent out an SOS to our friends back home. Within one week, our community raised enough money to purchase and deliver shelf staples, groceries, school supplies, and toys. The remaining funds were dispersed for ongoing needs such as food and building repairs.

How You Can Help

Once again, Yaung Ni Oo needs our help.

This time, I’m aiming to raise $2,500 to cover urgent needs requested by the school:

️Internet access so students can take qualifying exams to pursue further education and teachers can attend online trainings

Essential school supplies like notebooks, pens, and ink cartridges

‍Living stipends for volunteer teachers

Groceries and basic needs for the 50+ boarding students — many of whom are orphaned

Why It Matters

I owe my life to strangers I have never met — people who believed in my future and my education more than 20 years ago.

I am living proof that hope, paired with access to education, can change the course of a life.

While the revolution in Burma continues and hope for a freer future grows stronger, education remains one of the few clear paths forward for the country’s youth.

The students at Yaung Ni Oo are some of the most determined I have ever met — because, like I once did, they know that education is their only way out.

Please, help me keep that door open for them.

With deep gratitude,

Shwe