Let's help Chris and his community in Myanmar
***UPDATE JUNE 16TH 2021***
MESSAGE FROM CHRIS: I would like to thank to everyone who donated me what they can on GoFundMe recently despite the hard time that the whole world is facing right now. I received all the money successfully from my friend Giulia, who raised the money. The money went through my friend Gavin, then I had to take out from ATMs little by little.
I won’t forget Giulia, Gavin and Every single person who donated there. I saw all of the sweet comments and wishes although I can't reply them there. All of your donations meant the world to me. Both Covid and Army take over put me in debt deep as my family also rely on me. Since I was passing a hard time, I couldn’t even imagine to help the ones around me who needed help even more compare to me.
But the individual supports through social media and GoFundMe collection helped me substantially and my family. After that, I also tried to reach to the ones around me who are in need as much as I could. I also did the frequent donations for the ones who suffered from this political situation.
After all, I have some of the money left with me and built a half-shared chicken farm with a friend of mine. I expect to continue gaining money from this and try to survive.
I now continue teaching English to my former students without charging as every family is struggling.
It is blurred to imagine what’s next but I want you all know that your help reached out to me and I can’t thank you enough.
Lots of love,
Chris
______________
In 2016 I spent 1 month in Myanmar and here is where I met Chris. He was my guide in Bagan, where with other travelers we drove around the beautiful temples on our electric bikes.
Chris is an excellent guide and you could feel his passion for his job, his love for his country and his happiness in meeting us travelers: he probably met hundreds if not thousands of travelers that visited Bagan and gave us all many beautiful memories. Myanmar is an amazing country and Chris and its people are amazing too: the most kind, generous, peaceful people I’ve ever met, and my heart breaks every time I hear news about what’s happening and the extremely hard time they’re experiencing.
After the coup on February 1st, where Aung San Suu Kyi was detained, the military seized control of the country and have been spreading blood ever since: hundreds have been killed during the protests (320 people as of March 26th), civilians are being shot and killed in the streets, mobile internet has been cut off in the entire country, rice and oil price increased dramatically, mass protests coverage has been cracked down and dozens of journalists have been detained.
United we can do something to help with the means we have and this is why I am starting this fundraising: I want to help Chris, his family and his community to stay strong during this hard times and not lose hope. During the COVID-19 pandemic Chris started teaching English as an alternative job but now, since the military took over, it has become impossible to work in such an unsafe environment and consequently difficult to make ends meet. Let’s make Chris and his community feel we are there, let’s unite and give the support we can, in the hopes that the dictatorship and its deadly violence will end soon, and that peace will come back again in Myanmar. Burmese people don’t deserve this, and we cannot watch in silence.
Aa
