Tsui Tsui's Transition to the US

Hi Friends,

Above is a photo of my sister, Tsui Tsui, who recently was able to leave her home country of Burma (Myanmar) after the military coup on February 1, 2021. Prior to a few weeks ago, my sister was born and lived her entire life in Yangon, with our father and her mother. After the coup, violence again democracy protesters (many of whom were young people like my sister) and ordinary citizens by the military government trying to solidify their illegitimate claims to power put the people of the country in grave danger. They remain endangered to this day. One climax of this violence occurred during the Armed Forces day, on March 27th when the military began indiscriminately shooting into streets and homes of citizens putting my sister and her mother (both in Yangon) in extreme danger. (See video below for more details)

Following a complicated and very frightening few weeks when communication with my sister was very spotty because the military junta had cut wifi to the entire country, my sister and her mother were able to leave Yangon to join my father in Bangkok. We know that we are extremely privileged and fortunate to have been able to support her exit from the country. However, it is not safe for my sister to return, nor does she have a future to return to.

My sister will be coming to live with my family in just 10 days. To prepare for her arrival, we will have some immediate needs (e.g. a mattress for her to sleep on) and eventually, she will have some needs in terms of housing (security deposit, rent, transportation) once she transitions to her own space after some time together with our family.

As those of you who know me know, I am well aware that trauma processing is not linear and I don't know how long my sister will be with us before she moves to a place independently, but as we await her arrival, I don't want her to feel additional pressure of being a burden on our family or to find work to try to support herself. I want to give her space to heal.

I am grateful to you all for reading this lengthy message. Many of you have been following our journey and have offered words of support and prayer throughout this time. You have also been extremely generous in your offering of support for us, and at this time, I'm reaching out to ask for you to help me support my sister's transition to the US. I will keep a detailed ledger of how all money from this campaign is spent and all money will be used directly for her well-being. Any money raised in excess of what she needs will be donated to a charity that she will help me choose that provides direct aid to the people of Burma. If you prefer to donate directly to me, you can find me on Venmo @Betina-Hsieh.

And if you would, leave a kind word for my sister. When she arrives, I want to surprise her with messages of love and welcome from all of you.

Thank you and much love to you all,

Betina