Student makes a difference in Myanmar
Published: Sunday, October 5, 2008
Ten years after having moved to the United States, Cal State Long Beach student and scholarship recipient Sundie Zin, originally from Myanmar, returned to her home country to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated much of the Irrawady Delta and Yangon on May 2, 2008.
Two months after Nargis hit Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, Zin visited her home country to see how she could help. Tonight, she will present an exhibit to thank those who supported or donated to help fund her trip and to inform others on the situation in Myanmar.
"I wanted to help in any way possible," Zin said.
Hours into her arrival on July 16, Zin was on her way to visit the villages devastated by Cyclone Nargis, where an estimated 250,000 people died or disappeared.
Zin, a senior interior architectural design major, is set to start another fundraiser for another trip to Myanmar in December.
"I started fundraising on my own," Zin said.
She gathered about $2,000 from friends and family for the first trip.
Through the Myanmar community, Zin heard of Dolly Lay who was putting up a show for fundraising purposes to help the cyclone victims.
Zin told her she wanted to be part of it, and helped Lay sell tickets for the show.
While fundraising for her trip, Zin met people from the non-profit organization, Giving Children Hope, and they supplied her with water purification tablets and Benadryl. But she couldn't take much of it, for fear of being questioned by the authorities upon arrival.
Zin and Lay stayed in Myanmar for 12 days, but the trip wasn't easy.
Aside from witnessing the vast devastation, Zin and Lay were interrogated and questioned by government officials at each checkpoint.
And even though they wore traditional clothing and spoke the language, their journey was a dangerous one. But Zin said she didn't have time to get scared.
From the capital Yangon, it took Zin and Lay five hours by car and an additional hour and a half by boat to reach the delta areas hit by Cyclone Nargis.
Their first stop was the village of Bogalay.
"I wasn't expecting to see that. It was sad and depressing. People were living in poverty," Zin said.
Cyclone Nargis deprived the population from clean water and food, and now thanks to the rain, rainwater was being collected for drinking purposes.
Zin and Lay spoke to as many people as they could, gathering information about the population's needs. They went to temples and gave money to orphans who are now being cared for by the temple's monks.
"There's so much more that needs to be done," Zin said.
Zin and Lay then left for their second delta village, Tatar Chaung, where they had to spend the night and rent a car for the day.
They met with the town mayor of the delta village and learned that the village was in the process of getting a temple and a school built.
Zin chose six families to aid, and used the money she raised to buy them land so houses can be built for them. Each piece of land cost between $200 and $250, and even though the homes will be small and basic, Zin explained, it will provide a roof over their heads.
Zin also gave medicine and money to victims and toys to children. She brought clothes from the United States, some of which were her own and also some she had gathered from family and friends.
For her second trip to Myanmar, Zin will once more count on contributions from friends and family.
Her situation is different this time around, though. She has been named the recipient of the Richard and Johanna Baker scholarship from the college of the arts, in the amount of $3,200. Zin was given $1,600 this semester, which helped her pay for airfare. The rest will be given to her during the spring semester.
"I'm hoping my second trip will be better," Zin said.
When she goes back, Zin wants to help them build the school and donate books to the children. Zin also hopes to buy 20 more homes.
Zin has two reasons for returning in December. She first wants to see the six homes, for which she had bought land, built. She also wants to donate more money that would mostly go toward education.
Her second reason is for her senior thesis design project, which she is doing on Myanmar.
Dorothy Ottolia, chair of the design department at CSULB, has encouraged Zin to do a gallery show. The show will exhibit photographs, the history of Myanmar, a devastation wall dedicated to the Cyclone and its victims, and a slide show about Zin and Lay's trip to Myanmar.
The event, at which food will be offered, is from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Design Gallery on campus, room 102.
The gallery will be open to the public interested in seeing the photographs, until Thursday Oct. 9.
"I want this to be a long-term commitment," Zin said.
You received this email because you are subscribed to the real_time feed for http://myochitmyanmar.org/index.php?format=feed&type=rss. To change your subscription settings, please log into RSSFWD.