A Teacher’s Story

Maung Hla Myint, 19, had planned to finish high school and then attend university before the inter-communal violence that erupted in Sittwe in June 2012 spread to Kyauk Phyu five months later.

He and his family fled to the IDP camps near Sittwe after losing all their possessions in the fires.

“I planned to go to Yangon to study medicine,” he explained at a temporary learning center he teaches at in Ohn Taw Gyi 5. “I wanted to follow in my aunt’s footsteps and become a doctor,” he said, referring to a sister of his father who is a physician at a state hospital in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

Maung Hla Mying said he had even considered studying medicine in a foreign country before his family lost their three homes to arson.

Since arriving in Sittwe he has had to forget this ambition and focus on survival. The young man considered joining the exodus of IDPs leaving by boat, but was dissuaded by his parents.

They warned him that the migrants faced a high risk of detention, trafficking and even death.

Then, the opportunity to teach, which includes a $50 monthly incentive, convinced Maung Hla Myint that fleeing by boat was not his only option.

“I am surprised by the change in my life,” he said, explaining that he is now eager to pursue his education in order to be a state-qualified teacher.