Blessing's story“I know I can’t change my country but, I want to be a part of the change”
When I was 15, my family had to leave our home in Southern Shan State to pursue a better life and education in Thai-Burma border. We moved to Mae La refugee camp after one of my uncles who was a Karen National Union (KNU) member got arrested and was put in jail. I finished my high school in the camp and worked for Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) for a year before studying at Australian Catholic University (ACU). After ACU, I wanted to study at a University, but I didn’t know what I really wanted to pursue or what I was actually passionate in. I applied for many scholarships, but they all failed. So, I gave up and decided that it was time for me to support my family. I got a job at Mae Fah Luang Foundation as a nurse aid. The organization was founded by Princess Srinagarindra who later became my role model. Although she was a member of the royal family, she started her career as a nurse and worked all her life to improve the healthcare of hill tribe people. I wanted to be like her. I wanted to help my people one day. After working at Mae Fah Luang foundation for five years, I started to question myself. I saw all my friends graduating from their Universities and I wanted to be as successful like they were. I also learnt that a diploma can help me progress with my career and now that I found my passion, I wished to study nursing and become a registered nurse in Myanmar one day. I decided to break out of my comfort zone – while it was a scary decision for me to quit a job with reliable salary and to pursue something that was not all certain at the time to me, I know deep inside this is what I should do in order for me to grow. It was not easy to get admitted to Chiang Mai University, but thankfully, my previous work experience helped me secure a place. Now, I am in my second year studying Nursing Science at an international University. Life as a student is very exciting. I enjoy doing group presentation, project and research. It is also very inspiring to meet classmates and professors from different countries. Connecting with Connecting Myanmar through Medical Project in Mae Sot I first learnt about Connecting Myanmar when a friend of mine approached me for a favour. He asked me if I wanted to help with translating medical document for a project in Mae Sot. Although it is unpaid, I decided to help because I believed this will give me some experience in translation. That’s how I become involved in Connecting Myanmar’s medical project and ended up joining the group in June for their two-week programme promoting healthcare at migrant schools in Mae Sot area. This program taught me a lot; I learnt a lot from fellow students from HKU. I learnt to work with a team and learn to communicate with fellow teammates. It is also a great project for me since I am passionate in healthcare. I would like to get involved in more project like this in the future. |
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Naw Blessing was one of a group of very impressive young students in the ACU’s diploma program when I first arrived in this region...Apart from being an outstanding student academically, Blessing impressed me with her calm and confident personality, her generosity of spirit and her very pleasant disposition....She will make a major contribution to raising the health standards of her community. The ACU is proud to think that they gave her the opportunity to take the first step towards the fulfilment of her altruistic goal to serve her community in the caring profession of nursing." patrons |