My name is August and I am the youngest child in my family. As a passionate young person who has always dreamed of studying abroad, I am now fulfilling that dream at Chiang Mai University.
I have a strong personality and refuse to let anything stop my desire to live, laugh, love, and learn. Believing firmly in my right to education, I continued learning through alternative educational platforms, which gave me a taste of quality education and the determination to seek deeper learning for the long term.
Despite financial uncertainty, I made the bold decision to enroll at Chiang Mai University. Financing my studies was the primary challenge, as I received no scholarships and my lower-income family was not in a position to help.
Through networks I had built during community work, I was able to secure partial support from the Samdhana Institute for my first year. The rest I covered myself, working as a translator, facilitator, and research assistant.
My community work began before university, when I volunteered in human rights training in Taunggyi. I have since worked across several community development areas, particularly advocating for disability rights, religious freedoms, and sexual and reproductive health rights for the LGBTIQ+ community and youth.
One of my proudest achievements was educating people with disabilities and their families from marginalized, rural, and remote areas. Over six months, I supported and educated more than a hundred disabled individuals in accessing sexual health care services, made possible by building strong relationships within the community.
After moving to Thailand, I continued serving the community and became actively involved in organizing on-campus activities and Burmese-led events.
About August
- Age: 24
- Ethnicity: Burmese
- Country: Myanmar
School & Program
- Chiang Mai University
- Bachelor’s, Social Science & Sustainable Development
- 3rd Year in Program
Goals & Dreams
- Become a social worker and activist
- Travel the world
Loan Details
- Loan Amount: $4,750
- Amount Left To Fund: $4,325
- Contract Duration: 12 years
- Status: In School
Reflecting on my work and my true self, I am confident that I was born to be a community worker. To be more effective and sustainable in that work, I need to integrate my practical experience with academic grounding in social science. After being exposed to lectures at Chiang Mai University, I realized that all the work I had been doing belongs to the realm of social science, and I committed to pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science and Sustainable Development.
My immediate goal after graduation is to become a queer researcher at a think tank, producing evidence-based policy recommendations in human rights from a gender perspective. As a survivor of workplace sexual harassment who could not receive legal justice because the law does not recognize third-gendered people, I have experienced injustice firsthand. I aim to document, analyze, and report on sexual harassment toward LGBTQ+ individuals, and to advocate to policymakers using evidence from that research. I am already active in gender equality movements, and I know there is room to develop the skills needed to advocate more effectively.
Written by August with editing assistance from Zomia’s volunteer editors.
August
“Reflecting on my work and my true self, I am confident that I was born to be a community worker.”
