My name is Lwin. I was born and raised in a modest family in Kayin State, near Kyondoe, Kawkareik, where my father works as a casual laborer and my mother manages the household and occasionally sells goods. Neither of them completed high school, but both have done their best to support my education. Their combined income is around 8,000 baht per month, and they work hard just to make ends meet.
I was a final-year student of a Bachelor of Education at Yangon University of Education when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted my studies. I eventually completed my degree through an alternative online program while working at the same time.
Through my community development work, I have come to understand this clearly: it is impossible to make a lasting positive impact without good education. I have served as a Youth Ambassador with VSO, a Credit Officer at BRAC, a Sexual and Reproductive Health Promoter at Marie Stopes International, a Health Promotion Assistant at Karen Baptist Convention Social Mission, and most recently as an Assistant Lecturer at Karen Medical College.
Each of these roles showed me a different dimension of what communities need, and education runs through all of them. I saw schools in Myanmar relying heavily on traditional teaching methods that limit students’ critical thinking and creativity. This is what I want to change.
I am now enrolled in a M.Ed. program in Educational Administration at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University in Ayutthaya, Thailand. My goal is to introduce more learner-centered approaches in Myanmar’s schools, create better learning opportunities, and improve the overall quality of education.
About Lwin
- Age: 27
- Ethnicity: Burmese
- Country: Myanmar
School & Program
- Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University
- Master’s, Educational Administration
- 1st Year in Program
Goals & Dreams
- Become a teacher, principal, or academic advisor
- Improve financial literacy in Myanmar
Loan Details
- Loan Amount: $1,550
- Amount Left To Fund: $1,550
- Contract Duration: 10 years
- Status: In School
I have seen firsthand how transformative good teaching can be, and I believe it is among the most powerful tools for changing lives and communities.
My family cannot fully support my studies abroad, but I have continued with determination. That range of experience across health, finance, and community development is giving me the practical grounding to pursue systemic change in education. I want many schools in Myanmar to move beyond rote learning and toward approaches that develop students as thinkers. That is the future I am working toward.
Written by Lwin with editing assistance from Zomia’s volunteer editors.
Lwin
“It is impossible to make a lasting positive impact without good education.”