8.8.88 Uprising

Those pictures were taking during 8.8.88 nationwide uprising. Demonstrations were held throughout the country from 8.8.88 until 9.18.88 against the one party rule and military dictatorship. Military responded by killing approximately 6000 people and jailing thousands of activists. I was shot at near the US embassy in downtown Rangoon. Hundreds were killed on that day alone.

Colleges and Universities were closed for 3 years. The same regime is still in power. Now, there are over 2000 political prisoners in jails. In September, 2007 Burmese monks protested against the regime ( Saffron revolution). Again the regime responded by killing over 100 people. Monasteries were raided by soldiers and thousands of monks were defrocked and jailed.

My immigration paper

Those are my travel documents. I did not have a passport since I fled Burma. The mug shot picture was taken at the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center. Thai government sentenced me for an illegal entry to the country. I believe I was fined for that crime (the sponsor NGO paid the fine, I guess.) and ordered to leave Thailand. At the same time, the US immigration issued a one way entry parole visa (based on humanitarian ground). Welcome to America!

Coming to America

We were holding bags from IOM. IOM stands for International Organization for Migration(http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp).
I remember going for medical check up at IOM office. 4-5 of us (all guys) were lined up against the wall. The doctor told us to drop our pants and cough. ( We were in the 20s and 30s.) Now, I am a physician myself, I am not sure what conclusion to draw regarding the conduct of that physician. I guess he was just trying to be efficient in processing as many refugees as possible in an allotted time. We did not really feel offended but were embarassed a bit.

Coming to America

with my friends at the airport

Coming to America

I looked really silly (and skinny). That was the first time for me being on a jetliner.

Coming to America

me, Ko Aye Kyaw and Ko Yin Htwe. Ko Aye Kyaw resettles in Canada. Ko Yin Htwe is in Silverspring, Maryland now.

Ko Yin Aye, me and Ah Nge Lay. Ko Yin Aye later resettles in the US. Ah Nge Lay went to Australia and went on finishing a master degree. He now works for Democratic Voice of Burma. They both were from my camp (ABSDF 102).

Coming to America

Naing Lin Oo (second from left with a black jacket) came to my university one year later.

My friends. Some of them later resettled in the US, one in Canada and one in Australia.

These pictures were taken at Bangkok (Don Muang) airport. The people in the middle were from IIE ( http://www.iie.org/ ), the organization who managed our program.

Brief Stay in Bangkok

After I resigned from ABSDF, I left for Bangkok. My old friends let me stay at their apartment. There 8 of us shared a two rooms ( not a two bed room apartment) apartment. You can see the size of the room in this picture. So, about 4-5 of us shared this room to sleep. In the day time, this was our living room. We have a small kitchen between two rooms. There was no air conditioning in the apartment. Bangkok is very hot and humid ( about 90F) and sometimes it is hard to sleep at night. We had to turn the ceiling fan on all the time.

We got $100/month allowance from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee after our refugee status were approved. My friends let me stay there for free until then. It took me about 2-3 months to get the status. My application was rejected in the first time( I still wonder why I was rejected.)

I competed for a scholarship offered by a US based NGO. I won the scholarship and thats how I end up in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

You are probably wondering how did I travel to the US without a passport. I will explain about it in the next section.

Clinical Laboratory Science graduation

Mrs. Lindsey ( Program Chair), me and Mr. Karselis at graduation reception
This is the first graduation of my life. I went to a medical school in Burma. In 8.8.88, I joined the resistance movement as a final year medical student. After fighting in the jungle as a freedom fighter against the Burmese military regime and got shot twice, I came to the US as a refugee. Here I had a chance to continue my education. I met a lot of friends at CLS program and still keep in touch with some of them. All of my professors were very nice and felt like a family to me. I went back and visited the department many times after I graduated.

Jesse, Edith, me and Abdul

Undergraduate Graduation

Graduation from Virginia Commonwealth University (Clinical Laboratory Science program) -1995

Burmese families - Medical school graduation

Medical school graduation with Burmese families from Richmond. There were 4 close Burmese families in Richmond, VA. Lynn Htut (middle) also graduated from Engineering school. His younger brother Tin (far left) also graduated from the same engineering school 8 years later. Another brother Myo (second from left) graduated from the same medical school 8 years later.
Abdul, me, Jesse and Yvonne

Medical school graduation (My classmates)

My classmates (graduation from medical school- Medical College of Virginia (Now- Virginia Commonwealth University)

Edith's graduation

Edith's graduation ceremony from William and Mary law school.

Graduations

This is my graduation from radiology residency.
My fellowship graduation luncheon at Ellen Shaw de Paredes Institute for Women's Imaging.

www.ellensoffice.com

A Simple Wedding

This is our wedding. It was at our home in Richmond. There were only three people besides us. The priest, my brother and my friend Jesse who is also the official photographer for the wedding. The priest is also my friend's father.
I took off 2 hours early from my rotation at VA. I told my attending that I would like to get off 2 hours early because I was getting married that evening. Well, Edith took off only 45 min early from her work at Subway sandwich shop. She got home about 20 min before the priest.

Ko Yin Htwe and Phwar Phwar. They are also my co-sponsor of the reception. They took care of everything.

Wedding Singers

Wedding Singers (Part I)