MAUNG MYO HTUN: IN PURSUIT OF EDUCATION
Maung Myo Htun was a student at Wide Horizons from 2012-13.
Today, he works as the
programs Student Coordinator and together with the rest of the
team he is responsible for the
daily management of the school. As a student and as a
Coordinator his motivation has been the
same; a belief in education as the most important element to
improving your chances in life.
Maung Myo Htun was born in a village of
mostly farmers in Karen State, Myanmar.
A small primary school was the only
education available in the area, and it was
often closed because of fighting between
the government and local non-state
armies. Maung Myo Htun still managed to
complete his primary education and
proved to be quite clever, winning several
awards in school. His mother and
grandmother wanted him to continue his
education. However, they did not have
the money to pay for him to go to a
secondary school in Myanmar. His mother
heard that he could attend school for free if he could make it
to a refugee camp in Thailand, so
the family arranged for him to leave the village in 2003. Maung
Myo Htun had to hike through
the jungle for five days before settling in the camp in
Thailand. Despite facing a number of
disruptions and having neither contact with nor any income
support from his family, he finished
his high school education in 2009.
After completing high school, Maung Myo
Htun began working with the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)
(AAPP). As he was gaining skills working at a
civil society organization, he was also looking
for ways to further his education. Deciding
he wanted to continue to work for the
betterment of his community, he applied for
and was accepted into Wide Horizons (WH)
in Mae Sot, Thailand. The WH Program is a
10 month intensive study and field work
course in community development followed
Maung Myo Htun (second from right) has made many sacrifices for
his education. He now helps others to safely and confidently pursue
their education, contributing to the next generation of leaders
from Myanmar.
You have to be confident enough to still have hope. You must
push yourself to try to find a solution
by a one-year internship with a community based organization.
The program brings in young
adults from a wide variety of ethnicities to live and work
together while learning the skills to
build community services in a collaborative way. Since it was
established in 2006, WH has
trained hundreds of young adults who are now community workers
and leaders. The program is
an indispensable opportunity for young people, many of whom are
stateless or lack proper
documentation, to continue studying beyond the high school level
while also building the skills
they will need to improve their communities. There remains great
need on the Thailand-
Myanmar border to build a new generation of leaders who will be
able to improve and
advocate for their communities.
Maung Myo Htun stated that if not for
Wide Horizons, I would not know what
community is. After completing his
internship in 2014, he was recruited by his
old school and today he works as the
Coordinator for WH. He now plays a key
role in establishing a community among
new classes of Wide Horizons students. He
uses his experience as a student to ensure
that each year, incoming students needs
are met and that they feel safe and secure.
He also supports them as they complete
their internships and assists with fundraising efforts for the
school. In addition to his continuing
work at WH, he is also taking part-time university classes
through the Australian Catholic
University. From his village in Karen State to Wide Horizons
Coordinator, Maung Myo Htun has
tenaciously pursued education despite having limited resources
and being disconnected from
his family. He credits his success to confidence: The most
important thing is confidence, but
not arrogance. No matter what happens, you have to be confident
enough to still have hope.
You must push yourself to try to find a solution and push out
your idea. Here, there is a lot of
space at the top. As long as you try, you can get it.
Like other Wide Horizons alumni, Maung Myo Htun wants to use his
experience to build a
better future for Myanmar. He would like to set up an education
center in Myanmar to give
knowledge to others, ideally combining education and politics.
We need more educated young
adults in Myanmar, to be able to create a beautiful country in
the future.
For more information about Wide Horizons, contact:
[email protected]
or visit our page on Facebook (Wide Horizons, Community
Development Program).
Maung Myo Htun (left) with two of his Wide Horizons
co-workers.
