On my first trip to Myanmar, Moh Moh was my tour guide. While I was there, she had to pick up my itinerary at her home after I left the Inle Lake area. Moh Moh said that I could meet her oldest child, Ti Ti, who was nine and home on winter break. We walked into their living room and were greeted with this introduction: “Hi! My name is Ti Ti. Do you want to play some games?”

That changed my Weltanschauung, along with the lives of my family. I felt like someone who had adopted a family of five in a nanosecond. Talk about having a purposeful life. I have had a long and winding journey down the yellow brick road of my life. Discovering my family gave me a reason for being.

Ko Ko was my guide on my second trip to visit my family. On my third trip, the whole family went on a family tour to places hardly any Americans had visited. Set Set Yo is such a place. It was there that I met my great-granddaughter, A Ngal Lay. She has an older sister and her parents.

On my second visit, Ko Ko built his own home and moved his family from a rental. On that trip, I loved their new home; it's called the blue house. While there, we discussed the importance of Ti Ti attending a college preparatory high school.

When I went back on my last trip, I attended a special assembly to honor graduating students' academic achievements. Ti Ti won best in mathematics in all of Shan State. Then we went on a family tour. One place we visited was the small village of Set Set Yo, where I met my great-granddaughter, A Ngal Lay.

Everything in Myanmar was relatively okay. However, it wasn’t long before the next military coup and COVID. The society lost several years of education. COVID and the coup made matters worse for my family and the entire country.

Ko Ko started a business and a shop, called Sein Tha Ra Phu, which means Diamond Crown.

This is a picture of Ko Ko's shop.

Moh Moh and Ko Ko both teach English to the young children. Interestingly, they met at college and have reflected the importance of education to their children and to those who live near Inle Lake.

I’m proud of their resilience in a country that was once a province of British India, which morphed into a colony of Great Britain until 1948. Over two centuries of mistreatment of Burma/Myanmar by British rule and military coups, the country hasn’t seen much time of normalcy. Despite the gloom and doom, Moh Moh and Ko Ko do what they can during a lifetime of suffering. I’m proud of them.

Added to what the British did to Burma/Myanmar during their rule and that of the military juntas, America decided to go to war with Iran. The people of Asia are suffering more than we are due to the Iranians blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and our blockade of the Iranians blockade. All of Asia is suffering far more than we are.