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By Seng Mai Aung, Hyeyeon Park, and Tala Alnasser

Wai Lin Htun was born into the Kadu ethnic group, a small community in the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. He was the first in his family to graduate from high school, an achievement his parents, who were farmers with no formal education, had always dreamed of. Envisioning a better life for their kids,  they made sure Wai Lin Htun and his siblings could attend school. However, economic hardships prevented his three brothers from completing their education. Fortunately, Wai Lin Htun managed to graduate in 2017-2018.

He then enrolled in Shwe Bo University for distance education in 2019, grateful for the opportunity to continue learning. But fate had other plans. The arrival of COVID-19 and the military coup of 2021 shattered his academic pursuits. Forced to abandon university, Wai Lin Htun found himself drawn into the Kadu youth movement, becoming a key figure in the establishment of the Kadu Youth Association. The Kadu Youth Association fosters regional development through empowering youth and establishing a network amongst the younger generation. The Kadu were still persecuted and unrecognized in many parts of the country. So, determined to protect and uplift his community, the Kadu leaders sent young people like Wai Lin Htun to Laiza, a Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) stronghold, to learn skills for their community’s future and survival.

Wai Lin Htun arrived in Laiza in 2022 and began receiving emergency medical training while also continuing his education. Thanks to the efforts of Kadu ethnic leaders and their collaboration with the KIO, scholarships were arranged for Kadu students to attend the Kachin State Comprehensive University (KSCU), where they could further their studies.

Wai Lin Htun, along with four male and three female Kadu students, were sent to KSCU. While they pursued various fields—medicine, nursing, and arts and science–they all shared the same mission: to bring knowledge back to their community. Their dedication to their mission was unwavering and their commitment was tested everyday. Three of the students were fortunate to live in dormitories provided for medical students. However, Wai Lin Htun and the others had to make a 45-minute trek to school each day.

His routine was grueling. Each day began at 4:30 A.M. with physical training, followed by various chores and errands from 6 to 8 AM. If he had school assignments or exams, he was allowed time to study, but the demands of balancing both training and education were exhausting. After school, which ended around 5 PM, there were evening duties to guard the base. Many nights, fatigue would overpower him, causing him to doze off on the job and sometimes even in class.

Despite the fatigue, Wai Lin Htun never let go of the sense of gratitude that filled him. He knew that the education he was receiving would help him serve his people in ways they had never imagined.

“I always remind myself of how lucky I am to be given this opportunity to study when I didn’t think it would ever happen,” he reflected.

Initially, Wai Lin Htun had not known what geology was, but after learning about it at KSCU, he saw it as a way to help his community. His village was home to gold mines, but the people lacked the knowledge to manage these resources responsibly. They mined to survive but did not understand how to preserve their land for the future. Wai Lin Htun’s newfound passion for geology shifted his ambitions. Instead of studying business in pursuit of wealth, he sought to return to his hometown after graduation and educate his people on sustainable mining practices, ensuring that their natural resources would last for generations to come.

“I will educate them on what resources are renewable, and which ones aren’t,” he explained. “If we keep mining without preserving, the resources will go extinct. I don’t know much now, but by the time I graduate, I hope I’ll know enough to help my people.”

Wai Lin Htun’s journey has not been only about learning geology or emergency medical skills, but also discovering the world beyond the borders of his village. A summer 2024 lecture series organized by IGE and KSCU opened his eyes to possibilities he had never dreamed of. He and his fellow students had always thought of their futures in terms of serving their ethnic regions—Kadu people for the Kadu region, Kachin people for the Kachin state. But for the first time, Wai Lin Htun began to think about the world more interconnectedly. Beyond intra-ethnic relations, he began to learn of the world beyond Myanmar’s borders.

“We never dreamed of other countries,” he admitted. “We had heard of them, but we never thought we could be a part of them or talk to people from outside our country.”

When he had the opportunity to speak with global professors during the lectures, he felt as if he was dreaming. The lectures not only broadened his worldview but also ignited a desire to share knowledge and inspire younger generations.

“Someone from very far away cared about my education and my life,” Wai Lin Htun said. “It overjoyed me, and it inspired me to become more, to help younger students in the future.”

Wai Lin Htun and his fellow Kadu students are trailblazers, the first from their ethnic group to pursue higher education with the intention of giving back to their community. Their people have great expectations for them, and their elders are guiding and supporting them to ensure they will serve the Kadu people in the future. Wai Lin Htun knows that only after fulfilling his responsibilities to his people will he allow himself to pursue his own dreams.

As Wai Lin Htun continued his studies in Laiza, balancing medical emergency training with academic work, he has never lost sight of his purpose. He is determined to return home one day, armed with the knowledge to not only protect his people but also to further educate, lead , and help them build a better future, with the hope of extending those opportunities for those beyond Myanmar’s borders as well.

Seng Mai Aung is a Senior Program Officer at the Institute for Global Engagement.

Hyeyeon Park interned at IGE and is a senior at Pepperdine University majoring in Psychology and double minoring in Industrial Organization and Social Work.

Tala Alnasser interned at IGE and is a senior at Brigham Young University majoring in French Studies and Communication with an emphasis on Public Relations and minoring Sociology.