ကျေးဇူးပြု၍ ဇူဇူးကို တတ်နိုင်သလောက် ကူညီပေးပါ

ကျေးဇူးပြု၍ ဇူဇူးကို တတ်နိုင်သလောက် ကူညီပေးပါ

Initial Story - ZUN PWINT PHYU

Where to begin this story? The person we are starting a donation for is Ms Zun Pwint Phyu - or ZUZU, 23 Years old from Myanmar. 

Who are we? We are: Capucine and Miriam, the longtime employers of Zuzu‘s cousins SANJINA and SU here in Bangkok. Sanjina and Su have been working for us for years as our Nannys. And what in life is more precious than your Kids? That's why they play an essential role in our lives. 

The mother of Sanjina, Su and Ranjita (the 3rd sister) came to Thailand for work about 34 years ago when Su was only about 1,5 Years old. She has been working in the same restaurant for more than 20 years now. Ranjita, the second daughter, followed her mother about 12 years ago, Sanjina about17 years ago and Su also followed about 12 years ago. Since then all of them have been working. 

Sanjina has been working for Capucine‘s Family for the last 6-7 years and Su has first worked for Capucine and has then been working for Miriam‘s Family since 2018, with a short break due to Covid.

They have unquestionably been the Marry Poppins for our families and we adore them. Our kids love them to bits and pieces and they have become part of our family. 

Zuzu is the Cousin of the 3 sisters. Her mother is the sister of their mother. Zuzu is 23 Years old and during childhood Su helped looking after her in Myanmar. When Zuzu was in the 10th class, she started to have epileptic seizures and had to stop going to school.  

She came to Thailand with her father just before Covid, to seek medical advice and treatment as medical/healthcare is very limited in Myanmar. She started an ongoing therapy here in Thailand. Her father had to go back to Myanmar for his Job and Zuzu stayed with Sanjina and Su‘s family here. Then Covid came and all borders closed in Thailand and she was separated from her parents. There was no possibility for her to return home. For 2,5 years. Thailand had a very strict covid policy and stayed cut-off from the rest of the world long after Europe and most other countries gradually returned to more nomal life. But Myanmar didn‘t only suffer from Covid, but also politically. With a Coup d‘état in 2021, Myanmar‘s military took over the power. Therefore the situation in Myanmar: unstable, unpredictable and difficult. 

The family attempted multiple times to move back to their Homecountry to care for their aging Grandmother during that time, but with no success to enter the country without problems and with no perspective to earn money there. 

Zuzu had several epileptic seizures, one being so bad and long that she was hospitalized, there she caught Covid and was isolated in hospital, the rest of the family tested positive too and stayed home. Fortunately she recoverd actually better than everyone thought and could head back home after 2 weeks. But as she came to Thailand with a tourist visa and then was staying with only a Covid extension, she didn‘t have health insurance like the rest of the working family. The hospital bill was high and the Myanmar Community helped to pay off. That put their plan to move back further away again.  

Finally in summer 2022 Sanjina brought Zuzu back home to her family in Myanmar. Everybody was very relieved as it wasn’t sure if Zuzu would have a seizure on the flight and if they would be able to travel to their Homecity due to military restrictions. But everything went well. The family gained new hope and set their goal to work hard, earn enough money to return home soon aswell. 

But only a few weeks after in September, Zuzu felt pain in her breast and a tumor was discovered, they had to travel to Yangon to a better hospital. The operation went well and Zuzu could soon go back home. But again, medical treatment is expensive in a poor country. 

One year later the family planned to return to their homecountry, despite the war, to take care of the grandmother and to build up their personal life. 

And now fate attacked once more. Zuzu had a seizure at home, her mom was there, but after a time Zuzu became unconscious. She was brought to hospital by her relatives. The nearest bigger hospital in their Hometown Myitkyina, Yin Sein Hospital, told her parents, that they neither have a specialist nor the infrastructure in this hospital to help appropriately. To have a real chance, she would have to go to a more developed private hospital. This being a hospital in the nearest larger City, in Mandalay, the Royal Hospital Mandalay. The family struggled to find a car and a nurse to bring Zuzu to the hospital in Mandalay. Eventually they could hire both. It took them the whole day driving. A doctor immediately looked at her at arrival and said the situation was very critical. She had blood in the brain, which is very dangerous and needed to be removed as soon as possible, for Zuzu to have a proper chance and she was still unconscious. A difficult decision, because even if surgery went well, the doctors could not give a guarantee that she would wake up again. The family optioned to go ahead with the surgery and instantly started to seek for help -  puting all money they had together and lending from a cousins boss, so that the deposit at the hospital could be paid, without that the doctors wouldn‘t operate. Hopes were mixed if Zuzu would wake up again and if, if her brain would still work. Surgery took long and Zuzu didn‘t wake up after. The doctor said, the only thing they can do is to wait. If she would still not wake up after 2 weeks, they would have to make new decisions. 

But Zuzu is strong and she is fighing, the following day she woke up. She has opened her eyes, but doesn’t speak yet and her right side is still paralyzed, but doctors are positive. At the moment there is still blood in her brain which is constantly being sucked out. It will be a long and difficult path for Zuzu, but also for the family, who carry most of the burden of the cost.  

This was in the 2nd week of November, the family has since made a decision. They jointly moved forward with the surgery then. They also decided as a family to stay in Thailand for a limited time longer to earn more money to cover past, current and ongoing costs in future and to return the loan. 

It breaks our hearts how this family is struggeling with what is happening. But they hold together, as a family.  

They are all very hardworking and loyal and Sanjina and Su are our two Superstars who look after our kids and love them like their own. We would like to help them, and have therefore created this crowdfunding page. To collect money for them during this stressful time, helping and assisting them with all the medical expenses for their Cousine. Zuzu‘s parents are doing their best, but times are difficult and hard in Myanmar to earn money. Myanmar is a third-world country and does not have a health insurance model for their population. The whole situation is a nightmare and it‘s important to acknowledge that it will be an ongoing financial burden for the family here in Thailand. They are trying their best to stay positive and work hard, but we would also like to show them that they are not alone and we got them too. 

The family has not asked for any support or this campaign to be set up, however -  please, if you are able to donate, give a little something, no matter how large or small, in any currency. It still makes a difference. A helping hand to cover all the costs. And If you can‘t, that‘s also ok, but please share this campaign with your friends, your networks and communities. Our hearts are filled with thanks in advance for whatever support you can give. The funds will be sent and used solely for the medical treatment of Zuzu. 

We will post regular updates on the situaton and how Zuzu is doing. 

Thank you for considering,

Capucine and Miriam

Short Update: The fever Zuzu had last week is gone and the ventilator has since been removed.