From Bangkok Dreams to Upcountry Scars: A Single Mom's Fight After Loss

Aye’s Journey from Abandonment to Empowerment

Ms.Tha Zin Aye is a single mom who lives with her mother and son. She used to travel to Bangkok for work, but an accident resulted in burns to her face. Her husband left her with her son. As a result, in 2019, Ms. Aye and her son returned to live with her mother at Umpiem Camp.

When Ms. Aye arrived at Umpiem Camp, she felt downhearted and didn’t know what to do. Her husband's abandonment of her and her son, as well as her burnt face, made her feel embarrassed around others. She didn’t get rations from The Border Consortium, and her mother didn’t want her to stay home without doing anything, so she felt hopeless.

Ms. Aye’s section leader at the camp referred her to HI-DSI's ‘Disability Social Inclusion,’ and then SHG's ‘Self-Help Groups’ visited her at home. SHG provided peer counseling and information about the rights of people with disabilities. She also requested to engage in livelihood activities. HI-DSI offered financial support for Aye to purchase a pair of goats, enabling her to engage in some livelihood activities and generate a small income to cover her and her son’s expenses.

She gained more self-confidence after learning about the rights of people with disabilities and receiving peer counseling. Because of the SHG, she also received rations. She then decided to join the SHG and support its activities. Ms. Aye continues working independently and supporting SHG activities whenever help is needed.

Challenges and Resilience

By 2020, she felt more confident in herself and less hopeless. The next year, she cared for about eight goats, sold four, and used the funds to cover her family expenses. Unfortunately, at the end of 2021, an animal disease struck Umpiem Camp and her four goats died of the illness.

Because of this, she stopped pursuing her livelihood temporarily, but the SHG leader encouraged her to continue moving forward. In 2023, HI-DSI referred her to COERR for mushroom farming training, and she started mushroom farming on her own. She sold the mushrooms at a significantly lower price than the camp average, leading to a surge in pre-orders. After that, she began to gain a steady income from mushroom farming and her business continues to this day.

“SHG and HI-DSI lift me whenever I fall,” says Ms. Aye.