Maung and Khui are from a remote village in Chin State, Myanmar. When Maung was just three years old, his father passed away and their mother was left to care for him and his siblings. With little support around her, she made the difficult decision to send her two sons far away to an orphanage in Yangon in the hope that they would be better provided for there.

Maung and his brother made the journey to the city along with thirty other children, including their cousin, all sent by families seeking better opportunities for their children. Upon arriving in Yangon, the boys were placed into a Burmese speaking children’s home, where they would remain for two years. The boys had to transition into a whole new way of life. As well as having to adjust to life without a family, and starting pre-school, they also had to learn how to speak Burmese, which wasn’t their native dialect.

In 2008, the home where they were staying was closed by the authorities due to allegations of child cruelty. A local pastor intervened and took Maung, his brother Khui, and several other children into his care. Khui ran away the next day, and sadly Maung would not see his brother again for many years.

After just two months of staying with this pastor, Maung was transferred to another home, where he stayed for a further two years. When this home faced financial difficulties, Maung was moved again in 2010, to a home where he remains to this day. Here he was able to continue his education, but had no contact with his family back home, or with his brother. Kinnected social workers first met Maung in 2017 and after getting to know him and finding out more about his story, the social workers began to trace his family.

The first step was to track down Maung’s elder brother, and after unsuccessfully visiting several orphanages, he was finally found. It turned out that after running away, Khui had been taken from the streets and placed in a children’s home. He was now known as ‘Paul,’ as he had faced continuous teasing from other children about his real name, which had been difficult for Burmese children to pronounce. After almost ten years apart, social workers were finally able to reunite Maung with his brother in October 2017. The boys were so excited to be back together! Khui has since left the care of that home and is now working a job in another town.

Social workers then began to trace the whereabouts of the boys’ mother and the rest of their family, through snippets information they had managed to piece together from the home director, and from what the boys could remember. They finally managed to find them, and made a visit to their village. It was challenging for the social workers to communicate with the boys’ mother, as she didn’t speak Burmese, but after some discussion it was discovered that Maung had three older sisters, and two half-sisters. The social workers were able to communicate that they would bring Maung home to see his family during the summer holidays.

In March this year, Maung travelled back home with our social workers to meet his mother, sisters and members of his extended family. It was the first time he had been back since he had left the village aged three. He had spent so much time away that he struggled to communicate with everyone, as he no longer knew how to speak the Chin dialect. All his family welcomed him warmly though, and did their best to show him that he was loved. Maung remained in the village for sixteen days reconnecting with his long-lost family, after which he returned to Yangon.

Social workers are continuing to work with the family to strengthen family ties and to see if Maung can continue his education nearer to them. Until then he remains in residential care, but he now knows who his family are and that they love him.