{ "id": 22865, "date": "2025-10-02T15:00:50", "date_gmt": "2025-10-02T07:00:50", "guid": { "rendered": "https:\/\/ijmhk.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=22865" }, "modified": "2025-10-02T15:43:51", "modified_gmt": "2025-10-02T07:43:51", "slug": "thazins-story-in-her-own-words", "status": "publish", "type": "post", "link": "https:\/\/ijmhk.org\/en\/thazins-story-in-her-own-words\/", "title": { "rendered": "Thazin’s* Story In Her Own Words" }, "content": { "rendered": "

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My name is Thazin*, and I\u2019m 25 years old. I come from a small village in Hmawbi Township, Myanmar. I\u2019m the second of four daughters in a humble family of six.\u00a0From a young age, I knew what struggle meant. By 8th grade, I had to leave school often to cut betel nuts just to help make ends meet. After finishing high school, I kept cutting betel nuts, even though the pay was still painfully low.\u00a0Then one day, everything seemed to change.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

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The False Promise of a Better Life<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A wealthy lawyer came to our village, looking for workers for a new broom factory. He had heard that I\u2019d passed my 10th-grade exams and offered me a job as an accountant, with a promised salary of 150,000 kyats ($110 AUD) per month\u2014much more than I\u2019d ever earned. The hours were from 7:30am to 4pm.<\/p>\n

It felt like hope had finally arrived.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought about my younger sisters\u2019 school fees, my father\u2019s failing health, and my dream of one day opening a small shop. I set that dream aside and took the job. For my family. For our future.<\/p>\n

I was 20 years old when I started working a broom factory. At first, I did office work. But soon, the promises began to unravel.<\/p>\n

My job expanded from accounting to backbreaking labour. I was hauling bamboo, handling boiling water, and doing physical work far beyond what I signed up for. Then I still had to complete all the office tasks.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n