University of Northampton graduate wins international award
Hein Oo has told us about life back home in Burma after founding a project to equip youngsters with digital skills.
A University of Northampton graduate who's won an international award for his work developing learning overseas has told us about life back home in Burma.
Hein Oo, otherwise known as Ray, founded a project to equip youngsters with digital skills.
In a country dominated by civil war though, he faced a difficult time during a military coup when working with the government he was placed on a list for arrest.
Successfully applying for asylum in America, he now tutors around 200 immigrants in New York and was given a Social action prize from the British embassy.
Hein Oo told us:
"It was a great opportunity for me and I can further share my stories about Burma and the work that I do. I was delighted and it was such an honour to receive the award.
"I've been trying to integrate into a new society and it's been good. I'm currently based in New York City, specifically in Harlem. Working at Harlem YMCA, we have about 200 immigrants in our programme. I'm helping them to achieve their goals, achieve their legal status, learn English and go from there.
"In Burma, arrests were made in the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs - these were the ministries I engaged with. It was a scary time; I had to hide for a while and a bunch of my friends were arrested. Some of them are still in prison."
Listing the award winners, the British Council said:
"Accomplished professional dedicated to fostering global change through education, leadership, and sustainability. He currently manages the operations of The Kectil Program by MKFF in Atlanta, overseeing the operations of a youth leadership development initiative that annually engages 2000 students from over 100 developing countries. As Chief Data Manager at the YMCA, Hein spearheads the data strategy, serving the New York Department of Education, benefitting 5000 immigrant families yearly."