Poly student worries for her parents in Myanmar

They were planning to fly home to the U. S. when Cyclone Nargis hit

By Sally Connell

Correction 5/13/08A story on the front page Saturday gave an incorrect spelling of the last name for a Burmese Cal Poly student worried about her parents in the wake of the Myanmar cyclone. The student’s name is Khin Kyaw.

Khin Kyaw is a native of Myanmar, formerly Burma, and lived there until she was 15 years old. Now she is a 25-year-old aerospace engineering student and U.S. citizen attending Cal Poly.

When the cyclone hit over the weekend causing thousands of deaths in her native country, Kyaw was worried for her family.

Although her three siblings and parents live in Fremont, her parents had returned to the family compound outside of Yangon, formerly Rangoon, for the first time in five years. She also has extended family still living in the country.

“I tried to call them for days,” Kyaw said. Finally, her parents were able to reach her sister in Fremont on Monday.

They have supplies such as oil to run a generator in their compound, she said. Yankin Township near Inya Lake — where their property is located — is on higher ground and farther from the hardest hit Irrawaddy delta region of the country.

She said the news reports, and even the lack of photographs about the devastation, have been unsettling. The government has not let many foreign journalists and aid agencies into the country.

Historically, she said, the military rulers do not release pictures on the Internet that are embarrassing to the country’s leadership.

“I was so shocked and so sad,” Kyaw said. “It sounds like people are struggling in some areas to just get food and water.”

Kyaw said her parents were planning to fly back to the U. S. on Sunday when Cyclone Nargis hit Saturday. If all goes as planned, her parents will be able to fly home from Myanmar on May 25.

Do you have family or friends in Myanmar? E-mail sconnell@thetribunenews.com or post a comment.