Burma Soldier" subject will speak at Hampton benefit for Commonwealth Catholic Charities

Bi Zet, left, and Sang Ceu Uk are refugees from Myanmar who have recently been resettled in Newport News by Commonwealth Catholic Charities. Jennifer L. Williams/Daily Press (Photos by Jennifer L. Williams/, Daily Press / April 11, 2013)

 

By Jennifer L. Williams, jwilliams@dailypress.com

A former solder in the totalitarian regime that has ruled Myanmar for more than 45 years and later joined that nation's pro-democracy movement will be the keynote speaker at Saturday's benefit for Commonwealth Catholic Charities.

The World Fusion gala is the organization's big annual fundraising event in Hampton Roads, and it helps raise money for CCC's work resettling refugees, providing interpreter services, immigration counseling and assisting refugees and immigrants in language studies, employment services and cultural orientation.

Myo Myint is the subject of the documentary film "Burma Soldier," which tells of his journey from soldier to spending 15 years in prison before moving to the U.S. and becoming an international humanitarian.

Commonwealth Catholic Charities counts numerous people from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, among the refugees it has resettled in Hampton Roads.

"We have resettled quite a few from their county," said Karen Kurilko, division director for resettlement services with CCC. "They're coming out of Malaysia and Thailand. Probably over the last three or four years we've resettled a couple of hundred, families and singles.

"They've been a really great group to work. They're very hard workers and they're adapting very well."

In the past month Sang Ceu Uk, 28, and Bi Zet, 25, found a new home in Newport News after escaping Myanmar by way of Malaysia. They are from the same state, but not the same city, in Myanmar and did not know each other before they got here.

They are sharing an apartment, attending English as a Second Language classes and going to church as they get used to their new surroundings. They have also visited friends in Hampton and Newport News, and hope to find opportunities to play soccer and badminton.

For those who don't know the history and dangers of living in Myanmar, the men say it's simplest to explain that they left for their safety. Their families remain there, and they say that all of them were affected by the military regime's threats of forced labor and torture.

"Everyone is very afraid of the soldiers," Uk said.