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Tha Zin Oo

Tha Zin Oo was prematurely born on the 3rd of July, 2009 in Myawaddy (on the Burma side of the Thai-Burma border) with a traditional birth attendant (TBA). Her family lives in Pha An inside Burma, but her grandparents had come to Myawaddy looking for work with Tha Zin Oo’s father three months ago. One month later her mother followed her father to Myawaddy.  Before Tha Zin Oo’s mother went into labour she was often sick.  After she gave birth, Tha Zin Oo’s mother was still sick and one week later she came to Mae Tao Clinic for treatment for her illness. When she arrived at Mae Tao Clinic the medic told her she had malaria.  She had brought Tha Zin Oo to the clinic for vaccinations, but the medic informed her that her daughter had pneumonia and was a low birth weight.  The medic also informed her that the child has a heart murmur and would need treatment in Chiang Mai.  

Tha Zin Oo’s grandmother has come to the clinic with her daughter to help her while she gets treatment.  She says she has known about Mae Tao Clinic since 1995 when she first came looking for work in Thailand.  She came to Mae Tao Clinic in 2005 for eye glasses and another illness and has come to Mae Tao Clinic many times for her family’s illnesses.

Tha Zin Oo’s father has been working as a farmer in Myawaddy with his wife’s parents. They were growing corn recently, but they did not earn any money as the owner is waiting to sell the food before he pays them. They are currently looking for other jobs, but is diificult to find work in the rainy season. They have one son child who is still in Burma and lives with his father’s parents.  

Tha Zin Oo’s grandmother says it so difficult for her family to get the child treatment because they do not even have enough money for the family to survive, let alone to pay for medical costs, and recently they have had no place to stay. Now, they stay with a friend in Myawaddy but they cannot stay there for a long time. They will continue to look for work in Myawaddy and in the meantime they are waiting until the farmer sells all the vegetables.

Tha Zin Oo’s mother says she cannot say how she is feeling - she has so many problems and she is worried because she is also sick and now her child has a heart problem, low birth weight and pneumonia. She does not have enough money and her husband does not have a job. She was not aware that her child was ill and now she does not know what will happen to her child in the future.