Naw Po, who is 23, is a student who fled Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) about two years ago. Because she was a supporter of the Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy, Mai was often harassed by soldiers and feared for her safety.

After she was imprisoned and detained for weeks without cause, a family member helped her flee and the two of them spent over a year in India before coming to Canada. Coming to Canada was an exceptionally difficult process, but her brother, Nyunt was able to sponsor her. The majority of her family is still in Myanmar, and she often worries about them.

Nyunt, her brother, came to Canada roughly 7 years ago after he was sponsored by WUSC (World University Services Canada) to study English and then Engineering. He has since graduated and now has a job.

Naw Po, however, knows very little English and has to rely upon her brother to do everything for her. She spends most of her day inside; she is very timid and, having arrived only 2 months ago, she finds daily tasks exhausting and confusing.

Naw Po has limited literacy skills in her own language. With hyperinflation in her home country, her family was unable to live above the poverty line throughout the last few years. Rather than attend school, Naw Po stayed at home to help her family farm the small plot of land.

Naw Po has no immediate plans to go to school - she wants to "learn English" and be able to function. She wants to get a job at soon as possible to earn some money and help her family. She worries about the health and welfare of her two ailing parents and her youngest brother, who is now 15 years old.

Naw Po has the manual dexterity to print letters; she can copy a short text from a book although the letters are very large and she often does not remember to put spaces between her words. She understands that written text represents the spoken language and there is a symbol-sound correlation.

At this time, any communication between her and an English speaker is done through her brother, who translates for Naw Po.