Zay Latt took his children to Thailand because he was being pursued by the authorities for his role in the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Although Zay Yar Nanda knows very little about politics, he has always respected his father, a former political prisoner, for his dedication to the democracy movement. So he never complained about having to leave their home in Rangoon or their new life at the Nu Po refugee camp.

Now aged 15, Zay Yar Nanda has become a breadwinner, helping to support his family by running a noodle shop in the camp. He wakes up early every morning to open the shop and cook spicy Arakanese-style noodles. The business earns about 150 baht (US $4.50) a day.

When he’s not busy working, Zay Yar Nanda helps other children in the camp to learn English. “We read from English books like ‘Treasure Island,’ and I help them to understand the words,” he said.

Although his English lessons are free, Zay Yar Nanda has found a way to make money from his language skills. Recently, he started translating articles from news magazines like Time and Newsweek into Burmese. His translations are published by exiled Burmese publications, which pay him 200 baht ($6) per article.

So what does this bright, hardworking boy want to do with his life?  

“I want to be a general in the US military,” he said. “I am now studying world history to be ready to take an exam to attend a university in the US.”

But before that can happen, he and his family must wait to be accepted for resettlement.

Kyaw Zaw: Like Father, Like Son

When Kyi Tin Oo, a poet, was released from 10 years’ imprisonment in 2004, he immediately flew to Kalaymyo, a town in a remote corner of Sagaing Division near the border with India, where his son, Kyaw Zaw, was serving his second sentence as a political prisoner.

Kyaw Zaw (Photo: KYAW ZWA MOE/THE IRRAWADDY)

Through the prison bars, he joked with his son, thanking him for giving him an opportunity to fly for the first time in his life.

Barely two months after his trip, paid for by the International Committee of the Red Cross, Kyi Tin Oo died of heart disease. He was just 60.

Four years later, Kyaw Zaw fled from Burma to escape being arrested a third time. He now lives in the Nu Po refugee camp.

Those who knew Kyi Tin Oo in prison blame his death on his lengthy imprisonment. But Kyaw Zaw doesn’t hold a grudge against anyone for his father’s fate, or for his own hardships behind bars. Asked who the culprit was, the 37-year-old former political prisoner said, “It’s the system: the military dictatorship. We must change it.”

About his own political activities, he takes a similarly impersonal view. He doesn’t speak of his commitment, but of an irresistible compulsion to keep fighting military rule: “It’s like heroin. You can be addicted to politics and it’s hard to quit once you start. Whenever, wherever, whatever, I have to do everything I can to end this nightmare for our people.”