Kelting looked at 30 colleges before learning about Southern New Hampshire and its international team. To obtain a student visa, Soe and May needed to be accepted into a U.S. Immigration wasn’t an option, but Soe also wanted to study in America so they started looking into student visas.
Kelting then worked to find a way to get them out of the country.
As conditions worsened in Myanmar, Kelting raised money to help Soe and her family since tourism in the country had dried up. May’s mother operated the tour company and the two became fast friends, staying in touch after Kelting returned home. Kelting made the connection with May’s family in January 2020 when she traveled to Myanmar on a photography tour. This is stupid, during the COVID time, it’s not safe to do the protest, but they just wanted democracy,” May said. “We can’t go outside, but we still go, some teenagers go and do protesting. The protests continued even as a second wave of COVID hit the country. May said the protests then became more violent, with the opposition forces “trying to shoot with the guns or smoke.” Students and teenagers “who are the futures of the country” were being killed, arrested or harassed. Police denied using lethal force, but doctors told the BBC that two other protesters were struck by live rounds. 19, a 19-year-old female protester was shot in the head as police tried to disperse the protesters, according to a BBC report. The protests began peacefully, with protesters gave the soldiers flowers, food and water as they tried to convince them to stop and join the people.
Protests of the coup began a few days after military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing took power and detained Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the National League for Democracy, according to May. Her mother, Soe, does not allow May to work outside the home for fear of her safety. Facebook and its family of apps have been banned.Įven going out during the day is dangerous, she said, especially for women who May said are sexually harassed by the male soldiers. Under military rule, May must cover up before going outside and communication is limited to mostly email with a few other messaging apps. Under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, communication was much more open and walking the streets, even after dark, was safe, she said. May described life before COVID and the coup as “so beautiful” living in the city of Yangon.
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