Myint Myint (who prefers to be called MiMi) came to Boise as a refugee herself in September 2007 from the Karen State in Myanmar. This has been a long journey for MiMi, who was 20 when she escaped from the discrimination and civil war in her homeland. She lived with her family in a camp on the Thai border for 6 years, working inside and outside of the camp as opportunities arose. Since she studied English the whole time she lived in Myanmar, her English was in high demand as an interpreter when she came to Boise. In addition to English, she speaks Po Karen and Burmese. People from Myanmar were a new refugee population in Boise in 2007, so MiMi became an interpreter for the IRC in Boise almost immediately. She became an Assistant Case Worker in 2008, then scaled her IRC time back to study under a refugee scholarship at Boise State University, then returned to full time work in 2012, and has now been promoted to Case Worker in 2013.
MiMi is the quiet, compassionate force in our office gets a remarkable volume of work completed and helps all her colleagues be more organized and prepared. She has a gift of building great rapport and trust with our clients. She is both able to learn very detailed nuances of client expectations so that we can all do our jobs better, and she is a walking encyclopedia of information about cultural identities, religion and blended family / community history. Her goal is to “help her people transition to their new life in Boise” (her people being people from Myanmar but also all the other refugees she serves.) She helps her co-workers understand her culture, languages and social issues that her people face. Myanmar is a very diverse country with about 64 distinct languages and many religions, so she helps us all understand this complicated land.
In her spare time, MiMi loves to create art, travel, hike, cook and shop. She is a leader for many people from Myanmar in a group at the Vineyard Church in Boise. MiMi just passed her citizenship test and will be sworn in as a citizen on March 7th. Our office and community is so lucky to have Mimi as our newest American. In her words, “I am not a person who discriminates against anyone; I want to help everyone. My vision is the future, not the past.”
