When the Amunrud family welcomed their host daughter Zin Mar from Myanmar in 2013, they couldn’t possibly have predicted the lasting impact of that decision or the adventures they’d experience!
This particular hosting relationship was unique right from the start. Joy recalls how she responded to a friend’s request to consider hosting. Her friend, Carol Myint, had recently accepted a position with International Experience; and Carol’s niece, Zin Mar, was eager to make the trek from Myanmar to the U.S. as an exchange student! Since visa requirements prevented family members from serving as host parents, Carol was eager to find another family who could fill this important role.
Joy jumped at the chance!
“I said, ‘I’m going to seize this opportunity!’ I have four siblings who were adopted from Colombia, I have friends who were foreign exchange students, and I’d love for my kids to travel and see the world as well. It just made sense to have Zin Mar come and stay with us, and to expose the kids to the outside world!”
Upon arrival, the 18 year old teen with a sweet spirit and a quick smile became an instant part of their family and community. She fit right in, from cooking family meals to playing with the giggling group of neighbor children.
“All the neighbor kids loved her,” said Joy, “We have a lot of little bodies in and out of our house, and she just rolled with it. She just naturally engaged. It was a perfect fit!”
But exchange is a temporary arrangement, and before they knew it, the time came for well-wishes and tearful goodbyes. And while they hoped for a future reunion, the realistic constraints on both time and money made it a far-off dream. You can imagine their surprise and delight, then, when Carol and her husband Tun announced they were organizing a group trip to visit Myanmar!
“I said yes right away!” said Joy. “This was an opportunity that we were going to make happen!”
Joy and her 12 year old daughter Jane made the journey to Myanmar along with a group of 16 other travelers: 18 in all.
W
hile they visited many popular sites and tourist destinations, they were also able to return to Zin Mar’s own village of Andaw – to meet her family, to see her home, and to engage with the local customs. To experience the land alongside locals showed an entirely unique perspective.
“This is one of my great takeaways,” said Joy. “You can go as a tourist, and you can see a country the way the tourist industry and the government wants you to see it. But the magic of exchange is that you get to look behind the curtain to what it’s like in the daily activities of actual people. I think that was the greatest gift of this trip: to have a little taste of what it’s like for the people there on a daily basis.”
Part of “looking behind the 
curtain” involved sitting with an 85 year old Andaw villager who shared the legend of a rundown shrine in a seemingly abandoned field. When asked about the possibility of rebuilding it, he explained that any man who came to the field to meditate about rebuilding would become ill. Since the villagers accepted this as a sign (a kind of spiritual warning), the field remains untouched to this day. Joy said this kind of experience gave her a sense of reverence for the ancient culture and a meaningful glimpse into the heart of the community.
“Hearing these great historical stories that have such deep cultural significance was just amazing to me. The fact that we were able to sit with THIS man on THIS site and here THESE Stories was just incredible.”
Though the travelers only spent 3 days in the small agricultural village, the Amunrud ladies soaked up every bit of the local culture, from visiting the local market to sampling the home-cooked food prepared right over open flame. And since everyone wanted to show their hospitality, the travelers were ushered through a string of rotating tea parties! They soon relaxed into a warm, communal way of living that’s quite foreign in Western cultures.
Joy told one particular story of a neighbor toddler girl who woke early in the house next door. When she found she couldn’t wake anybody in her own house, she toddled right on over to the neighbor house (where Joy was staying) in search of breakfast! We may find this extraordinary (and quite dangerous!) but for the Andaw villagers this was a little slice of “life as usual.” The sweet toddler visitor was welcomed in, given breakfast, and allowed to hang out with the crowd until her parents came to collect her.
“It’s a very pourous community, very communal.” shared Joy. “They all take care of each other, and it’s just a normal part of the day.”
Of course, of particular interest to Joy and Jane was the opportunity to meet Zin Mar’s parents. There’s something magical about a hosting relationship that comes full circle when the family is able to visit the student’s home country: to see her life in context, to eat the home-cooked food, to sleep in their beds. Meeting her parents was the pinnacle of this connection, though they live worlds apart and did not even share a common language.
“I got to thank them for trusting strangers,” remembers Joy, “and they don’t speak English, so the leap of faith they had to take to send her so far away to such a foreign place was incredible. I really appreciated their trust.”
When asked about the risks her family had taken in the last 3 years – first choosing to host an exchange student, and then choosing to seize the opportunity for travel – Joy was quick to say that such a path might not be right for every person. But with that in mind, it’s clear to the Amunrud family that they have gained a wealth of relationships and experiences beyond what they had ever anticipated, and it was all the result of a willingness to say “yes” to risk!
“There’s a leap of faith involved. There are always risks and rewards, and the rewards fundamentally outweigh the risks, the inconveniences, and the difficulties. That’s part of being open to grow as a person! Be
ing curious about the world, and finding the commonalities. Yes, we could keep up with our routine, doing the same things every day – which is fine! But if you ARE curious, just ask and find out! There is a world to explore.”
It’s incredible to think that all of this – the relationships, the adventure, and the many lessons and perspectives gained – all stemmed from one simple decision to say “yes.”
Would you consider doing the same?
Dare to imagine. Take the risk. And join the journey.
