Burma Link | July 1, 2014 (updated July 30, 2015)

Kyar Yin Shell is a 26-year-old young man from Kengtung, the ‘dark and dirty’ capital city of eastern Salween in the Shan State. While Kengtung has not seen civil war for over two decades, development is non-existent and electricity scarce. Kyar Yin Shell is Lahu, a little known ethnic group that lives scattered around the mountains of Burma, China, Laos, and Thailand. As most Lahu people, Kyar Yin Shell grew up in a village, but unlike many others he was lucky enough to go to school. As a teenager, hard-working Kyar Yin Shell had great hopes for his future until it all seems to end one day; wrong medical treatment left Kyar Yin Shell paralyzed. Kyar Yin Shell lost all hope for his future and like so many others in the Shan State, he became addicted to drugs. During those dark times, Kyar Yin Shell could never have known that he would not only survive and learn to live with his disability, but work actively for his people and travel overseas to represent his country. Kyar Yin Shell’s story shows how much life can surprise you. If you take the chance.

 

My body cannot move, I am paralyzed

My name is Kyar Yin Shell. I belong to Lahu ethnic group. Now I am 26 years old. I would like to tell you about my story. I am from eastern Salween, Kengtung, the capital city of eastern Salween. When I was 14 years old, I became a disabled person because of wrong injection by a doctor in Burma.

I grew up in the village. I studied in my village from KGB