He messaged me at 6.48am. Anxious, unsure and experiencing panic, needing direction and advice. Who messaged me? Rocky.
You see, he has a HUGE decision to make.
Let me fill you in on the backstory. Nge Lae Lar (aka Rocky Lar) is a Karenni refugee from Burma. We know him and count him as a friend.
Rocky was born to a poor single mother in a tiny village in Shan State, Burma. In 1996, when he was just a very young boy, they were forced to flee their home and became refugees along the Thai-Burmese border due to the violent conflict between the Burmese Military Junta and the Shan Liberation Army. In the refugee camp, Rocky’s mother was no longer able to take care of him; he was placed in an orphanage at age 5 and stayed there until he reached the age of 18.
As an young adult, his life was severely constrained as he had no Burmese nor Thai legal identity documents, and thus no legal right to travel outside the camp. Without alternatives, he spent the first few years of his adulthood inside the refugee camp helping to teach young children. Until a breakthrough came in 2012. At that time, the Thai and Burmese governments together made an agreement that allowed people like him to receive a temporary passport to become a migrant workers in Thailand. It was not long after this that he learned of the opportunity to study at BEAM (https://beamedu.org) and came to Chiang Mai to study and work. (BEAM Educational Foundation was established to support marginalized groups, mostly from Myanmar, in Thailand by offering them education and training).
Rocky started his studies at BEAM with almost no formal education and very limited English. Nevertheless, in just two year’s time he was able to develop his English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies comprehension to a high enough level to be able to pass the American GED exam. By passing this exam, the students at BEAM – most of whom have fallen deeply into the proverbial cracks - gain sufficient proof of education to be accepted into university both here in Thailand or abroad. It cannot be emphasized enough that this is an enormously difficult endeavor for these non-native speaking migrants and refugees, but Rocky was one of the students to meet this incredible challenge, successfully passing the test back in 2015.
As a result of his academic success at BEAM, Rocky has actually been accepted into Chiang Mai University every year since 2015 but has been unable to raise the funds to attend school. Instead, he has been back in the refugee camp employed by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) as a project coordinator and been diligently working to help his people there.
Despite applying for many scholarships to pay for university, he has not yet been successful. Why? Since Burma has “opened up” most of the charitable funds have shifted to activities inside of Burma. While this is understood, it has left the marginalized indigenous people in Thailand in great need, but with no recourse from either country. Basically, there are far fewer charitable funds to go around than before. It also appears that Rocky might be repeatedly over-looked due to his age, Rocky is now in his late twenties and the trend most definitely is to fund younger students. The age limit for most of the scholarship finds is 30.
Rocky already has a part time job at one of our favourite Chiang Mai restaurants, Food 4 Thought, to cover his rent and living expenses. Our friend, Charles Turner (his former teacher at BEAM), a new father and an owner at Food 4 Thought, has already also provided Rocky with a motorbike. There are some amazing people in Chiang Mai, let it be said!
In a HUGE leap of faith, Rocky has FINALLY just started classes at Chiang Mai University after Charles opened a crowd funding for him some weeks ago. And therein lies the problem, and the basis of Rocky's very real, and very rough, decision. The money raised so far isn't enough.
I honestly don't know what to say to him. The money he needs is small change, relatively speaking, but he's still over USD $1,000 short of the target to be able to go back to class next week. It's rainy-low season in Chiang Mai and the people living here are just holding on till October when the tourists return.
My BEST response is this blog post. Inviting you to consider if you might help. $50 or $100 would be astronomical. 20 people doing that would be enough to keep him in school while we sort some more structured solutions.
It's easy to do nothing when the need is personally removed from you and you don't have to answer the phone call, or look him in the eye. I DID answer Rocky's message, cos I'm like that. I promised him (maybe naively or stupidly) that he should chase his dream and it would happen. What's his dream? To graduate and to go back and help his indigenous people along Thailand's borders. He has done his share already, teaching the kids, but he is hungry for more and to be effective. Please, if you have it to spare, I can assure you this young man is one of the worthiest.
You can make your donation here: Indiegogo Appeal for Rocky Lar
I hope when you visit Chiang Mai and you hit me up for a coffee, a juice or a great kombucha (please do!), that I can take you to Food 4 Thought to meet Rocky. I know you'll be as inspired by him as I am.
Come check out my natural Thai herbal business…
@naturalmedicine 
@tribesteemup
@freedomtribe