When cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in April 2008 and left 84.000 people dead and hundreds of thousands without shelter, it was Dominic Ko Ko Lwin, KAAD-Alumnus, who played an important role in the rebuilding process. According to Father Henry Eikhlein, director of Caritas Pathein, Lwin was as a Caritas project coordinator „of greatest importance for the success of the rehabilitation project”.

Lwin’s career has been quite straightforward: After obtaining a Diploma in Business Administration from the British Association of Business Executives, he achieved a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Eastern Yangon in Myanmar. Following the BA, he worked for four years for the Archdiocese of Yangon, first as an accountant, later on as a treasurer.

The 34-years old Lwin has always felt a very strong bond with his home country. Subsequently, it was his heart’s desire to help improving his fellow citizens’ lives. With the help of KAAD, he was able to pursue an MBA of International Public Management at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok/Thailand. His studies centred on emergency relief and cognate disciplines, to which he has published a few analyses. When Myanmar was hit by Nargis in 2008, Dominic Ko Ko Lwin returned to Myanmar right after his graduation in order to coordinate the Caritas Pathein rehabilitation programmes for the cyclone survivors. At the same time, he worked pro bono as a programme consultant for Caritas Hpa-An and the diocese of Pathein. He and his colleagues developed guidelines for proposals and reports related to the humanitarian assistance funded by International and UN bodies and helped to redesign the pastoral and social planning system within the diocese.

After the relief programmes had run out, Dominic Ko Ko Lwin started working as a Credit Control Manager for a notable Thai travel agency, a job with great responsibilities. Nevertheless, Lwin sees his future life in disaster management and emergency relief: “While I was working among the community grassroots, I had the strong desire to improve their lives as much as I could whenever I had the opportunity. I did all I could to support them with all my effort and knowledge. And I am sure I can do even more for my country and the church when I complete my studies. I found myself working in social work all my life and I want to continue working in this field for the whole rest of it.”

Right now, Lwin is pursuing a PhD in Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM) at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, once again with a KAAD scholarship. Afterwards, he plans to return to Myanmar straight away in order to once again work for the church in humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

See an article published by the diocese Regensburg, with whom the KAAD has been cooperating in a mutual scholarship programme with the Assumption University Bangkok for students from Myanmar since 2001:

http://www.bistum-regensburg.de/druck.asp?show=news&op=show&id=4963

Dominic Ko Ko Lwin (Myanmar)

When Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in April 2008 and left 84.000 people dead and hundreds of thousands without shelter, it was Dominic Ko Ko Lwin, KAAD-Alumnus, who played an important role in the rebuilding process. According to Father Henry Eikhlein, director of Caritas Pathein, Lwin was as a Caritas project coordinator „of greatest importance for the success of the rehabilitation project”.

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