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For 13 years, Honey Thin, affectionately known to her students and colleagues as “Teacher Honey,” has dedicated her life to education.
As vice principal and head of the English Department at Sunflower Myanmar International School in Mandalay, she has played a crucial role in shaping young minds, teaching English under the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) program.
But when a devastating earthquake struck her hometown of Mandalay, Teacher Honey’s calling extended beyond the classroom. She vividly recalls the day the earthquake struck on 28th March, 2025.
“I was at school after the lunch break, about to return to my classroom when the ground started shaking,” she recalls.
Honey quickly reassured two colleagues she was with to stay calm, thinking it was just a small tremor like the ones she had experienced before.
However, the shaking quickly intensified so she and her team took cover under their desks for protection.
When the tremors subsided, a fellow teacher opened the door and urged everyone to evacuate immediately without stopping to collect any belongings. Together, they led more than 400 students, with age ranging from five to fifteen, down from the third floor. Thankfully, all of them made it out safely without injury.
This was not Honey's first experience with relief work. In September 2024, she and her school team coordinated with the Myanmar Red Cross to provide basic relief supplies to flood-affected families across the Mandalay region when Typhoon Yagi hit.
This earlier collaboration, which was also her first exposure to MRCS, left a strong impression on her and solidified her decision to take a more active role when the earthquake struck.
“Before the earthquake, my days were filled with teaching, studying, managing teaching staff, and communicating with parents,” Honey shares. However, witnessing the scale of devastation after the earthquake, she felt a deep urge to do more.
Just ten days after the disaster, she joined the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) as a volunteer, eager to support the relief and recovery of her community.
“I’m just an ordinary person. At first, I felt lost and frustrated during the earthquake, unsure whether to stay or escape. But I calmed myself and found resilience. I realized the community needed us and decided to help in any way I could. That’s why I chose to volunteer with the Red Cross.”
Today, Teacher Honey balances her role in education with her commitment to humanitarian work. She supports earthquake response efforts by spraying pesticides to prevent disease, assisting at mobile clinics, distributing purified drinking water, and conducting community assessments to identify urgent needs.
Through all these experiences, she has witnessed a broad range of humanitarian challenges beyond her classroom.
“In just six days, I have worked across six different locations and taken on six different duties. I’m both excited and proud of myself,” Honey reflects.
After the earthquake, Teacher Honey continues teaching her students online, ensuring their learning remains uninterrupted.
Despite the ongoing challenges caused by the earthquake, Teacher Honey has continued her commitment to education through online teaching. Using digital platforms, she connects with her students, ensuring that their learning journey is not interrupted even amid the disaster’s aftermath.
For Teacher Honey, education is not just about lessons in a classroom, it is a means of providing stability, hope, and life skills, even in times of crisis. This approach aligns with the principles of RED Education, a global initiative that brings together the IFRC network’s efforts to support education in formal and non-formal spaces for children and young people before, during and after disasters or crises. The approach promotes community resilience, knowledge-sharing, and community empowerment.
“Before, my world was mostly limited to the classroom—a small space. Now, I see the broader impact we can have, even among broken buildings and disrupted lives.”