Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

I first met Paul Shan when he joined The Natural Grower’s Association that I had co-founded in Pyin Oo Lwin, Myanmar. He had recently come to our town to set up a children’s home and he wanted to learn how to grow fresh organic food for his kids. Originally from the Shan ethnic group and a Buddhist, he later converted to Christianity after a serious bout of illness.

Paul met Hom, the love of his life, while working at the jade mines of Hpakant, Kachin State where I believe he earned his living as a motorcycle mechanic. After some time Paul and Hom were inspired to journey to a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border and start a children’s home for the many kids who showed up there without guardians. By 2017 Paul, Hom and their own 5 kids had moved to Pyin Oo Lwin, where Paul felt life would be safer and more peaceful than in eastern Burma. Paul spoke good English and he and I quickly became good friends. He would often invite me to visit his home, which was quickly filling up with kids who had no other home. Paul would fix the place up and Hom would home school the kids.

Paul was a great supporter of Solar Roots and he arranged for me to visit some remote communities to give solar and composting trainings. Two of the most memorable were in Homalin, Nagaland in NE Burma and Myeik, in the very south of Burma, on the Andaman Sea. He also arranged a training in Pyin Oo Lwin where he did the translating for me (see photo). Paul knew all the best restaurants in town and some of my happiest memories are going with him to try out new cuisine – Korean and Nepali among others. We became very close during the crisis surrounding the loss of my farm when he helped me greatly with lawyers and documentation – I couldn’t have done it without him. Despite his considerable responsibility for his own family and the kids he had taken in, he always found time to come to my aid when I was at a low point. However, I had to leave Burma in July 2019 and it would be two and half years until we met again.

The Covid pandemic disasterously upturned the life of Paul and his family. First, Paul's wife Hom died as a consequence of contracting the disease. That left Paul alone with 30 orphaned kids and 5 of his own. We were regularly in touch during this time even though Paul was in Burma and I was in California. I was able to financially support his childeren's home personally, but, without Hom, Paul found it extremely difficult to manage the home. We met for the last time in February 2022 in Mae Sot, Thailand. It was clear to me that Paul was in very bad shape. He missed Hom so much that he didn't know how to live his life without her. In a cruel twist of fate, Paul died in a motorcycle accident just months later. The orphaned kids wre returned to their villages of origin and Paul's own children went to live with Hom's sister Su Su, in Tachileik, Burma.

I now financially support Paul's children who live in Su Su's children's home and it is a highlight of my year when I drive up to Mae Sai,Thailand and they come across the international bridge to spend the day with me. I would like to make it clear that I do not use Solar Roots funds to make these donations, nor am I soliciting Solar Roots donations for this purpose. I simply want to honor my good friend Paul Shan and celebrate his life of service to others. It has been meeting people like Paul that has made my years of operating Solar Roots so rewarding.

Key to Photos:

1) Paul holds a solar panel while a trainee checks the voltage

2) Even the translator gets a certificate of completion!

3) Paul and I and a local pastor beside the mighty Chinwin River

4) Paul with some of the children in his home

5) Two of Paul's own children