By Minal Singh
Northwest Asian Weekly
Premature Cian Hoigh, 2 ½ pounds, at Swedish Medical Center
Almost $60,000 has been donated to the Zam Khap family so far in the fundraising drive organized by the Tukwila School District Community.
While preparing the family’s evening meal, Ciin Nuam died at age 42. She was six months pregnant with her 7th child. Premature baby, Cian Hoigh showed her eldest sister, Niang Lun Cing, 17, the first opening of her eyes less than a week after her emergency birth by c-section on Dec. 2.
Cian Hoigh weighed 2 ½ pounds and continues to be cared for at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center.
Ciin Nuam
Ciin Nuam’s husband, Zam Khup,must now learn to be a single parent and negotiate these new responsibilities with his job at a fish processing plant. For eight years, he had been working to bring his family to America. Among the family’s financial responsibilities are fees owed to the U.S. government related to their asylum status. Burma, also known as Myanmar,located between Bangladesh and Thailand, has faced civil unrest for decades. The family has been together in America for nine months.
The Tukwila School District launched a successful fundraiser.. Especially, in light of the holiday season, the community has expressed on the donation website that “This is a Burmese refugee family—only nine months in the Tukwila community—who has no money for funeral expenses, not to mention medical expenses or day-to-day finances (food, rent) that will accumulate as the father must shift his focus from his job to his family in the days and months ahead.”
The memorial service for Ciin Nuam took place at Showalter Middle School on Tuesday. (end)
Donations can be gifted at www.youcaring.com and searching for Tukwila or the Zam Khap family.