Ma Nuayla Ja Nga

Parents:

Father: Ja Ti Ja Nga
Mother: Nam Seng Ja Nga

Her Story

Ma Nuayla is Lahu. She is the third of five children. Her parents, her older brother and her older sister are all Thai citizens. When Ma Nuayla was born, however, her father was very sick and unable to travel the great distance between their remote village and the district office to register her birth and receive her papers. Her village is extremely remote, has no electricity and virtually no roads so travel is difficult.

Ma Nuayla has been DNA tested and her lineage properly proven so she now has Thai Citizenship. Because of this, she is able to receive scholarship money for school and can work to break out of the cycle of poverty that so many hilltribe villagers find themselves in.

*Note* Because non-citizens lack documentation of their birth, when families go to register their children it is quite common for them to choose January 1 as their child’s birthdate.