Fleeing Myanmar alone at 12, Gracy Tlumang rebuilt her life in New Zealand to become the country’s only Burmese pharmacist – now a lifeline for her community.
Words: Catherine Milford
Gracy Tlumang is in high demand. As New Zealand’s only Burmese (Chin) pharmacist, other Burmese people travel for miles to come and get her advice at Hurst & Taylor Unichem Pharmacy in Stoke, often calling her outside normal working hours. But she understands why they do - because aged just 12, she fled Myanmar as an asylum seeker from one of the country’s poorest regions, travelling alone under cover of darkness in a desperate bid to leave her violent homeland and reunite with her mother.
“Myanmar is a difficult country. I have good and bad memories of my childhood, but it wasn’t safe for me to stay. My mum had managed to get out and into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a couple of years earlier, and in 2008, she paid for me to join her,” says Gracy, who turns 30 this month [SUBS December].
Gracy travelled with around 20 other refugees, but she was effectively alone for the terrifying journey from Myanmar to Malaysia. “I was a 12-year-old girl and didn’t know anyone - everyone was fleeing the country and fighting for their life, so nobody was going to risk their own freedom for me. They didn’t know me, I didn’t know them. There were just people there giving us instructions and getting us from one place to another,” she explains.
Understandably, Gracy doesn’t go into detail on how her mum got her out – “it was illegal” – but she remembers it. “I knew we were in danger. We travelled at night, hiding in the jungle during the day, and we always walked; there were no cars,” she says. “I just remember thinking – when are we going to get to Malaysia? I just wanted the journey to end and to be back with my mum.”
After two gruelling weeks, Gracy reunited with her mum in Malaysia, but as immigrants, the family wasn’t entitled to basics like education. “We had our UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency] cards, so we could work, and go outside, but we couldn’t go to school, and we had to avoid the police,” she explains.
Volunteers from all over the world in Kuala Lumpur helped former refugees like Gracy and her family, teaching basic skills like English. “We were so grateful to the people who helped us, but I really wanted to get out of Malaysia and get a good education.” Then in 2011, when Gracy was 16, she and her mum, Tial, got a call informing them they were being relocated to New Zealand.
“At the time, I knew nothing about New Zealand - the only thing I knew about the country was that there had been an earthquake,” she says. The pair spent six weeks at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in South Auckland, before being told they were being relocated to Nelson. “In Mangere we were taught a bit about New Zealand – what the country’s like, what’s expected, that kind of thing, but you can’t really learn a lot in six weeks – and I was really ready to start my education.”
Once in Nelson, Gracy and Tial began the process of adjusting to life in their new country. “Everything was new, and it was a massive culture shock. Having a refrigerator, washing machine, even sitting at a desk and chair – these were all things we’d never seen before,” explains Gracy. “Volunteers from the Red Cross helped us for six months, but it was so overwhelming, learning about all the different concepts like school, getting a GP, making appointments, getting vaccines, how to get a bus… we had to learn the whole system from zero. It was a huge change.”
16-year-old Gracy began school Year 10, balancing her time between getting a long-overdue education and helping her mum, who was working at Sealord. In 2013, the pair were joined by Gracy’s three younger brothers and sister, who had been too young to leave Myanmar with Gracy in 2011. “I looked after them too – I did everything. Mum spoke hardly any English, so I had to help them, and I felt a real debt too, to pay Mum back for getting me out of Myanmar,” she says affectionately. “She was a single mum, and she worked so hard to take us to safety – she did so much for us.”
The teenager had to step up again in 2022, when her mum was diagnosed with thyroid cancer – but the youngster took it all in her stride, because finally she had a future.
“I always wanted to work in the medical field, and I knew becoming a doctor wasn’t going to be achievable, so I thought maybe pharmacy could be a thing for me,” she says. After finishing Year 13, Gracy obtained her Bachelor of Science in 2018, majoring in Microbiology.
However, after such a difficult childhood, higher education wasn’t straightforward. “I had to try a few times to get my qualifications – I failed a few times - but I hadn’t come this far just to give up,” she says proudly.
After a one-year internship at Victory Square Pharmacy, Gracy continued her training at Unichem Hurst & Taylor Pharmacy in early 2024, passing her final assessment that May. “They trained me hard, and I just practiced and practiced, and kept asking questions until I understood.”
Today, Gracy is a focal point for the 800-strong Burmese community in Nelson, particularly for the Chin community. She spends much of her time explaining the New Zealand healthcare system to them, without the need for an interpreter, which can sometimes lead to misinterpretation. She also takes calls, and even home visits outside normal work hours from people who are worried about their health but are concerned about the language breakdown.
“There is a lot of anxiety and fear; it’s very hard to understand what’s happening when you’re in a completely new country, particularly for mums and dads who don’t speak English and have a sick child, or are a little older,” she says. “In Myanmar, there are no prescriptions – people just buy antibiotics for everything, so they don’t really understand why they can’t just get whatever they want here. So I try to be patient, and explain their options accurately.
“I do try to set boundaries so I don’t burn out, but I am so grateful to be where I am, and I want to help in any way I can.”
Currently single, Gracy would love to marry someone with similar values and culture, and have kids one day. She’d also like to pay it forward by returning to Myanmar one day as a volunteer, and regularly fundraises to send money back to Myanmar for children’s education. Meanwhile, as well as being a pharmacist, Gracy is also one of the leaders of the Nelson Chin Community, who last month [November] held a blessing ceremony for the Chin Gardens, a community project celebrating the culture and heritage of Nelson’s Chin community and to give back to their adopted home.
“The Chin Garden is so we will always remember our roots and where we come from, and for future generations,” she says. “It’s a reminder that in Nelson we are safe, and we can combine both our own culture and New Zealand culture.”
Gracy’s need to give back doesn’t stop there. She is also one of the leaders of the New Zealand Chin Community (NZCC), and plays a leading role at her church, the Nelson Chin Baptist Church. “There is a lot going on, but I want to give back, both to my community and to New Zealand,” she says. “I have a stable life, and we live without fear, while there are people dying in Myanmar every day, which breaks my heart.
“Our whole family is where we are thanks to Mum. She motivated us to study harder and make us proud, and we are all doing well because of her. We are very lucky.”
To find out more on the Chin Community of Nelson, including progress on the upcoming Chin Gardens at QEII Reserve near the Miyazu Gardens, visit Chin Community of Nelson on Facebook.
