Everyone has a story: Local woman to speak in Myanmar

I am not originally from St. Louis, and am always meeting amazing people around our area -- I firmly believe that everyone has a story.

Along this line, I have worked with fellow parent Jocelyn Seagrave for several years to develop a pilot program for afterschool Mandarin Chinese in our children's elementary school, and district. We work closely together so when I head she had a big trip coming up I asked her about it.

Turns out, Seagrave, a writer and actress, will be a guest speaker at the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization's workshop on the movie industry in Myanmar (Burma) in Yangon on December 1st and 2nd. Over a hundred participants from Burma, India, Germany, the Netherlands, Thailand, Australia and Hollywood will discuss the development of the movie industry there. The historically repressive regime in Myanmar has begun to open up to reforms and foreign investment this past year, beginning with the release of Nobel Peace Prize Winner and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  Censorship has up to now been strictly enforced, with outspoken artists and comedians jailed as political prisoners for years because of their criticism of the government. Many observers are hopeful that initial reforms are an indicator of widespread positive changes, but much remains to be seen. President Obama visited Myanmar last week, the first US President to do so in modern history.

Seagrave is the Burmese-American granddaughter of Ed Law-Yone, the founder of The Nation newspaper in Burma, and Dr. Gordon Seagrave, the "Burma Surgeon" who served as a medical missionary and built a hospital in northern Burma. Her parents, Wendy Law-Yone and Sterling Seagrave, are both writers. Jocelyn was an actress in New York and Hollywood for two decades, starring in soap operas like "The Guiding Light" and "Days of Our Lives" as well as primetime series like "Pacific Palisades" and "Savannah." She has also done numerous TV movies, feature films, commercials and off-Broadway plays. Jocelyn has continued to write as she pursued her acting career, publishing poems and short stories and developing several screenplays. She has just completed her first novel, "The Promise Of Air," which is set in Burma after the 2008 cyclone.

At our school, Seagrave has spearhaded an effort to start a Passport Night to showcase the countries where our school families are from - many are, in fact, first generation. It is now a regular event featuring more than 20 countries or more each year! You don't know unless you ask... and sometimes when you do you find amazing stories! I can't wait to hear about her trip and speech. You can follow her on Twitter @JocelynSeagrave!