In recognition of Fort Wayne’s large and thriving Burmese population, in 2012 we began the process of finding a Sister City in Myanmar. After an exploratory trip to visit Myanmar to choose the right city, in 2016 we signed a Friendship City with Mawlamyine in Mon State. Following meetings with dozens of community leaders and activists in Mawlamyine to help define our goals as Friendship Cities, we agreed that our cities would conduct student and teacher exchanges and provide English language instruction at Mawlamyine University. For the following three years, we presented in-person English language instruction (ESL) to hundreds of students who were also studying to become English language teachers. 

Our program became so successful that the national government in Myanmar invited us to provide similar instruction in several universities across Myanmar. In 2018, we signed an MOU with Purdue University, Fort Wayne (PFW) and Mawlamyine University to continue these efforts. Despite the pandemic, we have maintained our relationship through online meetings and classes. Since 2016, we have also conducted three college student exchanges and sent a representative from the Fort Wayne Police Department to work with law enforcement in Mawlamyine on the problem of human trafficking.  

At the 2020 sister cities annual gala, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry announced his support for Mawlamyine to become an official Sister City. This has not yet been formalized due to the pandemic, and a military coup in Myanmar in February, 2021, which created impediments to travel. In 2023, we were able to host six educators from the Mon National Education Committee who have created a school committed to the preservation of Mon culture. They spent several days with administrators and teachers at PFW studying the operations of a large university. Mawlamyine and Fort Wayne remain Friendship Cities and we look forward to a time when we can formalize our Sister Cities relationship.