Oo Zun

Daw Oo Zun (also spelt as Oo Soon, ; 7 August 1868 – 11 May 1944) was a Burmese Buddhist nun and humanitarian who was recognized as Myanmar's first female social worker and founder of Mingun Buddhist Home for the Aged. She was awarded the TPS (Taing Kyo Pyi Kyo Saung), one of the country's highest civilian honors, by the governor of British India. Oo Zun has been dubbed the "mother of elderly homes" in Myanmar.

Life Oo Zun was born on 7 August 1868 in the royal capital Mandalay, during the reign of King Mindon of the Konbaung dynasty. She was the only daughter of a wealthy silk merchant from Amarapura, U Ei, and Daw Myien. Since her childhood, she was involved in helping her parents' livelihood. When she turned 18, she served as her father's assistant.

At the age of 18, she built a temple named Ruby Monastery using her own money and achieved the RMD Award given by Badamyar Sayadaw, which earned her the nickname "Payarama". After her parents' deaths, she took over their properties, but she was by no means happy or depressed. She was grieving over the death of her parents. One day, she visited a nursing home established by Bishop Bigandet, the Bishop of Yangon in Yangon. During that period, there was only one old French missionary home in Myanmar. She harbored concerns that if Buddhists sought refuge there, they might encounter religious challenges. Consequently, she devised a plan to establish an elderly care center, ensuring individuals could freely practice their own religion without any religious implications.

Inspired by Christian homes for the elderly in Yangon, she established her inaugural elderly care facility named Mingun Buddhist Infirmary in Mingun, Sagaing Region, in 1915. She funded this initiative by selling her personal property. Situated near the renowned Mingun Bell, this facility marked the pioneering effort by a Burmese citizen to provide such care.

At 63 years old, she relinquished her secular life to join the Buddhist Order as a nun at the Paungde Elderly Home. Following 28 years of dedicated service to the elderly, she died in Mingun in May 1944, aged 76.

Following Daw Oo Zun's passing, U Maung Gyi (BIA) assumed leadership of the association and diligently managed the Mingun Buddhist Infirmary. In 1952, the Mingun Buddhist Infirmary received official registration with the Department of Social Welfare, marking the beginning of its second-level support from the government. Then, on 4 February 1988, the Mingun Buddhist Infirmary underwent a name change to Mingun Buddhist Boe BwaYeiktha (Mingun Buddhist Home for the Aged).