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I T H O U T

38

- May - June 2010

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I've heard about the problems the Karen have regarding education for a long time now. People living in Burmese towns said they had to change their names to Burmese ones; using 'Maung' instead of 'Saw' and 'Ma' instead of 'Naw' in order to get their children into schools; they are expensive schools and only teach in Burmese. In the mountainous areas accessed by the Burmese Army, schools can only be built with the Army's permission. If the Burmese Army attacks villages in KNU-controlled areas, they usually burn down the school, and if the KNU find a Burmese school in Karen villages, they will burn them too. In such a situation, many parents gave up hope for their children's schooling. I myself took a long time to finish school due to my endless displacement. However, I am luckier than the students I teach today. At least I'm more fortunate than Saw Le K'paw.

Saw Le K'paw is 19 and is studying high school at Mae La refugee camp. He is from Tee Pur village, deep inside Burma. I first met him when the Tee Pur headman brought him to my school as his parents couldn't afford a Burmese school. At the time he was older than the other Grade 5 students; he had to look after his sister and could start school only after 10 years old. Anyway Le K'paw is the only person in his family to get an education.

In December 2008, the DKBA and Burmese troops attacked Le K'paw's village. They burnt everything and forced the villagers to move into town. During the move his father and uncle stepped on a landmine and died. I remember when this bad news arrived, Le K'paw was quiet. The feeling was probably too much for him to explain. He asked my permission to go and help his mother and siblings harvest the rice; he was the man of the family now. I wanted to keep him at the school but I knew I couldn't. I let him go but kept worrying that he would be captured and forced to be a porter. I wondered if he would ever make it back to be my students again.

It can be a long time for those who wait, but Le K'paw finally came back in early 2009. However, more bad news came in the summer. His cousin, recruited as a DKBA porter, stepped on a landmine and also died. Le K'Paw went home again and came back when the school started in May. I saw he had changed. His heart was not in his lessons anymore. I talked to him and found out that his mother, now a widow, had given up any hope of sending her son to school. Le K'paw was also worried that his younger brother might be recruited as a porter. But if he went back, he himself might be forced to be a porter. However, not long after this our school and 3,000 villagers had to be evacuated to Thailand.

Le K'paw and around 60 friends continued their study at Mae La refugee camp. I met him again and found something was agitating his mind. He told me he hoped his family would be safe and that his sister had a chance to get an education like him. He was also worried about how long he could remain here and study; he didn't know whether he would have to move again, or where his family might have to go next. I hope he will have a strong heart to go on, to focus on what he is learning today. I hope that knowledge will be the candle light that leads his way, just like his teacher who continues on, with the candle light leading him.

Hli Gro Grah

Thai soldiers come and check people every day. They don't listen to any explanation. If someone isn't in the house, they take the person's name off the list. Every week I have to go to a hospital in Mae La camp, so now I don't have a name. With no name I don't get any food. I eat what my wife and children receive, A man who lost both his legs in a landmine accident told me. Many people who go out to work for Nong Bua villagers also had their names erased from the list.

The New Year was coming and I prepared to celebrate with my family. But in Nong Bua, on December 29th, nine refugees from two families decided to leave. They have been living with their relatives and sharing their food assistance. Others continued to stay with the hope that things would get better, especially when the authorities allowed them to repair the school so that they could receive guests from a human rights agency in Bangkok.