Among
the tragedies of refugee populations is the loss of their cultural
livelihood. Their traditional way of life is replaced with a new
lifestyle that unfortunately leans towards dependence. For the
Karen, their traditional way of life was rice farming. Most lived
a subsistence lifestyle where the land around them provided just
about everything they needed, from food and shelter to medicine
and clothes. The elders taught their families the Karen way of
life.
|
Here are some of the examples of cultural
wisdom we have learned from our conversations with Karen
friends, both young and old.
* What we call the "Milky Way", the Karen
use a phrase that means “a lot of rice.” The more
white they are able to see in the night sky, the bigger the
coming rice harvest will be.
* The Karen use the stars for telling time.
Not only could they use the stars to determine when to wake up
and go to sleep, but also they used the stars to tell them when
to plant and harvest their rice crops. Our friend’s parents
used this method of telling time when they lived in their remote
mountain village. (Now a battery powered clock ticks away the time
on their bamboo wall, and all of their children wear wristwatches.)
* What will the rainy season be like this
year? The Karen have at least two ways of foretelling –
watching the ants and the lizards…
- The ants build their nests high in
the trees to protect themselves from the forthcoming heavy rain.
The destructive floods in one of the camps two years ago and this year's
heavy rain are proof that the ants knew what they were
doing when they built their nests higher in the trees
than usual.
- There is one type of lizard that they check
to see about the upcoming rainy season. A very black tail on the
young ones means a lot of rain. Recently, people saw the lizard
and said it was very black. Last year there was a lot of grey
and also stripes, and it was considered a drought year.
|
In the camps, the past ways of life are
shattered. Most importantly they are not allowed to grow rice,
their staple food. Instead, they wait in line every month at the
rice storage to receive their rations. Unfortunately, the youth
are growing up without any idea of what their lives might be like
when they return home and face the reality of providing their
own food. Some of the refugees have lived in camps for 25 years,
and the majority for around ten.
In their homeland, homes are built from
forest materials and they grow or collect the majority of their
food from around their villages. Traditionally, they grew cotton
and dyed and wove their own clothes. They wove their own baskets
for carrying goods. In addition, they have an incredible knowledge
of the land around them including the vast array of medicinal
plants. Most of the refugees have no access to the forest around
them where previously they collected a variety of highly nutritious
vegetables. The important knowledge of identification of these
renewable resources is lost in many cases. Many of these plants
have considerable medicinal properties that are invaluable in
their ability to prevent and cure common simple disorders like
fevers, diarrhea, and common colds.
Richard's students preparing freshly collected vegetables
from the forest
Unfortunately, being in the camp now exposes
them to the globalized world that they didn’t have access to
while farming all their lives far from towns. Instead of weaving
a basket out of abundant bamboo, the Karen are becoming more inclined
to buy a brightly colored plastic one from the shop that a trader
from Thailand has sold into the camps. These products will not
be available or affordable in the mountain villages upon repatriation.
They will have to weave their own; hopefully they will know how!
In the camps, without the usual tasks that
come along with farming and survival, all Karen youth go to school.
This presents a major challenge for the community because many
of the elders are uneducated or have only a primary school education
and are thus unable to contribute to the formal education of the
youth. Because of the vulnerability of the refugees, the formal
education system has been taken out of their hands and put into
the hands of the NGOs. Now, the students are learning in an education
system that is designed for western modernized societies instead
of the subsistence farming communities that the majority of the
Karen people came from and will be moving back into. Their English
books currently provide lessons about Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman or
how to take the tube to Piccadilly Circus.
There is no doubt that education is essential
for refugees. Education is a basic
human right and should provide the Karen with a strong base to
maintain their integrity in the years ahead. The major challenge
is preserving the traditional ways of life that are essential
for repatriation in the remote mountains, while providing a solid
basic education. In attempting to preserve the traditions it is
essential that the elders are involved, not only to impart their
knowledge, but more importantly to retain their highly respected
role in the community.
Fortunately, KESAN (Karen Environmental Social Action Network),
a grass roots Karen group, and the Karen Education Department
(K.E.D.) are addressing this issue by developing a primary level
curriculum that will teach (or re-teach) the traditional Karen
ways of obtaining the essentials for their lives. The topics will
include Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Medicine. The elders are
the source of knowledge in developing the curriculum. The aims
are twofold: to provide a basic framework for refugees which
will aid in repatriation; and to enhance the future of Karen education
once resettled in their homeland. The Karen way of life
will soon be reflected in their schools.
As an English teacher I struggle with the
idea of cultural imperialism. I want my students to be Karen and
respect the traditions of their elders, but I also recognize the
importance of learning the International language. I find it essential,
and difficult, to balance lessons that introduce western ideals
and concepts like democracy and human rights, while preserving
the Karen cultural traditions and identity. While teaching English,
I try to elicit Karen cultural traditions from my students and discuss the importance of their old ways of life. I encourage
them to be aware of the incredible importance of the wisdom of
their elders. Basically, my hope is that the Karen will have a
strong understanding of their culture as it relates to the globalized
world around them. If they understand this, then they can make
well informed choices that will lead them into a brighter future.
next page
|
