Read the following true life essays written by youth who live in Mae Ra Mo Camp in boardinghouses. The essays were translated from Karen to English by Ah Eh. The names of people and places have been changed for safety.

SPDC stands for State Peace and Development Council which is the name of the Burmese military junta. You will read about these youth’s personal encounters with the SPDC soldiers. The youth have come to live in the boardinghouses in the camp for safety and for education purposes.

-painting by Munrow

About Myself…
My name is Saw Htoo Htoo. I was born on May 12th, 1988. My village is Paw Kaw. My mother’s name is Naw Nuew Na. My father’s name is Saw Tay Htoo. I have 4 siblings and I am the youngest. I started to learn at Blaw Ku village. When I was in 1st grade my mother passed away. During the 2 months after my mother died the SPDC came and took the school teacher so that we could not attend school. They controlled our village for 2 months and so we could not stay there any longer. Our village had to move to Po La Hta. There I could go to school again. Because of this difficult situation, after I finished 1st grade my father sent me to the township to attend school. There I attended school for only half the school year. Again we had to stop because the SPDC came and burned every building and shot people. During the night we had to escape into the jungle. It was too dangerous to go back so again we had to flee to another place. We built temporary huts for shelter. I finished the school year in the jungle.

Now I stay in Ma Ra Mo. Now I study in 6th standard at the high school. I was sent here 2 years ago to get a good education. Since I arrived here I have not been able to go home. Recently I received a letter from my village informing me that my father had died.

This is really my experience, my true story.

- Painting by Hsar Mu Na, 2003

My Life Experience…
My name is Naw March Paw. I was born in 1985. I have 6 siblings. When I was 6 years old I knew that my parents had a very difficult time to find food. Sometimes we had no food, except for fruit, for 2 days at a time. Because the SPDC would attack our village we had to hide in the jungle and we didn’t have enough time to bring food with us. My parents felt very sad about this so my father went secretly to another village to get food. When I was 9 years old I began to attend school. To get this opportunity to study I had to cry to my parents many times because they didn’t have enough money to send me. In school we had no books or pens. The teacher also did not have chalk or chalkboard. We had to write on bamboo with pieces of charcoal. In 1994 I was in 1st standard and I had to attend school in the jungle because the enemy came to our village and burned down everything. We did not have enough food in the jungle. We had no pots so we cooked our rice inside of bamboo over fire. We had one teacher for 28 students, all in different grades.

At that time I had a 2 month old sister who died because there was no medicine. While my father was looking for food for us he was shot by the SPDC and he almost died. In 1997 the SPDC came to our village and my father was seriously ill so he couldn’t run away. Our neighbors had to carry him in a hammock to escape the SPDC. We knew our village was being burned by the smoke in the air.

My father could not help me anymore so he sent me to Mae Ra Mo camp. This is a good opportunity for me to have food and clothes and to study. I thank the people who help us and also I thank God.

This is my true story.

-Painting by Ler Moo, Age 18, High School 1, Mae La Camp

About Myself…
My name is Saw Hser Guey Htoo. I was born on August 10th, 1987. I want to write my story from the time I was born until now. I am an only child. When my mother was pregnant with me the SPDC shot and killed my father. My mother had to find food for herself and she felt lonely as she remembered my father, often crying many tears. It was a very bad time for her. She wanted to die but she had hope for the future so she did not kill herself. She bore me with kindness. As I grew up my mother always worked hard to provide food for me. She always tried to do the best for me and help me to be a good son. When I was old enough to go to school she sent me to school. When I passed 4th grade my mother could not send me anymore. She told me that she would go to ask the district authority to take care of my schooling. I told my mother, “Mother, I don’t want to leave you. I want to be near you forever. You are a widow so I don’t want to go far away.” My mother said, “Son, Go. I can take care of myself. You must look to the future. Go.”

Finally, I agreed with my mother and I came to the refugee camp to study. I thank my mother because she is very kind to me. I also thank God and especially the people who help me and give me opportunity to go to school and live in a good place. I pray for you who help me.

This is my true story.

-Painting by Eh Doh, Sho Klo high school

My experience…
My name is Naw Paw She. My mother is Naw Paw. My father is Ro Htoo but he has passed away. I was born on November 22nd, 1988 in KlerLeiHtoo district. My mother told me that when I was one month old my father died. I never saw his face. I also never called "Father". My mother had to care for me in this difficult situation. Even though it was very difficult to get food and clothes, she never gave up. My mother is very important to me. She is also the person who helps me get education.

When I was 6 years old I started to attend kindergarten. My school was in the jungle. While I was in school I was bitten by many mosquitoes. We had no mosquito nets for the nighttime. In 1997 the SPDC forced us out of the village. We had no food. It was a big problem. For safety I had to come to a refugee camp. When I arrived near the Thailand border we had to run again because of Thai soldiers. The thought came to my mind that in Burma we had to flee the SPDC and now we had to flee the Thai soldiers. We were not safe anywhere. We had to climb up a cliff along the river to escape. Finally, people took us to Clo Pa refugee camp. When we arrived there we didn’t know anyone. Later, our leader tried to find a place for us to live and build our house. In 1998 I came to Mae Ra Mo camp with my mother.

During the time along the Thai-Burma border I think about my Karen homeland. I feel very sad when I remember what has happened to me. The most important for me…When the SPDC used big weapons I could feel my legs shaking. We had to flee in the night with no torchlight because if they saw us they would shoot us. When the military entered our village they destroyed everything. We could take nothing with us, not even food. Many times we had nothing but fruit to eat. We boiled rice inside bamboo.

This year I am not a child anymore. My mother left me here and went back to live in Burma. She has duties there. Because I am here by myself I have to stay in the boardinghouse.

Thank you.

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