Karen In Canada

Tormented Karen people trying to find peace
TheStar.com

Tormented Karen people trying to find peace



RICHARD LAUTENS/TORONTO STAR
Eh Wah, 19, lives in Toronto with her husband and their child.
March 12, 2008 Emily MathieuStaff reporter
For decades the Karen people, the largest ethnic minority in Burma, have been fighting for independence. During that time, they have been subjected to brutal violence by Burmese soldiers.
Thousands have fled into the jungle and as many as 140,000 have relocated to nine refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border. Many were born and spent their entire lives in the camps.
The total Karen population is estimated at 6 million to 7 million in Burma and about 400,000 in Thailand, according to karenpeople.org. Their roots are primarily in Karen State, an area of Burma demarcated into seven townships by the government, according to Human Rights Watch.
In 2006, in recognition of World Refugee Day, Ottawa started relocating about 800 Karen to Canada. In Toronto, community organizations have banded together to ease their transition.
About 200 have settled in the GTA, with many forming a community in an apartment complex on Jane St. near Steeles Ave. W. At least 200 more are expected to arrive this year.
With the interview arrangements and translation help of Wah Paw Lah, an outreach worker for Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services who studied at the University of Thailand and lived and taught school in a refugee camp, several Karen refugees talked about the lives they left behind and what they think about their new home and future. Access Alliance is one of several Toronto community groups that have banded together, dubbed the Karen Project Partnership Group, to ease their transition.

Eh Wah is 19 and spent most of her life inside a refugee camp.
She arrived in Toronto on June 18, 2007 and lives with her husband Moo Ray, 22, and their child Sae Kaen Kwee Pwai, about 16 months. Her husband received some schooling in the camp and both want to get more education in Toronto.

Eh Wah
Q: What has been the most surprising thing you have seen?
A: "The first time I went to a bank I was really surprised to see women working in an office just like men. ...
"When I first see them I think most are very sophisticated and have confidence in themselves....
"The women are very high tech and all use computers....
"When I see women who are educated I feel they are free women. If I have the opportunity to study child psychology and child minding that is what I would like to do."

Ma San Htoo
From age 7 to 14, Ma San Htoo hid with her family in the Burmese jungle, their only food whatever they could raise or catch. Her older sister, then 18, was killed by a land mine while trying to find her family. Her father had to bury her body in the jungle.
Now 46, she raised eight children in several camps, losing two more to malaria. She has been in Toronto since Nov 7, 2006.
Q: What is it like living at Jane and Finch?
A: "This area is infamous for killing but compared to my life before it's much, much better. So it's no problem for me.
"The jungle it was very dangerous so we were always moving place to place. We have to run all the time, looking around all the time for (Burmese) soldiers. ... If the Burmese soldiers see smoke they came.
"Everything is different for me here. ... Here I don't have to worry.
"The different things I like here is the snow. As long as there is no wind chill. So the snow is beautiful to me."

Ter Ri Say
Ter Ri Say, 23, was born in a refugee camp on the border of Burma and Thailand. He and his wife Ter Kaw Paw, 19, and child Htoo Htoo Paw Say (about 22 months) moved to Toronto on June 18, 2007.
Q: What are the biggest changes in your life?
A: "In the camp we have three seasons, rainy, summer and winter. Even in the winter we do not see the snow. ... In the camp it is really expensive to buy ice, but here it is everywhere."
"In the camp, we grow our own food. Here we have no space to grow the plants. ... Here there are many varieties of products. Most I have not seen before. It is really amazing. ...
"Chocolate is very strange for me. I never tasted it in the camp."
"In the camp when I look around I just see leaves and trees. Here when I look around I see electric lights and buildings."
"In our community and culture we are very friendly. Even if we don't know each other we can spend time with each other.
"But in this city, I dare not even visit my neighbour and they have not visited me."