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Pyo Nwe interview transcript, May 18, 2015
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Title
Pyo Nwe interview transcript, May 18, 2015
Description
Pyo Nwe explained what her life was like in a Karen refugee camp. She details her experiences living in the camp, which include getting married and having children. She also explains the difficulties that she and her family faced (and still face) after coming to the United States.
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CACHE VALLEY REFUGEE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
TRANSCRIPTION COVER SHEET
Interviewee: Pyo Nwe
Present: Pyo Nwe, Bethany Hanks, Chit Moe, Wes Van de Water, Meagan
Gill
Place of Interview: Pyo Nwe’s home in Logan, Utah
Date of Interview: May 18, 2015
Language(s): Karen; English
Translation:
Interviewer: Bethany Hanks
Interpreter: Chit Moe
Recordist: Wes Van de Water
Photographer: Meagan Gill
Recording Equipment: Tascam DR-100mk11 linear PCM recorder; Senal ENG-
18RL broadcast-quality omnidirectional dynamic
microphone
Transcription Equipment: Express Scribe
Transcribed by: Bethany Hanks, May 24, 2015
Transcript Proofed by: Bethany Hanks, May 25, 2015
Brief Description of Contents: Pyo Nwe describes her life in a Karen refugee camp
before she came to the United States. She explains what brought her to the Karen refugee
camp and what it was like living there, getting married there, and having children there.
She also describes the changes and difficulties that she and her family faced (and still
face) when they left the refugee camp and came to the United States.
Reference: BH = Bethany Hanks
BHI = Bethany Hanks interpreted by translator
PN = Pyo Nwe
PNI = Pyo Nwe interpreted by translator
WV = Wes Van de Water
WVI = Wes Van de Water interpreted by translator
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NOTE: Interjections during pauses or transitions in dialogue such as “uh” and false
starts and stops in conversations are not included in transcribed. All additions to
transcript are noted with brackets.
TAPE TRANSCRIPTION
[00:01]
BH: Okay, today is May 18, 2015. And this is Bethany Hanks with Wes Van de Water
on audio and Meagan Gill taking photographs. We’re all students at Utah State
University and are working on a project called “Voices: Refugees in Cache
Valley.” Right now we’re visiting Pyo Nwe at her home in Logan, Utah. And her
little son is with us, who is 8 months old, and Chit Moe is translating.
So, first we want to thank you Pyo Nwe for letting us come and speak with you.
So first, um, can I have you say your full name and birth year?
PN: Pyo Nwe Nwe
BH: Pyo Nwe Nwe?
PN: January 1st, 1978.
BH: Thank you.
PNI: Date of birth, January 1st, 1978.
BH: Okay, thank you. And what languages do you speak?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [laughs]
[responding in Karen]
PNI: I speak Karen and Burmese.
BH: Thank you. Can you tell me a little about your family?
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BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: In Utah, or?
BH: Um, if you can talk about maybe your family here in Utah and also if you have
family over in Karen too?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[2:07]
[Baby breathing loudly]
PNI: Um, my family, we all lived in refugee camps and then we all moved to Utah,
which is, we were in Salt Lake and we came in March 3rd, 2008.
[2:25]
[Baby makes noises]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: We lived there for one year in Salt Lake City, and we moved here in 2009, and
we’ve been here ever since.
BH: He likes the microphone, doesn’t he?
[laughs]
So the refugee camp where you were at – where was that exactly?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: It is called Mela Camp.
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BH: Mela Camp? And do you have any idea where the location of that is in Thailand?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: We didn’t know. It is close to the border, and I know that it’s in Thailand, but I
don’t know whether it’s the south or which states or province it’s in. We just
know that it’s a refugee camp.
BH: Okay, and did you say how long you were there for?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: 1997 to 2008.
PNI: From 1997 to 2008.
BH: Wow, so then did you grow up quite a lot in this refugee camp?
BHI: Like, did she grow up in refugee camp?
BH: Yeah, like there as a young child and maybe as a teenager.
PN: Yeah, teenager.
BH: Yeah?
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yes, I was sixteen years old back then.
BH: Okay. What was it like for you, being there as a young person in the refugee
camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: Well, at first I lived in Burma. I was poor – my family was poor, and from what I
heard, refugee is a better place than Burma. At refugee camp they have school,
and their schooling is free. So I decided to go to refugee camp for education
purposes.
BH: Okay, so what kinds of education did they offer in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, the education in the refugee camp was – it’s not so great like in America,
but it’s better than Burma though.
[5:59]
[Baby breathes loudly]
BH: Okay, what kinds of things did you learn in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I don’t know if I learned much in the refugee camp because at first, coming to a
refugee camp was to study—
[Baby makes noises]
—but then, things changes, you know. Different circumstances occurred, and it
just changes.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: And I didn’t get to learn.
PN: [responding in Karen]
[Baby makes noises]
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PNI: However, I did help out the school and the teachers with a few things; just helping
out for a few years.
BH: Okay. Did you have any brothers or sisters with you, or your parents?
PN: Yeah, [responding in Karen]
PNI: I have three brothers, I mean –
PN: Three sisters.
PNI: – three sisters. One is in Thailand and the other is in Burma, in Karen State.
BH: Okay, we’ll get him some toys huh; let him play.
[laughs]
So are your siblings, are they still, you said in Thailand and Burma? Are they still
over there? Yeah? So, they weren’t in the refugee camp with you? Or –
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[8:47]
PNI: No, they didn’t live with me in the refugee camp, but my older sister (the one
that’s in Thailand) she has a daughter who has a disease, and in order to cure the
disease, there isn’t a hospital in the refugee camp. There is, but it’s not very big.
So, they had to go to Thailand to work over there and to get her daughter the cure.
BH: Do you remember much about your life before being in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, a lot.
BH: Yeah? What kinds of things do you remember?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
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PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, I remember lots of things, but which one are you wanting to know more
about?
BH: Yeah, let’s see, I guess things about your family – maybe your daily, kind of what
life would have been like for you on just a regular day? Or maybe like the sort of
the political situation, if it was dangerous at all.
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: [speaking in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[11:53]
PNI: Well, I do remember like from 1989 or 1990, well – not before 1990. I think I was
about 9 or 10 years old back then. We had, like I said, three sisters, and I lived
with my parents. Well, my biggest goal was to go to school you know, to have a
better school for me. Back then it was really difficult because the Burmese
military were coming and forcing people to become porters, and my dad was one
of them. After he has gone to do the porter thing, and then he lost his leg, like
during the war, and he couldn’t work any more after that. It was a really
challenging for my family. After a few months or a few days (I can’t remember)
my older sister, she kind of left us and she went to Thailand.
BH: Wow, thank you. So was education, then, I know you said – you mentioned
education earlier, and you wanted to get a better education. Were there other
reasons for relocating to the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yes, I wanted to go to school like really bad back then. In my village, my family
was the poorest out of everybody, and then in order to go to school there we had
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to have like a good umbrella, good shoes, good clothes – and my parents, they
couldn’t afford to buy any of that. And I kind of felt embarrassed, I mean, to go to
school there, so I though it’d be better to go to school in a refugee camp where
everything is free, you know. But then when I got to the refugee camp, I got
married – so I didn’t really get to go to school.
BH: So you met your husband, then, in the refugee camp? What was that like? Was
that a good place, I guess, to meet lots of people?
PN: [responding in Karen]
[15:33]
PNI: I think it’s a good place to meet with lots of people, but back then I was kind of
young. I was still young, and I had lots of thoughts: there isn’t anyone to support
me; my family isn’t here either.
[Baby makes spitting noise]
I guess that’s how I though about getting married you know – to find my
companion who, we can maybe support each other now. It’s just the thought that
came by.
BH: Very neat. So, your husband in here with you now? Did you all come over, did
you leave the refugee camp together? Yeah?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: Yes.
BH: How difficult was it to, I guess, go through the process of coming to another
country? Was that difficult or was it fairly easy?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, in Burma, it’s difficult there.
[Baby rattles toy and breathes loudly for a few seconds]
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In Thailand it’s the same thing. And here it’s still difficult.
BH: Yeah?
PNI: I don’t think that’s answering your question. Everywhere is difficult.
BH: Uh-huh. So, I guess, another way to ask would be is it difficult to gain entry as a
refugee into the United States?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
[phone buzzes]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[Baby coughs]
PN: Sorry.
BH: Oh, that’s okay.
[17:58]
[Pyo Nwe moves play set nearby]
Children like to be active, I know. I have nieces and nephews, and they’re, yeah.
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I think it’s a fairly easy process to get to United States, you know, compared to
people who came here with visa or other things. Because we were refugees, then
it was easier.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: To get here, we received lots of help, you know. People helped us step by step to
get here.
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BH: Okay, thank you. So in the refugee camps, did they celebrate any holidays or have
any special religious days?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, there are.
BH: Yeah, like, can you give us an example of one of those special holidays and
maybe how it was celebrated?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[19:49]
PNI: The biggest thing would be, we have Karen New Year, and we have Burmese
New Year. For Karen New Year, in the beginning we had like a – I would say like
camp leaders, lots of leaders, you know. They will go up on the stage and just
give speeches.
BH: Wow.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, Karen has it’s own culture, and Burmese has its own culture.
BH: So, what’s the main difference, I guess, between Karen New Year and Burmese
New Year?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Because I’m not as – I guess, I don’t have a good experience, like such leaders,
but what I can tell is that for Burmese New Year, they celebrate it on April. For
Karen, they do it on December.
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BH: Okay, so it’s mainly the time then.
[Baby coughs]
Wow. Thank you.
[baby makes noises]
So, when you were in the refugee camp, did you get any idea of what the people
in Thailand thought of the refugees in the camps?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
[Baby coughs]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, I don’t know about other people, but for me, you know, I was really scared
of the Thai military. Thai, yeah. Because back then if we had, say we have a
meeting, say don’t go out of the camp today, then I will never go out of the camp
because if the Thai military captures you, they will send you somewhere else.
Another example is my husband who worked outside the camp –
[Baby coughs]
He was chased by Thai military lots of times, but fortunately he escaped every
single time he was chased.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: What makes me more scared is that when I went back to Thailand one day, I saw
the Burmese military. They were taking people, you know. They were taking
people to – I don’t know where they were taking them, but they were capturing
people, so it makes me more scared.
BH: Wow.
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: Yeah, for me, it was really scary, but I don’t know about other people.
BH: So, is that something that happens a lot – that maybe refugees leave the camp,
they sneak out or something, and then they’re captured by Thai military and taken
somewhere else?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[24:44]
PNI: Yeah, I think it –
[Baby bonks head]
Ooh.
BH: Oh no, is he okay?
[Baby cries]
PN: Oh.
BH: Is he okay?
[Baby cries]
Head bonk.
[baby cries]
PN: Sorry.
BH: Oh, that’s okay.
PNI: He wants to sleep now. He’s feeling sleepy. Well, I don’t know about now, but
back fourteen years ago, I would say it happened a lot because I have seen it
myself. I lived close to the Thai military gate, I guess, their area, I kind of lived
close to where they lived, and what I saw was there was this –
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[phone makes noise]
– there was this woman, I would say
[phone makes noise]
PN: [laughs]
PNI: Sorry.
BH: That’s okay
PNI: Okay, what happened was this Thai military guy – he went out, he found a
woman, he took her to the camp, not to the camp but to their place, and I lived
really close to it. And they were doing some horrible things to her, I think. I heard
the noise and everything, but I couldn’t help. I was so scared. So, I think it
happened a lot.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, at the same time, not all the Thai military are bad. Some are really good
people as well. I remember when I was pregnant, I saw Thai military who was
actually helping me with stuff, you know. He bought me food, so that was really
nice.
BH: Did you had some children while you were in the refugee camp.
PN: Four.
[laughs]
BH: Four?
PNI: She has four.
BH: So, four. So, this one with you, he is number four?
PN: Five.
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BH: Number five, okay. Was that difficult? Either medically—I mean, did they have,
um, places where you know, there was a doctor around to help you give birth?
And then you know, raising the children in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, there were hospitals in the refugee camps. If I were pregnant – if I were
close to giving birth, I could go to hospital and give birth there. But what’s sad is
that, like, my sister or people who lived in Burma, they, there was no way they
could afford to go to the hospital in Burma, so it was kind of sad.
BH: Yeah.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I think, personally for me, I had a better life than my sisters had.
[28:30]
BH: How different is it now, raising a child here in America compared with in the
refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, before –
[Baby touches microphone]
– in the refugee camp, yeah, it was different raising a child compared to here and
in the refugee camp. Back there, I had four kids, my husband would go out and
work, and if he finds a job then he will bring us some money so we can buy good
food, good meal. But here, it’s like, he has a job, and it’s better than the refugee
camp, but here we have a different situation I guess. I’ve been here for seven
years, and I wanted to go to school, but because of a bad situation I just can’t go
to school here.
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BH: Is there anything that would help you be able to go to school here in the United
States?
PN: [responding in Karen]
[baby cries]
PNI: [speaking in Karen]
PN: [responds in Karen]
PNI: Well, before I was pregnant here in United States, I had a teacher, you know. She
would come and visit me and teach me English. So that was really nice, but she
moved to Colorado long ago. But now, I don’t expect to go to high school or
middle school. It’s not something I can handle; I know that very well. But I would
like a teacher who could come and teach me, because now that my children are
growing up, I have time to study; learn more English.
PN: [speaking in Karen]
[laughs]
BH: He’s cute. So I wanted to ask, although it sounds like you may have answered my
question already, but given the chance to go to school, what would you study?
Although it sounds like English is something that you would really like to learn,
but is there anything else?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[33:06]
PNI: Well no. English is the main thing that I want to learn. However, I do want to
learn a lot of English so I can communicate on a daily basis. Let’s say if someone
were to ask me a question, so that I know the answer to that question, or I
understand that question so I can answer it.
BH: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so do you think learning English would make living in America
easier for you?
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BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, yeah, I think if I could understand a lot, but not a hundred percent, then I
guess it would help a lot, you know. Though it’s not a hundred percent, it would
help a lot.
BH: Yeah.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: And at the same time, my brain is not as good as American people, so it’s not like
I can really learn English. It’s not like I can learn English like a hundred percent,
does that make sense?
[Baby cries]
BH: I think if I understand what she’s meaning, you can translate it back and make
sure I’ve got this right, but, it’s difficult once you’re an adult and you’ve already
learned—
PNI: Mmm, yeah.
BH: one language—
PN: Yeah.
BH: it’s harder to learn another.
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah.
BH: Because I think the situation would be – if we were to go to Karen, I think we
would be in a similar situation.
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PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, when I had a teacher, you know the one that moved to Colorado, back then,
I think I understood English, a lot, I guess. I understood English more than what I
understand now. Right now, I think I forgot lots of it, yeah.
PN: [laughs]
BH: Yeah. So, your first few months after leaving the refugee camp, you came to
America. What was that like for you and your family?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, I think it was kind of a little bit challenging. When me and my family first
came to America, there weren’t a lot of Karen people, and we really didn’t know
a lot about America I guess. Well, at first, people were giving us those apple juice
– we thought it was oil, so we didn’t want to touch it. And then when they gave us
lotion, we didn’t know what it is, so we use it for our face because it smells nice,
right? If we wanted to say something, there weren’t any interpreters back then.
And if we wanted to go buy groceries, we didn’t even know where to go.
BH: Wow. So, what did you end up doing when you needed to buy groceries? Did you
end up – was there someone around who was also from Karen who helped?
PN: [responding in Karen]
[37:36]
PNI: Yeah, it wasn’t Karen people that helped my family. There weren’t many Karen
people like I said. It was people from the church. They pretty much helped us
with everything, I guess. Taking us to the hospital, you know, taking us to go
shopping, buying us stuff – yeah, from the church.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Oh, yeah, what I remember is that my oldest daughter – she had like a tooth pain
back here, the upper one, back here. We went to hospital, you know, and the
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doctor looked at it, but the doctor took one tooth out, but it was the one at the
bottom.
BH: Oh no.
PNI: But that one had cavities so it was okay, but the one that hurts was the one on top.
BH: So, it was on the top left?
PNI: Yeah, top.
BH: And he took out the bottom left.
PNI: The bottom left.
BH: Okay.
PN: [laughs]
[speaking in Karen]
PNI: I had to take my daughter to the hospital again to take the other one out, the upper
left one.
BH: How did you communicate that with the dentist, or the man who was working on
her mouth?
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: We were just using, I guess, sign language – kind of this, that. But we had people
from the church, like one person who took us to the dentist, but back then there
was no interpreters, so we can’t tell him what was going on. We just tried to show
him this and that.
BH: Yeah, with your hands?
PNI: Yeah, all without sound.
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: I didn’t know it either, that she had a tooth that was hurt, but my daughter just
told me that it hurts. But thought the doctor already took, it was the one on the
bottom already, but it still hurts.
BH: So, this church that you mention that helped you? Is this the church that you, or
the religion that you take part of?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[40:37]
PNI: It’s not my religion, that church, but they have a lot of people, you know. It
doesn’t matter whether you’re that – whether you come from that religion or not.
And they help a lot of Burmese and Karen refugees.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, everybody who’s a refugee doesn’t know anything. So they help with
everybody I guess.
[Phone starts ringing]
BH: Is that you’re phone—no?
PN: [speaking in Karen]
PNI: It’s a broken phone.
BH: Oh.
[laughs]
PN: [speaking in Karen]
BH: Oh, okay.
PNI: It plays it every morning.
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BH: Okay.
[laughs]
BH: So, do you remember what the name of that church was?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: No, but it’s in Salt Lake. It’s the LDS church.
BH: Okay.
[Baby makes noises]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: It’s around 300 East.
BH: Okay, in Salt Lake City?
PNI: Yeah, in Salt Lake City.
BH: Okay.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I think until today, they’re still helping people who are other refugees.
BH: Okay. Let me see.
[baby makes noises]
BH: So, you mentioned that here in Logan, your husband has a job? What work does
he do?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: He works at JBS. He cuts meat. That’s what he does – JBS, yeah.
BH: Okay. And I think—so you mentioned in the refugee camps, your husband would
have to leave the camp to work? Was there like a specific job that he had? Or was
he leaving the camp to find a job?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, he had to look for work, you know, in the refugee camp – outside of
refugee camp, I mean.
BH: Wow.
PN: [responding in Karen]
[Baby shakes toy]
[43:38]
PNI: Yeah, it just really depends on the day. So, one day you find a job, then you get
paid. One day, if you can’t find a job, then you don’t get paid.
BH: So what kinds of jobs could be found in that way? What sorts of work could he
find?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, if it’s around May, then he would work as a, like in a cornfield, where he
has some kind of corn.
BH: Kind of seasonal—
PN: Yes
PNI: Yes, depends on –
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BH: Whatever was available? Those kinds of things.
PNI: Yeah.
BH: Okay. Let’s see. Is there anything that you wish that the people of Logan knew
about you or your family? Or kind of your culture in general?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, I guess I don’t know, you know because, my family we’re from refugees,
you know, and we didn’t know about America a lot. And today we still don’t
know a lot about Americans I guess. We just kind of need help, you know. That’s
basically what she just said.
BH: Okay, so it’d be good if we could all find a way maybe to learn more about each
other, yeah?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, sometimes, I don’t know, if we’re in trouble or something – we just don’t
know what to do. We just kind of need a guide, I guess.
PN: [responding in Karen]
[47:17]
PNI: Yeah, we’re just kind of a little scared and don’t understand a lot here, so it would
be nice just to get help.
BH: Okay, I think I have – I have one more question. Do you think you will ever go
back to Burma, to Karen State?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: Yeah, I guess I would want to go back and visit Burma, but I’m not a hundred
percent sure if I want to go back and live there permanently, you know. Yeah, I
just don’t have any plans yet for that.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: At the same time, I’m not a hundred percent sure if I want to live in the United
States forever either. So yeah, I’m just not planning yet.
BH: Mm-hmm.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: And the other reason for me to be staying here is for my children. They have a
better education here.
BH: I guess just one question going off of that – do you think you would ever want
your son here, who was born in America, do you think you would want him to see
the land where you came from and know that people and that language?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, like I said, I grew up as a refugee, and I wanted to go back to school but I
couldn’t. But now I’m here in United States. I want to give my children the
opportunity to go to school here, graduate, you know – have a better education
here. After then, I would like them to go back to Burma and help out other people
you know, to tell them what they learned; to give back to the people in Burma.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: For me, I want to help my people you know, but I can’t. I know I can’t. But for
my children, yeah, sure they can one day.
BH: Well thank you. I think that’s all of my questions, but I want to see if either Wes
or Meagan – if they have any questions they’d like to ask, if that’s okay?
PN: Okay, I have a lot of time.
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BH: See, your English is good!
[51:19]
WV: I guess I was kind of curious, if you’re not LDS – and I notice you have a picture
of the Logan temple up on the wall – what is your religious background if you’re
not LDS?
WVI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: [speaking in Karen]
PN: [speaking in Karen]
PNI: Well, back to the refugee camp, I was Buddhist. My whole family was Buddhist.
But here, me, my husband and –
[speaks in Karen]
– and my oldest daughter, us three – we converted to LDS.
WV: Okay
BH: Okay
PNI: We already have, yeah.
PN: [speaking in Karen]
PNI: So I guess there are like four more left in my family, still isn’t LDS.
PN: [speaks in Karen]
PNI: Well, what I want to say is that it all depends on my daughters I guess. It doesn’t
matter what religions they choose. It’s all up to them. We don’t have any
objection to anything.
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PN: [speaks in Karen]
PNI: For me, I chose it myself, to become LDS. It was my decision.
BH: Okay, any other questions? No? Well thank you. So I think that’s the end of our
interview. It is, it’s 11:58 AM, I don’t know if I mentioned, the starting time was
about 11:04 or 11:05. So thank you, Pyo Nwe, and your little son. So, thanks to
both of you.
PN: [laughs, responds in Karen]
[53:28]
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CACHE VALLEY REFUGEE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
TRANSCRIPTION COVER SHEET
Interviewee: Pyo Nwe
Present: Pyo Nwe, Bethany Hanks, Chit Moe, Wes Van de Water, Meagan
Gill
Place of Interview: Pyo Nwe’s home in Logan, Utah
Date of Interview: May 18, 2015
Language(s): Karen; English
Translation:
Interviewer: Bethany Hanks
Interpreter: Chit Moe
Recordist: Wes Van de Water
Photographer: Meagan Gill
Recording Equipment: Tascam DR-100mk11 linear PCM recorder; Senal ENG-
18RL broadcast-quality omnidirectional dynamic
microphone
Transcription Equipment: Express Scribe
Transcribed by: Bethany Hanks, May 24, 2015
Transcript Proofed by: Bethany Hanks, May 25, 2015
Brief Description of Contents: Pyo Nwe describes her life in a Karen refugee camp
before she came to the United States. She explains what brought her to the Karen refugee
camp and what it was like living there, getting married there, and having children there.
She also describes the changes and difficulties that she and her family faced (and still
face) when they left the refugee camp and came to the United States.
Reference: BH = Bethany Hanks
BHI = Bethany Hanks interpreted by translator
PN = Pyo Nwe
PNI = Pyo Nwe interpreted by translator
WV = Wes Van de Water
WVI = Wes Van de Water interpreted by translator
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NOTE: Interjections during pauses or transitions in dialogue such as “uh” and false
starts and stops in conversations are not included in transcribed. All additions to
transcript are noted with brackets.
TAPE TRANSCRIPTION
[00:01]
BH: Okay, today is May 18, 2015. And this is Bethany Hanks with Wes Van de Water
on audio and Meagan Gill taking photographs. We’re all students at Utah State
University and are working on a project called “Voices: Refugees in Cache
Valley.” Right now we’re visiting Pyo Nwe at her home in Logan, Utah. And her
little son is with us, who is 8 months old, and Chit Moe is translating.
So, first we want to thank you Pyo Nwe for letting us come and speak with you.
So first, um, can I have you say your full name and birth year?
PN: Pyo Nwe Nwe
BH: Pyo Nwe Nwe?
PN: January 1st, 1978.
BH: Thank you.
PNI: Date of birth, January 1st, 1978.
BH: Okay, thank you. And what languages do you speak?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [laughs]
[responding in Karen]
PNI: I speak Karen and Burmese.
BH: Thank you. Can you tell me a little about your family?
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BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: In Utah, or?
BH: Um, if you can talk about maybe your family here in Utah and also if you have
family over in Karen too?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[2:07]
[Baby breathing loudly]
PNI: Um, my family, we all lived in refugee camps and then we all moved to Utah,
which is, we were in Salt Lake and we came in March 3rd, 2008.
[2:25]
[Baby makes noises]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: We lived there for one year in Salt Lake City, and we moved here in 2009, and
we’ve been here ever since.
BH: He likes the microphone, doesn’t he?
[laughs]
So the refugee camp where you were at – where was that exactly?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: It is called Mela Camp.
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BH: Mela Camp? And do you have any idea where the location of that is in Thailand?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: We didn’t know. It is close to the border, and I know that it’s in Thailand, but I
don’t know whether it’s the south or which states or province it’s in. We just
know that it’s a refugee camp.
BH: Okay, and did you say how long you were there for?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: 1997 to 2008.
PNI: From 1997 to 2008.
BH: Wow, so then did you grow up quite a lot in this refugee camp?
BHI: Like, did she grow up in refugee camp?
BH: Yeah, like there as a young child and maybe as a teenager.
PN: Yeah, teenager.
BH: Yeah?
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yes, I was sixteen years old back then.
BH: Okay. What was it like for you, being there as a young person in the refugee
camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: Well, at first I lived in Burma. I was poor – my family was poor, and from what I
heard, refugee is a better place than Burma. At refugee camp they have school,
and their schooling is free. So I decided to go to refugee camp for education
purposes.
BH: Okay, so what kinds of education did they offer in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, the education in the refugee camp was – it’s not so great like in America,
but it’s better than Burma though.
[5:59]
[Baby breathes loudly]
BH: Okay, what kinds of things did you learn in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I don’t know if I learned much in the refugee camp because at first, coming to a
refugee camp was to study—
[Baby makes noises]
—but then, things changes, you know. Different circumstances occurred, and it
just changes.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: And I didn’t get to learn.
PN: [responding in Karen]
[Baby makes noises]
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PNI: However, I did help out the school and the teachers with a few things; just helping
out for a few years.
BH: Okay. Did you have any brothers or sisters with you, or your parents?
PN: Yeah, [responding in Karen]
PNI: I have three brothers, I mean –
PN: Three sisters.
PNI: – three sisters. One is in Thailand and the other is in Burma, in Karen State.
BH: Okay, we’ll get him some toys huh; let him play.
[laughs]
So are your siblings, are they still, you said in Thailand and Burma? Are they still
over there? Yeah? So, they weren’t in the refugee camp with you? Or –
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[8:47]
PNI: No, they didn’t live with me in the refugee camp, but my older sister (the one
that’s in Thailand) she has a daughter who has a disease, and in order to cure the
disease, there isn’t a hospital in the refugee camp. There is, but it’s not very big.
So, they had to go to Thailand to work over there and to get her daughter the cure.
BH: Do you remember much about your life before being in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, a lot.
BH: Yeah? What kinds of things do you remember?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
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PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, I remember lots of things, but which one are you wanting to know more
about?
BH: Yeah, let’s see, I guess things about your family – maybe your daily, kind of what
life would have been like for you on just a regular day? Or maybe like the sort of
the political situation, if it was dangerous at all.
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: [speaking in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[11:53]
PNI: Well, I do remember like from 1989 or 1990, well – not before 1990. I think I was
about 9 or 10 years old back then. We had, like I said, three sisters, and I lived
with my parents. Well, my biggest goal was to go to school you know, to have a
better school for me. Back then it was really difficult because the Burmese
military were coming and forcing people to become porters, and my dad was one
of them. After he has gone to do the porter thing, and then he lost his leg, like
during the war, and he couldn’t work any more after that. It was a really
challenging for my family. After a few months or a few days (I can’t remember)
my older sister, she kind of left us and she went to Thailand.
BH: Wow, thank you. So was education, then, I know you said – you mentioned
education earlier, and you wanted to get a better education. Were there other
reasons for relocating to the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yes, I wanted to go to school like really bad back then. In my village, my family
was the poorest out of everybody, and then in order to go to school there we had
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to have like a good umbrella, good shoes, good clothes – and my parents, they
couldn’t afford to buy any of that. And I kind of felt embarrassed, I mean, to go to
school there, so I though it’d be better to go to school in a refugee camp where
everything is free, you know. But then when I got to the refugee camp, I got
married – so I didn’t really get to go to school.
BH: So you met your husband, then, in the refugee camp? What was that like? Was
that a good place, I guess, to meet lots of people?
PN: [responding in Karen]
[15:33]
PNI: I think it’s a good place to meet with lots of people, but back then I was kind of
young. I was still young, and I had lots of thoughts: there isn’t anyone to support
me; my family isn’t here either.
[Baby makes spitting noise]
I guess that’s how I though about getting married you know – to find my
companion who, we can maybe support each other now. It’s just the thought that
came by.
BH: Very neat. So, your husband in here with you now? Did you all come over, did
you leave the refugee camp together? Yeah?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: Yes.
BH: How difficult was it to, I guess, go through the process of coming to another
country? Was that difficult or was it fairly easy?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, in Burma, it’s difficult there.
[Baby rattles toy and breathes loudly for a few seconds]
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In Thailand it’s the same thing. And here it’s still difficult.
BH: Yeah?
PNI: I don’t think that’s answering your question. Everywhere is difficult.
BH: Uh-huh. So, I guess, another way to ask would be is it difficult to gain entry as a
refugee into the United States?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
[phone buzzes]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[Baby coughs]
PN: Sorry.
BH: Oh, that’s okay.
[17:58]
[Pyo Nwe moves play set nearby]
Children like to be active, I know. I have nieces and nephews, and they’re, yeah.
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I think it’s a fairly easy process to get to United States, you know, compared to
people who came here with visa or other things. Because we were refugees, then
it was easier.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: To get here, we received lots of help, you know. People helped us step by step to
get here.
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BH: Okay, thank you. So in the refugee camps, did they celebrate any holidays or have
any special religious days?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, there are.
BH: Yeah, like, can you give us an example of one of those special holidays and
maybe how it was celebrated?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[19:49]
PNI: The biggest thing would be, we have Karen New Year, and we have Burmese
New Year. For Karen New Year, in the beginning we had like a – I would say like
camp leaders, lots of leaders, you know. They will go up on the stage and just
give speeches.
BH: Wow.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, Karen has it’s own culture, and Burmese has its own culture.
BH: So, what’s the main difference, I guess, between Karen New Year and Burmese
New Year?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Because I’m not as – I guess, I don’t have a good experience, like such leaders,
but what I can tell is that for Burmese New Year, they celebrate it on April. For
Karen, they do it on December.
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BH: Okay, so it’s mainly the time then.
[Baby coughs]
Wow. Thank you.
[baby makes noises]
So, when you were in the refugee camp, did you get any idea of what the people
in Thailand thought of the refugees in the camps?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
[Baby coughs]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, I don’t know about other people, but for me, you know, I was really scared
of the Thai military. Thai, yeah. Because back then if we had, say we have a
meeting, say don’t go out of the camp today, then I will never go out of the camp
because if the Thai military captures you, they will send you somewhere else.
Another example is my husband who worked outside the camp –
[Baby coughs]
He was chased by Thai military lots of times, but fortunately he escaped every
single time he was chased.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: What makes me more scared is that when I went back to Thailand one day, I saw
the Burmese military. They were taking people, you know. They were taking
people to – I don’t know where they were taking them, but they were capturing
people, so it makes me more scared.
BH: Wow.
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: Yeah, for me, it was really scary, but I don’t know about other people.
BH: So, is that something that happens a lot – that maybe refugees leave the camp,
they sneak out or something, and then they’re captured by Thai military and taken
somewhere else?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[24:44]
PNI: Yeah, I think it –
[Baby bonks head]
Ooh.
BH: Oh no, is he okay?
[Baby cries]
PN: Oh.
BH: Is he okay?
[Baby cries]
Head bonk.
[baby cries]
PN: Sorry.
BH: Oh, that’s okay.
PNI: He wants to sleep now. He’s feeling sleepy. Well, I don’t know about now, but
back fourteen years ago, I would say it happened a lot because I have seen it
myself. I lived close to the Thai military gate, I guess, their area, I kind of lived
close to where they lived, and what I saw was there was this –
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[phone makes noise]
– there was this woman, I would say
[phone makes noise]
PN: [laughs]
PNI: Sorry.
BH: That’s okay
PNI: Okay, what happened was this Thai military guy – he went out, he found a
woman, he took her to the camp, not to the camp but to their place, and I lived
really close to it. And they were doing some horrible things to her, I think. I heard
the noise and everything, but I couldn’t help. I was so scared. So, I think it
happened a lot.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, at the same time, not all the Thai military are bad. Some are really good
people as well. I remember when I was pregnant, I saw Thai military who was
actually helping me with stuff, you know. He bought me food, so that was really
nice.
BH: Did you had some children while you were in the refugee camp.
PN: Four.
[laughs]
BH: Four?
PNI: She has four.
BH: So, four. So, this one with you, he is number four?
PN: Five.
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BH: Number five, okay. Was that difficult? Either medically—I mean, did they have,
um, places where you know, there was a doctor around to help you give birth?
And then you know, raising the children in the refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, there were hospitals in the refugee camps. If I were pregnant – if I were
close to giving birth, I could go to hospital and give birth there. But what’s sad is
that, like, my sister or people who lived in Burma, they, there was no way they
could afford to go to the hospital in Burma, so it was kind of sad.
BH: Yeah.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I think, personally for me, I had a better life than my sisters had.
[28:30]
BH: How different is it now, raising a child here in America compared with in the
refugee camp?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, before –
[Baby touches microphone]
– in the refugee camp, yeah, it was different raising a child compared to here and
in the refugee camp. Back there, I had four kids, my husband would go out and
work, and if he finds a job then he will bring us some money so we can buy good
food, good meal. But here, it’s like, he has a job, and it’s better than the refugee
camp, but here we have a different situation I guess. I’ve been here for seven
years, and I wanted to go to school, but because of a bad situation I just can’t go
to school here.
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BH: Is there anything that would help you be able to go to school here in the United
States?
PN: [responding in Karen]
[baby cries]
PNI: [speaking in Karen]
PN: [responds in Karen]
PNI: Well, before I was pregnant here in United States, I had a teacher, you know. She
would come and visit me and teach me English. So that was really nice, but she
moved to Colorado long ago. But now, I don’t expect to go to high school or
middle school. It’s not something I can handle; I know that very well. But I would
like a teacher who could come and teach me, because now that my children are
growing up, I have time to study; learn more English.
PN: [speaking in Karen]
[laughs]
BH: He’s cute. So I wanted to ask, although it sounds like you may have answered my
question already, but given the chance to go to school, what would you study?
Although it sounds like English is something that you would really like to learn,
but is there anything else?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[33:06]
PNI: Well no. English is the main thing that I want to learn. However, I do want to
learn a lot of English so I can communicate on a daily basis. Let’s say if someone
were to ask me a question, so that I know the answer to that question, or I
understand that question so I can answer it.
BH: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so do you think learning English would make living in America
easier for you?
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BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, yeah, I think if I could understand a lot, but not a hundred percent, then I
guess it would help a lot, you know. Though it’s not a hundred percent, it would
help a lot.
BH: Yeah.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: And at the same time, my brain is not as good as American people, so it’s not like
I can really learn English. It’s not like I can learn English like a hundred percent,
does that make sense?
[Baby cries]
BH: I think if I understand what she’s meaning, you can translate it back and make
sure I’ve got this right, but, it’s difficult once you’re an adult and you’ve already
learned—
PNI: Mmm, yeah.
BH: one language—
PN: Yeah.
BH: it’s harder to learn another.
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah.
BH: Because I think the situation would be – if we were to go to Karen, I think we
would be in a similar situation.
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PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, when I had a teacher, you know the one that moved to Colorado, back then,
I think I understood English, a lot, I guess. I understood English more than what I
understand now. Right now, I think I forgot lots of it, yeah.
PN: [laughs]
BH: Yeah. So, your first few months after leaving the refugee camp, you came to
America. What was that like for you and your family?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, I think it was kind of a little bit challenging. When me and my family first
came to America, there weren’t a lot of Karen people, and we really didn’t know
a lot about America I guess. Well, at first, people were giving us those apple juice
– we thought it was oil, so we didn’t want to touch it. And then when they gave us
lotion, we didn’t know what it is, so we use it for our face because it smells nice,
right? If we wanted to say something, there weren’t any interpreters back then.
And if we wanted to go buy groceries, we didn’t even know where to go.
BH: Wow. So, what did you end up doing when you needed to buy groceries? Did you
end up – was there someone around who was also from Karen who helped?
PN: [responding in Karen]
[37:36]
PNI: Yeah, it wasn’t Karen people that helped my family. There weren’t many Karen
people like I said. It was people from the church. They pretty much helped us
with everything, I guess. Taking us to the hospital, you know, taking us to go
shopping, buying us stuff – yeah, from the church.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Oh, yeah, what I remember is that my oldest daughter – she had like a tooth pain
back here, the upper one, back here. We went to hospital, you know, and the
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doctor looked at it, but the doctor took one tooth out, but it was the one at the
bottom.
BH: Oh no.
PNI: But that one had cavities so it was okay, but the one that hurts was the one on top.
BH: So, it was on the top left?
PNI: Yeah, top.
BH: And he took out the bottom left.
PNI: The bottom left.
BH: Okay.
PN: [laughs]
[speaking in Karen]
PNI: I had to take my daughter to the hospital again to take the other one out, the upper
left one.
BH: How did you communicate that with the dentist, or the man who was working on
her mouth?
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: We were just using, I guess, sign language – kind of this, that. But we had people
from the church, like one person who took us to the dentist, but back then there
was no interpreters, so we can’t tell him what was going on. We just tried to show
him this and that.
BH: Yeah, with your hands?
PNI: Yeah, all without sound.
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: I didn’t know it either, that she had a tooth that was hurt, but my daughter just
told me that it hurts. But thought the doctor already took, it was the one on the
bottom already, but it still hurts.
BH: So, this church that you mention that helped you? Is this the church that you, or
the religion that you take part of?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
[40:37]
PNI: It’s not my religion, that church, but they have a lot of people, you know. It
doesn’t matter whether you’re that – whether you come from that religion or not.
And they help a lot of Burmese and Karen refugees.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, everybody who’s a refugee doesn’t know anything. So they help with
everybody I guess.
[Phone starts ringing]
BH: Is that you’re phone—no?
PN: [speaking in Karen]
PNI: It’s a broken phone.
BH: Oh.
[laughs]
PN: [speaking in Karen]
BH: Oh, okay.
PNI: It plays it every morning.
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BH: Okay.
[laughs]
BH: So, do you remember what the name of that church was?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: No, but it’s in Salt Lake. It’s the LDS church.
BH: Okay.
[Baby makes noises]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: It’s around 300 East.
BH: Okay, in Salt Lake City?
PNI: Yeah, in Salt Lake City.
BH: Okay.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: I think until today, they’re still helping people who are other refugees.
BH: Okay. Let me see.
[baby makes noises]
BH: So, you mentioned that here in Logan, your husband has a job? What work does
he do?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: He works at JBS. He cuts meat. That’s what he does – JBS, yeah.
BH: Okay. And I think—so you mentioned in the refugee camps, your husband would
have to leave the camp to work? Was there like a specific job that he had? Or was
he leaving the camp to find a job?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, he had to look for work, you know, in the refugee camp – outside of
refugee camp, I mean.
BH: Wow.
PN: [responding in Karen]
[Baby shakes toy]
[43:38]
PNI: Yeah, it just really depends on the day. So, one day you find a job, then you get
paid. One day, if you can’t find a job, then you don’t get paid.
BH: So what kinds of jobs could be found in that way? What sorts of work could he
find?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, if it’s around May, then he would work as a, like in a cornfield, where he
has some kind of corn.
BH: Kind of seasonal—
PN: Yes
PNI: Yes, depends on –
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BH: Whatever was available? Those kinds of things.
PNI: Yeah.
BH: Okay. Let’s see. Is there anything that you wish that the people of Logan knew
about you or your family? Or kind of your culture in general?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Well, I guess I don’t know, you know because, my family we’re from refugees,
you know, and we didn’t know about America a lot. And today we still don’t
know a lot about Americans I guess. We just kind of need help, you know. That’s
basically what she just said.
BH: Okay, so it’d be good if we could all find a way maybe to learn more about each
other, yeah?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, sometimes, I don’t know, if we’re in trouble or something – we just don’t
know what to do. We just kind of need a guide, I guess.
PN: [responding in Karen]
[47:17]
PNI: Yeah, we’re just kind of a little scared and don’t understand a lot here, so it would
be nice just to get help.
BH: Okay, I think I have – I have one more question. Do you think you will ever go
back to Burma, to Karen State?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
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PNI: Yeah, I guess I would want to go back and visit Burma, but I’m not a hundred
percent sure if I want to go back and live there permanently, you know. Yeah, I
just don’t have any plans yet for that.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: At the same time, I’m not a hundred percent sure if I want to live in the United
States forever either. So yeah, I’m just not planning yet.
BH: Mm-hmm.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: And the other reason for me to be staying here is for my children. They have a
better education here.
BH: I guess just one question going off of that – do you think you would ever want
your son here, who was born in America, do you think you would want him to see
the land where you came from and know that people and that language?
BHI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: Yeah, like I said, I grew up as a refugee, and I wanted to go back to school but I
couldn’t. But now I’m here in United States. I want to give my children the
opportunity to go to school here, graduate, you know – have a better education
here. After then, I would like them to go back to Burma and help out other people
you know, to tell them what they learned; to give back to the people in Burma.
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: For me, I want to help my people you know, but I can’t. I know I can’t. But for
my children, yeah, sure they can one day.
BH: Well thank you. I think that’s all of my questions, but I want to see if either Wes
or Meagan – if they have any questions they’d like to ask, if that’s okay?
PN: Okay, I have a lot of time.
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BH: See, your English is good!
[51:19]
WV: I guess I was kind of curious, if you’re not LDS – and I notice you have a picture
of the Logan temple up on the wall – what is your religious background if you’re
not LDS?
WVI: [repeating question in Karen]
PN: [responding in Karen]
PNI: [speaking in Karen]
PN: [speaking in Karen]
PNI: Well, back to the refugee camp, I was Buddhist. My whole family was Buddhist.
But here, me, my husband and –
[speaks in Karen]
– and my oldest daughter, us three – we converted to LDS.
WV: Okay
BH: Okay
PNI: We already have, yeah.
PN: [speaking in Karen]
PNI: So I guess there are like four more left in my family, still isn’t LDS.
PN: [speaks in Karen]
PNI: Well, what I want to say is that it all depends on my daughters I guess. It doesn’t
matter what religions they choose. It’s all up to them. We don’t have any
objection to anything.
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PN: [speaks in Karen]
PNI: For me, I chose it myself, to become LDS. It was my decision.
BH: Okay, any other questions? No? Well thank you. So I think that’s the end of our
interview. It is, it’s 11:58 AM, I don’t know if I mentioned, the starting time was
about 11:04 or 11:05. So thank you, Pyo Nwe, and your little son. So, thanks to
both of you.
PN: [laughs, responds in Karen]
[53:28]
Source
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives, Cache Valley Refugee Oral History Project, FOLK COLL 65
Date
2015-05-18
Rights
Reproduction for publication, exhibition, web display or commercial use is only permissible with the consent of the USU Special Collections and Archives, phone (435) 797-2663;
Relation
Cache Valley Refugee Oral History Project
An inventory for this collection can be found at : http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv67615
Cache Valley Refugee Oral History Project Digital Collection
Language
Type
Identifier
http://digital.lib.usu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16944coll14/id/86
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