Burma Link| June 8, 2017

Naw Ku is a former high school teacher and now a student.  She studies at English Immersion Program (EIP) to further develop her English skills and widen her horizons.  EIP requires students to speak English 24 hours a day as a means to achieve fluency.  In addition to language studies, Naw Ku and her classmates learn about community development and teaching strategies.  She is very grateful for her education and is looking forward to putting her new skills to use in a career in education, management or interpretation.  In fact, she worked as a volunteer interpreter and transcriber/translator on this documentary.

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The interview was conducted as part of the joint documentary “Unrecognised Leaders, Tomorrow’s Hope: Raising the Voices of Forgotten Youth” by Burma Link, Karen Student Network Group (KSNG) and Karen Youth Organisation (KYO). The interview is the fifth in a series that we have been publishing since May 30, 2017. This interview series is meant to give more in depth understanding into the situation of young educated ethnic refugees from Burma as well as refugee advocacy and Burma’s political past and current situation. The text has been edited and some parts have been omitted for flow and clarity.

Burma Link started planning this documentary film project in August 2016, consulting numerous refugee-led organisations and other organisations working on refugee issues and producing advocacy films to set the direction for the project. Based on our positive experiences working with refugee youth along the Thailand-Burma border for years, we decided to focus on creating a film that would amplify the voices of the youth, share their stories, and enhance national and international awareness and support for the realisations of social and political aspirations of the youth. The project was planned and conducted in close collaboration with two local youth organisations: the Karen Student Network Group (KSNG) and the Karen Youth Organisation (KYO).  We also partnered with the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) and Right to Play who support the distribution and advocacy of the film. The central role of education in the film grew organically during the filming and interviewing process, as did the youth’s strong pleas for national and international actors to recognise and support their education.

Burma Link’s team members involved in planning the project all have years of first-hand experience from the Thai refugee camps and working with young refugees. Over the years spent along the border area and in the refugee camps, we have developed a thorough understanding of the security context and how it has changed over time. This context has been given serious consideration ever since the beginning of the planning process, and appreciating its complexity and state of constant flux, we started the planning process by arranging meetings with central actors including various local organisations. Considerable time was spent in considering the security aspects about this project before the filming started. Everyone taking part was clearly explained about the project and that it will be spread to local, national and international audiences as widely as possible. Everyone taking part has been given the option to be anonymous and unidentified.

For more information and screenings, please visit the film’s website and follow the Facebook page.

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My studies: ‘When we go back to our place we will be able to use these abilities and it will be very beneficial’

I came to study at EIP, because of our leaders arranged it for us. In the past, I was teaching at Htoo Lway Wah High School. At that time, there were enough teachers so our leaders planned for us and they selected two of the teachers to continue with further study. They selected us, one of my friends and me, but we didn’t know where EIP is and had never heard of it. Our leader asked us

[to apply and] take the EIP entrance exam, then we did it and we passed. We are now studying many different subjects like translating languages, occupations, teaching strategies and how to solve problems. When we go back to our place we will be able to use these abilities and it will be very beneficial for the community in many ways.

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EIP Program: ‘We know that our community needs us’

I like EIP so much. EIP is very helpful and very important for the young people. It encourages the youth to improve our life. Otherwise, how would we develop our community for the future? That’s why we have to speak English for 24 hours inside the EIP compound. If we meet with foreigners we don’t need to be afraid to speak with them because we always speak English in the school. They are also teaching about community development at EIP. How to find out about what our society needs and how to develop our communities; we have learnt about that. We know that our community needs us and then we try to do as well as we can and the results are very beneficial. Therefore, I like EIP very much. I especially really like interpreting subject because my goal is to be a good interpreter one day. When we are studying here at EIP we are learning to translate and speak English. It’s so good. Moreover, we learn about teaching strategies so after we finish this school and go back to our community we can be useful in many ways like teaching, management, or interpretation. I see that it’s very beneficial, so I like EIP.

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Importance of Education: ‘You can help your nation to develop’

Education is important because if you are educated you can get you can get a good job. If you are not educated you have to work very hard like working in the fields, in the farm, and other people will look down on us. Moreover, you can help your nation to develop in many different ways and people will value and respect you. Then you can manage things, you can improve your people and develop your country.

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