“If I were to sum up my last three months in one word it would simply be, incredible. I’ve always been a sort of culture-vulture, someone who feels the most alive when I’m surrounded by a language I don’t understand and a group of people whose culture I do not yet understand. I was more than just excited when I was told that I was getting the opportunity to teach in Thailand, literally on the other side of the world. Yes, I was a bit nervous as well, seeing as I’ve never taught anything before and I’m not usually one for public speaking. I literally had no idea just how much I was going to fall in love with teaching these beautiful Karen students.
When I first arrived in Thailand, everything was beautifully different. When I arrived in Huai Kalok Village, I truly realized just how astoundingly different and amazing this new world was. The roads were dusty and the fields glowed golden as the wind brushed through the stalks of wheat. I stared at the silhouettes of the tall banana trees against the radiant horizon. Purple mountains stared at me in the distance laid against the forever-stretching, open sky. It was unfathomably different and beautiful. I knew I was about to experience a new world that cannot even be imagined until being surrounded by its peace and chaos.
Before I left for Thailand I had already begun my research on Thai culture and all the facts about the country, which was good for me to know, yes. However, I will say that after three months I honestly learned more about the Karen people and their culture, language, beliefs and struggle than I did about Thailand. It never crossed my mind before I left that all my students were from Burma, and although I was living in Thailand, on a day-to-day basis, I would be interacting with Karen. The understanding I gained from my students was one that took me a long time to grasp. I never in my life had realized just how powerful is one’s fight for their own blood. These students were coming from a country that hated them. A country that wanted them gone and waved off their rights like it was the most absurd idea that they even had any. Many of them had never had any education before. You see, in Burma education is very expensive and even for those who can afford it, all the subjects you are to learn will be Burmese. In Burma, the Karen are not even allowed to study or learn their own language. I discovered this one day in class while giving a quiz that I had made. The objective of this quiz was to write the correct English vocabulary word in the blank next to the vocabulary word written in the Karen language. A few minutes after handing out the quizzes, I noticed that most of the students were just staring blankly at their paper. At that moment one student looked up at me and said, “Teacher. I can not read.” I replied, “You cannot read the Karen??” He said, “No Teacher. I can only speak.” I was a little shocked and embarrassed. I then asked how many of the students could read Karen and only a couple raised their hands. I had no words as I tried to comprehend that many of these students my age could not even read or write their own native language.
I learned that many of these students had lost family members due to sickness, or at the hands of Burmese soldiers. Even the family members they still had, some had not seen for many years as their family had sent them away to live in a refugee camp while they stayed behind in Burma. The more I learned about these young Karen who were my age, some of them even older than me, the more I wanted to try and understand them, to connect with them as a friend and a sister. A language barrier always makes getting to know someone a lot more difficult, but if there’s a will there’s a way. And I had the will, so I made a way. These students became my friends. I started to learn Karen as they were learning English. As I would walk around the school and see a student I would greet them and ask how they were in Karen. Speaking to them in their language means more to them than even speaking to them in English. When you learn their language you are taking a part in preserving a language and culture that is being pushed into extinction. You are not just connecting with them on a level that they understand, but you are taking a stand for the freedom and preservation of their cultural identity, their blood.
Looking back on the three months I lived at Huai Kalok Bible Institute, I think I could never run out of words to describe my experience. My travels throughout Thailand were eye opening and breathtakingly amazing. My days living at the school were so much fun and incredible as I got to bond and create friendships with these beautiful students. And living in Southeast Asia itself was incredible, and I can honestly say I was very sad to leave! I would not trade this experience for anything and I plan to return as soon as I can. My heart will always be connected to my students and what I have learned from them.”
– Kate Plummer