My Experience

My village is located at Tenasserim River Bank. I had five family members that were my father, mother, my two siblings and me. I am the eldest daughter. I was 10 years old when I was in my village, my brother was 8 years and my youngest sister was 3 years old. I was young and so happy to go to school. My parents were earning their living by doing agriculture and farming. We could earn income by selling our plants. We did not know about worry nor need to worry about income.

Sometimes my father went for hunting and we got delicious curry. At that time we were so happy. Sometimes when I think of my childhood at my village, my tears fall down.

I remembered that my mother packed lunch for me and my brother to go to school. After we had lunch, we played in at the river with our friends. Every summer our family made dry betel nuts and my father sold them in the city. Every time that he sold the betel nuts, he bought us dresses and snacks. When we clothed our dress and looked each other, we smiled. At that moment we were so happy.

In February 1997, my father come back from the city and whispered with my mother about something. I don’t know anything but I had a conscience that something might be happen. As I was so young so I do not ask anything.

My mother only told me to play around the house with my brother and sister and not to go away from the house. I saw my mother packed our stuff such as cloths and food for travel.

One day, the villagers gathered in front of my house with their belongings and they said we had to leave our village. I was just a little child thus my father held my hand. I followed him. When I looked back to my house, I saw my cat and my black dog with her puppies left behind. I wondered what they ate and where they gone. It made me so sad. I never forgot about the sense that we had to flee away and leave behind our village. As I was a child I was just wondered that why we have to leave our birth place and what happened with the conflict and the war. Five days after we left our village the Myanmar military arrived to our village and followed us.

All the villagers, approximately one hundred people, fled together including small children, elderly, sick people, pregnancy women and breast feeding mothers. My father told me we could not walk slow and could not take a rest. If we walked slow and take a rest the military could reach us. So we had to hurry as much as we can. For me, my feet were scratched by thorns. I was so pain but I could not take care of my feet. I needed to be quick. I was afraid that the military could reach us. I helped my mother to carry clothes. It was very heavy for me but I tried my best.

One day the military reached us when we were in the jungle and shot us. One lady whose house next to mine got kill because of the military’s gunfire. Her husband and children were so sad. They had to cry in their chest because they could not cry out loud.

The villagers were all separated into groups because of the military’s gunfire. We hided in jungle. After the military had gone, we all gathered again and buried that lady. Our three villagers got injury.

As I was so young, I just thought why God let us faced this situation. We had to move from one place to another place. Finally we arrived to the place called; Kyar Poe Mai where we saw a lot of people had arrived in there. We have nothing. We got food and the clothes from the people who had arrived before us. Then I realized that I had nothing to worry. I played with children who were the same age as mine.

I am happy now. My father told me we became refugees now. We have got protection and no need to worry. As I was so young, I don’t think that it is a good experience to be in this world. Sometime it has good time and bad time.

Naw Mu See Poe
Section (14)
House No. 379