Burmese refugees find Flint a haven
Sunday, March 11, 2001
By Betty Brenner - JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The Grand Rapids Press
Flint - Zune May Ngae had never seen kitchen appliances or a washing machine before she moved to Flint in July1999.
Living in hiding on the jungle border between Myanmar and Thailand, she washed clothes by hand. In a refugee camp in Thailand, there wasn't enough water to wash clothes often - but her family had few clothes to wash anyway.Now, learning to use modern appliances is only one way a small colonyof refugees from tyranny and violence in Burma (now called Myanmar) is adapting to life in Flint.
Among others:
Zune May's husband, Dr. Kyaw Thet Oo, last week took the first medical exam he hopes will lead to him becoming a resident physician in a local hospital by the end of the year.He and two other members of the group now have driver's licenses. A fourth took the test last week. And a fifth has passed the written exam and is working on his driving skills.
One works full-time as a cook in a Linden restaurant and another is a part-time waiter there. One works part-time in a pet shop.
Two had major surgery recently to repair brain damage from being shot by Burmese troops. Another, Thein Oo(Burmese last names are not family names, and Thein Oo is not related to Dr. Oo) has a new prosthetic leg to replace one that was broken in Thailand - one that he needed after stepping on a land mine.
All are learning English, and two of Zune May's and Dr. Oo's three children are getting good grades at a Flint public school.But ask Zune May why she is happy to be here and she does not mention washing machines, medical care, school successes or job opportunities.
Her answer is quick: "Now we are free."
Fleeing repression
Zune May, her husband, their children and nine other refugees fled brutality and repression in Burma, spent years in the jungle and then survived two years in a Thai refugee camp.
The refugees will observe Tuesday as the 13th anniversary of the beginning of the unsuccessful uprising, in which some of them took part, against a repressive Burmese government. Friday, a date now known as Red Bridge Day, will commemorate a day pro-democracy protesters in a peaceful march were beaten so badly by government troops that many died. Hundreds of the injured suffocated when they were crowded into vehicles and taken away.
Zune May's family was resettled here by the Catholic Diocese of Lansing; members of the Unitarian Uiversalist Church of Flint helped repair their first house here, schooled them in American ways and took steps to get Supplemental Security Income for them.
Two handicapped young Burmese men came with them.One, Zaw Min Khaing, caught malaria in the jungle. It has taken until now for him to mostly recover.
The other, Yan Kyew Aung, was one of the men shot in the head by troops. Surgery in Thailand was only partially successful and was repeated here with success.
Since then, the group has expanded to include a family of four and five young single men. All had protested the repression in Myanmar and paid for it in various ways.Six others who came have moved to other states for jobs that didn't require much knowledge of English or to beamong larger numbers of Burmese.
One, Zaw Lin Oo, is living with Grand Blanc friends he met at the Unitarian church.The refugees say life is better here than in Burma, the jungle or Thailand, even though "everything here is different," said Ko Ko Naing, a medic trained in the jungle by Dr. Oo. Among the differences: the food, the language, the appliances and higher prices here.
"Yes, life is improving," Dr. Oo said. "In Thailand, in the refugee camp, we cannot do anything except eat and sleep and there was no opportunity for education.
"We have been through a very difficult time in the jungle.Here we don't have to worry about the next meal."
Helping hands
The refugees were brought here by Ken and Visakha Kawasaki, Flint residents who were in Burma at the time of the uprising. Later, out of sympathy with the protesters, they met them in the jungle and sponsored the hospital the doctor ran. The Kawasakis also paid for the new prosthesis Thein Oo received here.
Here the Kawasakis bought two houses for the refugees to live in: a two-story, five-bedroom house on Maryland Avenue on Flint's east side and a one-story, two-bedroom house a few blocks away on Maryland. Dr. Oo and his family moved about two weeks ago into a one-story, two-bedroom home on Missouri Avenue.
Eight of the others remain at the five-bedroom house on Maryland. The other house on Maryland is for sale.Ko Ko Naing's family of four and one of the young men live on the first floor of the Maryland house. The other three young men live on the second floor. They share meals and, as far as health will allow, share duties. The wives spend time together.
Dr. Oo is employed by the Burmese Relief Center, operated by the Kawasakis to raise relief funds for Burmese refugees still in Thailand.
Cultural shifts
Zaw Lin Oo, excited about his new life here, lighted a candle at the Unitarian church in February to celebrate his first anniversary here.Life for the Burmese is a mixture of American and Burmese cultures. They usually eat Burmese food - rice, tofu, fish paste, chicken, yellow beans and bamboo shoots, most of it cooked with curry. But they also like pizza and chicken sandwiches. They can't buy fish paste or masala, a seasoning, here, but can buy some by mail from an Indian store in California.
Although they wear American clothing when seen by others, they often wear Burmese clothing - the men wear long, loose garments - at home. They speak Burmese at home, but are speaking English more and more as the lessons they receive from the International Institute or Zimmerman Center's English as a second language courses help them.
In Thailand, the children played on the ground or with other kids. Now they enjoy computer games, ride bikes, roller skate and watch cartoons on TV. The doctor's son, 7, proudly shows off his collection of toy animals."Going shopping here is amazing - the choices," Oo said.
In Burma, they celebrated birthdays with alms to Buddha and the Buddhist monk. But when two celebrate birthdays June 5, they also will light candles on a birthday cake and sing "Happy Birthday."
Active Buddhists, Oo's family spends part of Friday evenings chanting and meditating before a shrine at the Kawasaki home on Missouri Avenue.Every other month or so a monk visits from Toronto or Indiana.
"We feel comfortable here," Dr. Oo said. They are getting acclimated to the United States - "but we are not there yet."
Betty Brenner is The Journal's religion editor. She can be reached at (810) 766-6332 or bbrenner@flintjournal.com.