The Shan: Refugees Without A Camp - An English Teacher in Thailand and Burma

The Shan: Refugees Without A Camp - An English Teacher in Thailand and Burma

" I cannot go back to Burma, Teacher. They will kill me. " A mix of memoir, travelogue, and history, The Shan: Refugees without a Camp recounts the trials and triumphs of Shan youth, who have escaped slow genocide in Burma by fleeing to Thailand. There they study English and tell stories about life in Burma, where Shan men serve as human minesweepers for Burmese soldiers searching for insurgents. They talk about the danger of death by starvation, beating, or bullets in a country where poor Shan women often become prostitutes and young Shan girls are raped by Burmese soldiers. The refugees stories are interspersed with reminiscences about the author s own life. Under the eye of the military, she travels in Burma to see the persecution students experienced, but finds that trouble areas are off limits to tourists and that the peaceful facade of cities is maintained by polite, helpful, and poverty-stricken people. They are stories of tragedy, hope, and love. Bernice Johnson's account of the plight of Shan refugees in Thailand is as well informed as it is heartbreaking. Her experiences teaching the Shan who have escaped the brutal Burmese military regime remind each of us that our lives and actions have consequences, and that it is up to us to decide to what end our efforts will be dedicated. I know of no one I admire more. --Richard Terrill, author of Saturday Night in Baoding: A China Memoir Under British rule, Burma boasted a total of fifteen infantry battalions, two in Shan State (then known as the Federated Shan States). These days the Burma Army need not fight anybody, but the number of its infantry battalions in Shan State has increased more than 35-fold to 555 at the last count. This has been a great burden to its people and especially its youth. In the past, their rice culture was enough to feed, clothe and shelter the whole family after paying taxes. These days, with the Army living off the land, it is barely enough for four months. The youth don t know what to do to bring back peace to their land. Their elders are unable to give much advice except telling them to go to Thailand. So they came to Thailand, the land of their cousins, to find the answer. This is the story of these youth, as told to a sympathetic Western ear. --Khuensai Jaiyen, Editor, Shan Herald Agency for News The author is intimately acquainted with the horrifying experiences of her refugee students and writes effectively about their triumphs. Burma under military rule and the Shan ethnics who escaped to Thailand come alive in Bernice Johnson s deeply felt memoir. --Inge Sargent, author of Twilight over Burma Bernice Koehler Johnson has lived and taught English in Spain, Indonesia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Thailand. Presently she lives in Minnesota and Thailand. She speaks to church groups, school groups, and civic groups, talking about the plight of Shan refugees and raising money for projects her former students have initiated, such as teaching the English, Shan, and Thai languages to Shan refugee children. These children have fled to Thailand with their parents, who live with the constant fear of being deported and subjected to possible torture, imprisonment, and death. Used Book in Good Condition