Video Transcript
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Today the Barton family are traveling to a Karen refugee camp on the Thai side of the Thai Burmese border.
We’ve been invited to meet the families that live there, and they’ve asked us to make and share their story, in case there may be those that see it, and would like to help in some way.
Karen people love music, they sing beautifully and almost everyone sings in a choir of which there are many.
Emilie has learned a number of Karen songs and wanted to sing them for and with the villagers.
Wherever we go we take art materials and today was an opportunity for Emilie to draw alongside her new Karen friends.
It’s November in Thailand and the weather can drop sharply in the mountains during the night so it’s important the refugees have warm clothes, especially at this time of year.
Khwan’s brother Kate knows we often visit the Karen villages and made a collection of clothes for us to take to them.
There are 20 families in this village and they all live in bamboo houses. They invited Emilie to see their homes and they gave us a very warm welcome.
What is needed in the village mainly is a stock of new bamboo, rice and dried food.
These refugees walked from Burma several years ago to escape the Burmese army. They’re allowed to live in Thailand as refugees but cannot work or travel outside the village. So the Karen people in this particular village rely totally on donations, which are few and far between.
Her name is “Norwari”
It’s been quite touching, these people made a welcome meal for us with all the best known Karen recipes - the dishes were delicious and extremely spicy.
The head of the village told us the full story of their life back in Burma and how they were forced to leave their homes and walk across the mountains to Thailand to escape the fighting.
So, this video is part 1 of our story. It’s clear to us these Karen people need a little help in the New Year to come. As the saying goes, “Be positive about the future, the road ahead will be worth it”.
Thanks for watching, stay safe.