A Memory of Childhood

N.Kwar (LS)

When I was a child, I stayed with my family in my village. I was very happy with my simple village. There was a small primary school but at that time I wasn’t interested in it. I went to farm and looked after the cows whilst my friends were going to school. Some of my friends were also cowboys. When we went to look after the cows on the farm, we collected vegetables and found wild birds flying in the forest that we shot and ate for lunch. We cooked our lunch of vegetables and birds with chilled pounds. While we were eating we laughed and joked with each other.

One morning, when I saw that my cousin was going to school, I decided that I also wanted to go to school. After that I started to be interested in education. Every evening I went to my cousin's house and learnt with him. When my father saw this he told me that if I wanted to go to school, then I had his permission to go the next day and he said that I wouldn’t have to go and look after the cows. “Follow your cousin and go to school.” When I heard that I was very glad. The following morning I walked with my cousin to school. When I arrived at school I didn't know anything. At first I had to introduce myself in front of my classmates. When lunchtime came, I began crying because I was lonely. I missed my friends who were the cowboys. A teacher came over to me and asked me if I wanted to sleep but I replied no. She then asked me if I was hungry but again I said no. Later I enjoyed it more and more because I made more and more friends from other villages and the teachers were nice to me. I played with my friends every day.
When I reached the 4th Standard, most of my friends in my class had bicycles. They used to travel to school on their bikes and in the evenings they played around the village. I wanted to play with them in the evenings but I didn't have a bicycle.
After we had completed our first test, one of my friends who had a bicycle wanted to sell it because he had been given a new one. So I asked my father to buy it for me. However, my father didn't want me to ride a bicycle because he considered me too young. Eventually he agreed to buy me the bicycle on the condition that I get first position on the second test. That is why I got up from bed early in the mornings and studied very hard. Every night I did my homework and revised my lessons regularly. As a result I got the first position in the class. At that time my parents were so pleased with my achievement that they bought me the bicycle that I wanted. The following morning I went to school on the bike with my friends and played around the village with them in the evening.
Unfortunately, when I finished grade 4, we didn't have a higher school in my village but my parents wanted me to continue my education. With this in mind, my parents found me a place at a school in another town. The next year, three of my friends and I traveled to Kyat Do to start our new school. This town was quite a distance from my village and so we had to set off for school at 5am and we didn’t arrive back home until 6 in the evening. After the first year, two of my friends didn't want to continue to study because we had to travel for so long every day to get to school. Another one of my friends went to stay with one of his friends who lived in Kyat Do and studied there. He didn't need to travel far to and from school. For me, my parents decided to continue my education in another city, Pan Ann, the capital of Karen state.
When I arrived in the dormitory I was very sad because I missed my parents and friends back at home. I was taken to Pan Ann by my father and when he left, I constantly looked back for him. My heart yearned to be reunited with him. At that moment I sat behind a wall and cried with loneliness. I was not happy there because there were a lot of students and the food was always the same. Every day we had to eat fish paste without vegetables.
After completing my first year I didn’t go back to my village, instead I followed a friend of mine to Mawlemyime City. I went to stay at a monastery there with him. We were both very happy there because we got good food. Every day we ate meals like fish curry, pork curry and chicken curry. After three months I got a letter from my parents with money in it, 10,000 Kyat. When I read the letter, it said that my village had been burnt and the villagers had been forced to move to another place by the SPDC. After that, I went back to my village. However, when I arrived I couldn't find my parents, brothers or sisters. I saw a few families in the village and I asked an old man about my family. He said, "they have gone to live in your uncle's village that located near the Thai and Burma border. I had to stay with him for a few days. When the SPDC returned to our village we had to go and stay in the forest. When they left, we returned to our village.
One month later I followed a man to Thailand, to my uncle's village. When I saw my brothers, parents and sisters I was so happy. My parents didn't stay there for long though. They decided to return to their own village after only a year.
In my life, I will never forget anything that has happened to me. I have remembered every moment. After my parents went back to their home village I continued to study in Nu Poe Camp, one of the refugee camps. Luckily, after I finished grade 10 in the refugee camp, I got the opportunity to come and continue my studies at Hsa Thoo Lei School. At present, I am studying at Hsa Thoo Lei Learning Center. When I was studying in the camp, I didn't see my parents. Even though I am studying at Hsa Thoo Lei, I still haven't seen them. Now, I miss them a lot. I can only pray for them when I go to bed.