Ethnic Karen people fight for survival

IT WAS ALREADY 5PM when we reached a small village after crossing the Thai-Burmese border. As the sun went down behind the mountain, it became cooler, and we started to climb the barren mountain.

After one hour of uphill climbing, we stopped to catch our breath. My shirt was soaked through with sweat. It was getting dark and the jungle was getting deeper. As we walked on, we chatted and shared experiences with our guide, a soldier from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

Backgrounder: Who are the Karen people?

As night fell, I asked the Karen soldier about security conditions. I learned there were Burmese government army bases and landmines planted near the route we trekked.  Stroking his wispy beard, the KNLA soldier said the government soldiers frequently ambushed travelers on this mountain. Several people had been killed.

Speak of the devil! Gunfire suddenly reverberated just 250 meters away. The Karen soldier turned and grabbed his carbine rifle and listened intently. I asked him what was happening.

He didn’t answer me at first. He stood motionless, listening. A few minutes later, he concluded that the gunfire may well have been hunters. But he couldn’t be certain.  

We continued walking. He could see the worry in my eyes. “It’s OK,” he said. “We will stop soon and sleep. There’s a hut in the jungle.” 

The mountainside cleared of foliage, and we were marching beneath a crystal clear sky peppered with bright stars. We reached a tiny hamlet where we slept, and continued our journey at dawn. After another five hours of walking, we reached the headquarters of Brigade 5 of the KNLA.

Based in one of the most remote areas in Southeast Asia, the rebel Karen have their own way of life. Men, women and children bathe in rivers and streams; people make their homes from bamboo, wood and leaves; they travel only by foot; women cook creatures such as lizard and monkey on open fires, while the menfolk hunt in the forest and tend their rice paddies. Some breed livestock; others make a few simple handicrafts and utensils to sell at a village market.

In many ways, they enjoy an unspoilt, almost primitive lifestyle. Modern technology is either non-existent or contrasts sharply to the surroundings.            

Children use candles or lamps to read their school books at night, while sometimes the village headman has solar panels for electricity and a satellite telephone. There is no TV, a great disappointment to many villagers who adore Burmese and South Korean soap operas.

However, every village has at least one radio—the Karen being all too aware that they need to keep apprised of the unfolding political and military situation in Burma for their survival. In the evenings, men gather in the headman’s house, chew betelnut, and listen to the news on Burmese exile news services

Villagers invariably go to bed early and wake up with the roosters at dawn. Women cut wood and prepare breakfast while the men go hunting. They feed their pigs, dogs and chickens, and bathe in the stream.