Ration cuts set to affect the Karenni Community

Ration cuts set to affect the Karenni Community

Refugees in the two Karenni Refugee Camps are set to face further cuts to their rations. In the past month, The Border Consortium (TBC), an NGO that supports provisions to the refugee camps along the border, has confirmed to residents of the camps that due to funding cuts they will be forced to further reduce rations, starting in August 2015. TBC has already confirmed that the new round of cuts will only affect rice and charcoal rations. The stark reality for refugees is that, due to previous cuts of basic food stuffs, any cuts other than to rice would leave the refugees with a diet that is not nutritious enough to survive on. Since the previous cuts, households are separated into different status groups. These are self-reliant, standard, vulnerable and most vulnerable households. The cuts will affect all but the most vulnerable households along with children aged between 6 months and 5 years. The cuts will mean that the first member of...
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About our traditional Karenni beliefs

About our traditional Karenni beliefs

The Karenni people have many different cultural traits and beliefs. Karenni is a broader term used to describe all of the sub-ethnic groups that comprise it. Their beliefs are dependent on their sub-ethnic group. There are 8 main sub-ethnic groups: Kayah, Gekho, Gayba, Kayan, Manu Mano, Yintalae, Yinbaw and Payae. The Karenni are not just diverse in ethnicity. As a group, they also have different traditions and religions. The main religion of Karenni people is Christianity (Including various denominations). In addition to Christianity, there is also a minority Buddhist population. The third main religion is the traditional Animist belief. Some Karenni people only believe in their Animist traditions. Other Karenni people hold on to their Animist traditions and also follow other religions. The Animist traditions of Karenni people are centered on serving and protecting their community. They are separated into two main groups; the Ee-Lu-Phu and the Khai-phu. The Ee-Lu-Phu has responsibility for leading rituals and worship to their gods and spirits. The...
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The Karenni people celebrate their 140th National Day

The Karenni people celebrate their 140th National Day

On 21st June, our students joined with many other young people and organisations for a celebration in Karenni Refugee Camp 1 to recognise Karenni National Day. Karenni National Day commemorates the day that Karenni State was granted independence. For this day, Karenni people across the camp and across the globe unite in their shared history and roots. Every year the Karenni leaders remind their people of their history on the 21st of June. On this day, in 1875, the Burmese minister of foreign affairs, Kin Woon Mingyi and Sir Douglas Forsyth, a representative of the British viceroy, signed a treaty recognising Karenni independence. The treaty stated “It is hereby agreed between the British and Burmese governments that the state of Western Karenni shall remain separate and independent, and that no sovereignty or governing authority of any description shall be claimed or exercised over the state.” Despite this treaty, successive Burmese governments have ignored Karenni State’s independence and occupied their state. The 1875 agreement...
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School recruitment in Karenni Camp 1

School recruitment in Karenni Camp 1

During the summer season, schools in Karenni Refugee Camp 1 recruit their new students. These schools include our SDC. We have now successfully recruited our new classes for the 2015 – 2016 Basic Course and the 6th Advanced Community Management Training Course. We have 51 students ready to begin the SDC Basic Course and 20 Students preparing to start the Advanced Course.   Our SDC staff have all been very busy in the past month with recruitment and preparation for the new school year. Both groups of students have experienced an interview and entrance exam. After the interviews and entrance exams, our staff began the difficult task of selecting the students. For the basic course, we selected 28 women and 23 men. For the advanced course, we selected 10 women and 10 men.   For the basic course, we interviewed and selected from students who had completed grade 10 in the refugee camp or inside Burma. For the advanced course, we selected from our...
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The armed groups within Burma crawl closer to an NCA

The armed groups within Burma crawl closer to an NCA

The various armed ethnic groups within Burma appear to be moving closer to a nationwide ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government. On 31st March, the Burmese government and 16 ethnic armed groups agreed in principle to the draft Nationwide Ceasefire agreement. Some have acclaimed this agreement as a precursor to peace but others believe this draft agreement is being over emphasized and that it is only a small step towards peace.   All of the ethnic people know well that much has to be done before a genuine and long lasting peace can be achieved. For the Karenni people, it has been a long wait for a long lasting peace. The conflict in Karenni State has been ongoing for over 60 years and there has only been a Burmese government and KNPP ceasefire since 2012.   The KNPP wish to participate in nationwide ceasefire talks before moving on to peace talks with the Burmese government. The KNPP and other ethnic armed groups have joined...
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SDC runs a three day staff media training

SDC runs a three day staff media training

Every summer, here at SDC, we look to build our capacity for change. In order to increase our staff skills, we have just completed a three-day training course. The aim of the course was to build the multimedia capacity of our staff. We hope that after this training all of our staff will be able to take and produce high quality photography and videos. For three days, between April the 16th and 18th, we ran a workshop to provide effective instruction and practical guidance in the art of photography and video. The workshop was provided by volunteers and the participants were all SDC staff and alumni. The first part of the workshop taught how to take and edit quality photos. The trainers introduced some photography methodology. After this, staff practiced taking photos of people, our school and our environment. Finally, they used a video enhancement program to improve the quality of their photos. The second part of our workshop was focused on videos....
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About our Karenni language and literacy

Last month at a linguistics conference in Yangon, experts called for multilingual education to be made a priority. Here at SDC, we would like to provide our supporters with some background of the history of our Karenni language. The Karenni language has a long history as a spoken language. It is known by many names. It can be called Western Red Karen, Karenni or KayahLi. Kayah refers to the largest ethnic group in Karenni State as well as the language. This language is part of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic family. This is the native tongue of the majority of people in Karenni Refugee Camp 1. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 speakers of KayahLi. The language is spoken in Mae Hong Son province of Thailand and Kayah State, Burma. Many Kayah speakers are now dispersed across a number of countries including Australia, New Zealand, Finland and The U.S.A. There are three different alphabets for KayahLi. The first two are based on Burmese...
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Post – 10 education in and around Karenni Refugee Camp 1

Post – 10 education in and around Karenni Refugee Camp 1

The annual end to the school year for students in Karenni Refugee Camp 1 is in March. During this month and early March, a number of schools hold their graduation ceremonies and celebrate their students’ achievements.   Students within Karenni Refugee Camp 1 can study at the Karenni high school until grade 10 level. This is equivalent to 10 years of schooling through primary, middle and high-school. The Karenni Education Department (KnED) runs the schooling system inside Karenni Refugee Camp 1. After completing high-school education, there are few options for young people within the camp to continue their education. The educational stage after high school is called post-10.   For students within Karenni Refugee Camp 1, there are 4 main Post – 10 schools available to study at. These schools are; the Karenni Community College (KNCC); the Ban Nai Soi Community Learning Center (BnsCLC); The Women’s Study Programme (WSP); and our SDC School. Each of these schools has a different area of focus.   WSP is...
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Fire in Karenni Refugee Camp 1

Fire in Karenni Refugee Camp 1

Last month, the camp faced a serious challenge due to a fire. On Tuesday April 7th at 11:15am, a fire broke out in Karenni Refugee Camp 1. A total of 148 homes were burned to the ground. This incident happened during the traditional festival of Kay Htoe Boe. The fire started at 11:15 and lasted for almost 2 hours. It destroyed 148 houses. This has left over 700 Karenni refugees without homes. One of the buildings destroyed was the primary school number 1. The fire narrowly missed one of the clinics. The fire started in a small house in section 1. It is believed a resident left a pot unattended. On a hot, windy day, the fire spread quickly throughout the camp due to the refugees only being allowed to build their houses with bamboo and dried leaves. Due to the hot season and a lack of materials, camp residents were unable to limit or control the fire. A lack of materials also affected resident’s ability to...
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SDC celebrates the 2014 – 2015 Basic Course Graduation

SDC celebrates the 2014 – 2015 Basic Course Graduation

All of our SDC staff, students and community are happy to announce the completion of our SDC Basic Course for 2014 – 2015. We marked the end of this course with our graduation ceremony for the class of 2014 – 2015. We held our graduation ceremony on Saturday the 28th of March 2015 for the 48 successful graduates of our 2014 – 2015 Basic Course.   Before holding the ceremony, students and staff prepared for the ceremony. We invited an audience comprising of many different sectors of our Karenni Society. Many of our alumni attended our ceremony. Other attendees included parents, relatives, friends and supporters of our SDC. There were also the students of the women’s study program.     A number of leaders attended the ceremony alongside the Coordinator of SDC, Aung Sun Myint Steven. Attendees of the ceremony included the Karenni Health minister, Karenni Refugee Committee chairperson and the head of the Karenni Education Department. The leaders made a series of speeches to...
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