Mudee Paw’s Story
Can you tell me about your history?
I was born on December 10th 1991. I lived with my parents until I was 12 years old. When I was 12 years old, I left my parent’s home to go to the refugee camp. I left because my family had a lot of problems with Burmese soldiers and we are very poor. I wanted to continue my education so I travelled to Karenni Refugee Camp 1. Burmese soldiers lived near us and we were afraid of them. My parents were worried about the women in our family and they told me to go to the refugee camp 1. I started studying at grade 5 in Karenni Refugee Camp 1. After high school, I applied to the SDC basic course.
Before I studied at SDC, I didn’t know anything about law and human rights. During my time at SDC I learnt the basic knowledge of human rights. I have learnt about human rights, democracy and law. These are the most important subjects for us. After completing SDC, I wanted to have a more in depth understanding of the subjects so I continued to Burma Lawyer’s Council (BLC)
How did you get to go to BLC and what was your experience?
Our SDC teacher’s and alumni of BLC brought us application form to apply to there so I applied. We had a lot of experience at BLC. I met with many other ethnic groups such as Kachin, Mon, Shan and Karen. Now, I have learnt about their culture. I learnt about domestic law and other international legal systems. This course was very good for me because now we know about their law. Thai law is especially important because we liv in Thailand. After completing BLC school, I joined SDC as a subject trainer to share my knowledge.
How do you use the skills you have learnt?
I use the skills I have learnt and the curriculum from BLC to teach my subjects at SDC. BLC has a website where I can download curriculum to use for my subjects in camp. I teach rule of law, constitution, criminal law, civil law, law of evidence and fair trial.
Why are these subjects important?
The students must know about the law. They must know what is written in the law. They must know that the Burmese government has abused our rights. The most important subject is rule of law because then they can understand about the government’s application of the law and the citizen’s rights.
Why is SDC important?
If we look at the CBOs in our community, maybe the most important are the schools because our students have to help our community for one year. When our students come to study they make a promise that they will help for one year. This is really important for our community.