KSU Background
The Karenni Student Union was founded on April 1st 2000. Resettlement of camp residents overseas in the last two years has seen membership numbers drop, but KSU remains active in supporting both established students and new arrivals. The primary goal of the KSU is to help Karenni students gain the skills necessary to serve our community both now and on our return to Karenni State.
Our Activities
Education
KSU, in partnership with the Karenni Teacher Union, set up a school called the Karenni Leadership and Management Course (KLMC), a two-year program for post-high school graduates in the Karenni refugee camps.
Training
KSU organizes trainings for trainers on subjects such as basic political concepts, democracy and human rights, management and leadership skills, in order to equip the trainers to run course in the camps.
Student Activities
KSU organizes art and writing competitions and physical activities, such as sports, for students on special Karenni national days and holidays. KSU also organizes other-students-related activities in the Karenni refugee camps, such as membership recruitment and the issuing of membership cards.
Student Basic Needs Project
KSU conducts research into students needs and then within the limits of their funding provided for these needs. It has been found that the essentials students lack are candles, soap, clothing and toothpaste.
Annual Conference
KSU hold an annual Seminar, which is an opportunity for students to get together for social activities, to evaluate the past year and make future plans.
School Visits
KSU student leaders pay regular visits to the schools to maintain contact with the students, encourage them and keep them informed about forthcoming activities. Working groups are also set up in the Middle, High schools and FE colleges.
I would like to learn Karenni language very much. Do you know where can I find resources like, alphabet, audio books, DVD etc?
Marina
Hello. I am not sure if you can help me, but I hope you can send me in the right direction. I am a Newcommer teacher in Texas. I have 17 Karenni resettlement refugee students. I am trying to make them feel comfortable and welcomed, but at times find it difficult to determine what they have previously learned in their their home country. Do you know of any websites or organizations that provide information in their language? I want my students to gain the academic knowledge to perform at grade level and have the best start to a new life as possible.
Thank you for any help or advice you can provide.
Hello Angie,
I work at a resettlement agency and we have about 75-100 Karenni in our city. From my experience, it is going to be very difficult (near impossible) for you to find information in the Karenni language. You won’t be able to find a dictionary.
I’m guessing you also have Karen students at your school. They won’t necessarily be able to communicate with each other. The Karenni are an even smaller ethnic group than the Karen and they lived in remote parts of Burma and their refugee camps were in more isolated parts of Thailand. The Karenni language only became written in 1962. The majority of the population doesn’t read and write Karenni. Most of your children probably attended school in the camp and likely know how to read and write basic Karenni. The more educated Karenni adults will also speak, read, and write Burmese. Among our Karenni population, most of the women speak only Karenni and are illiterate, so you can assume that most of the children’s parents will have a hard time helping them at home. As with any population that is from a very rural background, it will take their families longer to adjust.
Another thing we’ve noticed is that the Karenni are even more reserved than the Karen. They appear more shy and you may have to ask multiple times to find out if there are any problems.
Check out this great website of pictures from one of their camps:
http://karennirefugees.multiply.com/
I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck and keep up the good work!!
Claire
Here are links to information about Karenni resettlement issues and an article about Burmese refugees in Houston.
http://karenkonnection.org/Docs/031909_Karenni%20Refugees.pdf
http://www.cal.org/co/pdffiles/refugeesfromburma.pdf
http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-09-03/news/the-burmese-come-to-houston/1