Escape From Burma (page 3 of 4)

Driving Forces

One of the driving forces behind the resettlement is Jim Jacobson, director of a small Michigan-based charity called Christian Freedom International (CFI). For the past decade, he's championed the Karen's cause and trained backpack medic teams to care for the sick and injured inside Burma while establishing schools in the refugee camps.

The best students, including Moo Nay Paw and P'Zaw Paw, matriculate to another CFI school, which teaches English, math, and computer skills with a goal of training future Karen leaders. In addition to hiring full-time staff, Jacobson recruits visiting teachers from the United States.

Among them was Melissa Behrens, a Microsoft manager in her early 30s. Behrens and Microsoft donated ten new computers to the camps, and in September 2003 she took a leave from her job and traveled to Thailand to teach the students basic computer skills. "These kids had never seen electronics like this before," she says. "I showed them how to turn the computer on and off, and I helped them create identification cards with their date of birth, name, and picture."

On her first day in Mae La, Behrens met P'Zaw Paw. "I could not stop staring at her," she says of the frail girl with wavy hair. "We just had this very special connection." During her seven-week stay, Behrens and the girls grew close.

"She makes jokes and makes us feel happy," Moo Nay Paw says of their relationship. Behrens was concerned about P'Zaw Paw's foot: "I asked what I could do about it-in my naive American way, I thought if there's something broken, you see what can be done about it. And of course, over there you just make do and live with it." She paid for P'Zaw Paw to have surgery in Thailand and stayed in touch with the girls via e-mail and letters after returning home to Charlotte, North Carolina.

"When I heard from CFI that the girls might be up for resettlement, I was just beside myself," says Behrens. "I couldn't stop thinking about this." She and her husband, Mark, sought to become the girls' foster caregivers; Moo Nay Paw and P'Zaw Paw shared their enthusiasm.

But more than a year has passed, and the girls remain in Thailand. For single adults and intact families, resettlement can happen quickly and easily. For orphaned children, it's a complex process. The girls' relatives in the Mae La camp have made it clear that they do not want the girls back, but the United Nations is loath to break up even tenuous family connections. The Behrenses faced bureaucratic difficulties in the United States too: They were initially rejected as foster parents in the federal Unaccompanied Refugee Minors program, which is overseeing the resettlement, because they do not live near a URM office.

Even so, they began intensive training in foster care. "We had home inspections, background checks, health exams, CPR training-everything. And I was also writing letters to my Congresswoman," Behrens says. "It's just been so hard to get this done, and it's broken our hearts because what should have taken six months has taken twice as long." The girls are close to being approved for the program. While the couple may be their foster parents, "it's not a guarantee," Behrens says.

She's aware of the huge task in front of her if things work out as she hopes: "It's an unusual thing to want to take in grown teenagers who have been through so much trauma," she says. "But our hearts ache so much for them, and we so want them to have a chance in life, to be loved."

For the girls, too, the issue of resettlement is more personal than political. They understand what's happening in Burma and have said they want their people to be free, but they also have simpler wishes. "I want to go and live with your family," Moo Nay Paw wrote in a recent letter to Behrens. "I can't wait. I want to go this year. I miss you." She signed her letter "With love, from your daughter."

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