Karens – Mountain school: an interview with Father Alain Bourdery

The establishment of schools adapted to the needs of Karens in Thailand has changed the lives of young people and of their villages, spread out over an area 150 kilometres long. Father Alain Bourdery, from Paris Foreign Missions (MEP), explains how. (By Geoffroy Caillet. Originally published in French in Enfants du Mekong Magazine n°150.)

• Are the Karens in Thailand different from the Karen refugees?

I appreciate the question because I often think I was born to keep saying that their respective situations have nothing to do with it. Indeed many Westerners believe that the Karen villages in Thailand are refugee camps. The ethnic group may be the same, but the Karens put down roots in Thailand a long time ago, almost 300 years for some. And within this group the situation is very mixed: Karens from the Chiang Mai region, who make up the majority of the Karen community in Thailand, are much better integrated into Thai society than the Karens from the mountains to the north of Mae Sot.

• What obstacles do they face?

The difficulties facing the 300 000 or so Thailand Karens are both geographical and linguistic: their villages are difficult to reach and they have problems understanding Thai. Yet their problem is also that they are largely misunderstood. Their national awareness is not as marked as that of the Karens in Burma, because the question of territorial claim does not arise for them.  And they may have well-established customs and a national dress, but at first glance they are less identifiable than those of other ethnic groups such as the Akhas. They are a discreet people.

• What is the main issue in educating the Karens?

There is a growing rural exodus, so education must keep up with this movement of the Karens towards the towns and prepare them for a very different life from the one they have known. Some young Karens try their luck in Bangkok, where they become factory workers or employees. But many of those who are not educated become discouraged or feel they belong to a world which is too different, and they end up going back. Although they are Thai, the fact that they do not belong to the Thai ethnic group makes them suspect. When they have dealings with authorities or go to hospital, they are easily mistaken for Karens from Burma, who are illegal in Thailand outside the camps. On the other hand, Karens who’ve reached secondary school are more self-assured and always manage to get by, even in town.

• For twenty years, the priests from MEP have been establishing mountain schools for the Karens. What makes them so special?

A school adapted to Karen needs seemed to be the solution to the problems mentioned: the failure of Karen young people in Thai schools together with their feeling of inferiority and their understanding difficulties, and alienation. Since the children couldn’t get to school, school had to go to them. Despite administration difficulties, seven primary schools and boarding schools have been established in Karen villages. Unlike Thai teachers, who feel ‘cut off’ in these villages, those who teach there are all motivated because they are Karens themselves, and a system of continuous training enables them to improve their skills.

In addition it is noticeable that the school forms a crucial cohesive element in the village. Pupils, teachers and families all know each other and help each other out, as seen in the successful ‘rice bank’ set up this year. Taught in an inclusive environment where they feel comfortable, the Karens will be more self-confident when they have to leave and can then become leaders in Thai society. Our schools are now admired by the Thai government, and the best thing is that we’ve managed to build them in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere!

Stay connected! Next week, learn more about how tourists will be welcomed by Karens in Mae Sot.