This morning we returned to BT/BK. Our first meeting was with the elders who said they would be interested in teaching their traditional art forms to the youth. It turned out to be a fabulous meeting. There were several hundred people, it seemed as if the whole camp came, and they were all very excited.
The meeting started inside a traditional temple they built out of bamboo, with a performance by a group of very well rehearsed refugee children giving a traditional dance performance. They were dressed in the traditional costumes and the dance was about the rice harvesting. After the dance, we talked with the elders and they told us what art forms they would like to teach. The list was wonderful, and they were so excited – you could see how proud they were to stand up and say what they did well and wanted to teach and felt was important to pass on to the youth. The list was great…. Storytelling, the “eyro,” telling of the traditions and history through song, singing, dancing, fortune telling,by reading chicken bones, basket making, weaving and costume making, drum and flute making, and how to spin cotton. When they spoke about what they wanted to teach, you could see their confidence return, they had something to look forward to in their monotonous lives something that tied them to their past, their homeland.
Now they wanted to show us more dancing. So we went outside and watched more dancing and music playing. There were several groups of older Karenni women who performed different dances - very tribal, a group of men who sang, played the flutes and drums as they marched in a circle, a young Shan man who performed a sword dance – using a bamboo stick instead, and finally a group of young Shan girls who performed another very well rehearsed dance. This dance, as opposed to the one performed by the first group of youth, was much more refined, with specific hand and finger gestures. There was not any stomping or jumping – it was rather timid in comparison.
After being given rice wine to drink – very interesting flavor, we left the group for a meeting with JRS.
The meeting with JRS was to see if they had any suggestions about working with the youth in the camps. We decided that the best ages to work with would be 12-20. The chief administrator of the schools is going to help us gather those youth interested in the project. We will meet with them next Friday afternoon.
It has become clear that a committee has to be formed to manage this – there are just too many people interested in the project that we need to work with a smaller group who can help to make decisions and then talk to the community.
This is becoming such an interesting and fulfilling project. It was so evident today, when we met with the elders – and the whole camp showed up, all generations, yearning for something to be involved with. Community is so important. Until you build a strong community, these people will not have the desire to make a better life for themselves. We all need to be involved with something, something that makes us feel a part of a hectic and sometimes horrible world, something to hold onto when there is no explanation for why things are happening – or why you were forced to leave your homeland in fear of being killed. That is why religion has been around for so long. We do not merely exist independent of others; we exist together – as a group. That is why it is so important to form a community.
Once you provide them with the essentials, food, shelter, safety, you have to build their spirit so that they can then go on and live enriched and contributing lives.
I came back to my room this evening and the woman who runs the guesthouse set out an arrangement of flowers in my room. She has two young daughters who have spent the last week making valentines for the guests. I came into my room to find a stuffed red heart saying, “We’re sweet.” It really was sweet.