My name is Toh Noeh and I am 67 years old. I was born in Mu Thraw Burma which is called Mu thu Caw Cha today. My daily life over there was working in the garden and rice fields. When I was really young (Mu Thraw) was a nice place to lived in , but as I got older, about 10 years old, I did not like it anymore. It was not fun for me anymore, because Burmese soldiers came to our hometown and started shooting. We did not have the time to farm because we had to flee from them, whether it was night time or raining.

When I was young, I did not go to school because my parents could not send me. My dad passed away when I was 12 years old. My older brother went to live with someone and worked there. My sister’s job was to cut grass for farming. At that time, I was the only boy at the house. I had to go with my older sister to cut grasses since she was scared to go alone. The house I used to live in was made out of bamboo and the roof was made with leaves. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister. I am the fourth child . I knew that all of siblings love each other, but their love for me was a little different. One of my brothers lived in the same community as me. Although I knew that he loved me, but he did not care about me much. There were times I had to take care of his wife, when she was sick. I went to work with him whenever he wanted me to. Around 1965 my brother owned a little business and I had a little bit of money left for me to take of my family. My wife just gave birth and I did not work anymore. The Burmese soldiers invaded and shot our village, so my wife and I  could not stay in our home anymore. We decided to go to another village. I asked my brother for some money to help me out, but he did not give me any and I was really hurt by him.

One of the elders told me that I will have a harder life than the rest of my siblings. Especially if I drink water from ( a tree called A Li), I will have a harder life. I drank that water anyways because I wanted my brother to be happy.

Another brother of mine was scared of  traveling by himself, so he asked me to go with him and in return he will give me something. I went with him 3 or 4 times, and he owed me 3,700 kyat (Burmese money), but he still has not given me my money. I had to sell my things, and I tried to borrow money but he would not lend me any. Now, he is too embarrassed to contact me. There was a saying, “If one of your older brothers fall, you pick them up, and if the younger brother falls the older picks them up.” The only person I sent money was to my oldest brother. I really had a hard life, and it was tough for me since my children were so young and they could not help me.

Here is a story: You have to listen to your parents. There were two daughters and both were sent to school. One graduated from 10th grade and her parents wanted what was best for her. However she did her own things and not listening to her parents. Her mom called her (daughter oo), because she worried her parents a lot. The bad daughter gave her mom a heart disease. The other daughter listened to her parents and helped them out in the farm. The parents called her (daughter hat), because she took care of the household stuff, feed the animals and cooked for the parents. She would wash her mom’s skirt by hands and did not throw away the dirty water. She would use the dirty water to mix it with her makeup. She did it out of love for her mom. There were 100 people who were going for a job. She was the only one who got the high position at work. There was this old guy who retold the stories. This young man tried to copy her and it actually worked. He became very successful later on.

My other siblings and I did not get along well, but my youngest brother was nice to me. One time, I went to visit my oldest brother, but it did not seem like the right time to go there. It was around 1995, but I went to visit him in Paw Poe Gur Kee. We walked there and the Burmese soldiers were waiting on the other side. We did not know what to do, still we were planning to take a boat. I was carrying so many things, such as bitter nuts and a few clothes to sell them. I asked my older brother for 100 kyat (Burmese money), but he did not give me any. At the time I was working, when I finished I was planning to be a soldier, because the high position villagers needed me. My youngest brother wanted to be a soldier, so he went in my place instead.  He did not like working in the farm or doing outside work.  He asked me to get him an uniform, which is for him. Unfortunately he passed away when he was 30 years old; he was the only one  closest to me. Wherever I go, he would go with me. All of my siblings work in different kinds of jobs. At that time, money was really hard to earn, and even when we sold 7,200 pounds of rice that was only worth 25 kyat (Burmese money). We had to work really hard. I tried to tell the children nowadays to study hard, so that they do not have a hard life. I brought three harps for them to play and learn, but it seemed like none of them wanted to do it.

My parents were farmers and worked in the garden. They started working from 8 am to 5 pm, when it was just cutting grasses.  However when it was the season of cutting rice, we would start our day at 3 am to 9am. If we did not do it early the birds or other animals would come to eat or destroy them. We used to take breaks to eat and rest in the afternoon. When I was 7 years old, I helped out the house by looking for woods and carrying water from the well to the house. Since I was really young, I went with the elders and just followed them wherever they go to pick up woods. I started cooking at age of 10 years old. I learned to do it by looking at my parents. The food that I miss the most are vegetables that I went to look for in the forest. Also I miss hunting for birds and other animals, and fishing. Karen traditional food would be fish paste. I remember going to fish with a few of my friends when I was around 13 years old. Usually we went shopping in (Pa Poe) and (Co Mu Co Ga). One thing we used to shop was salt. We started walking at 6am and we would get to the store at around 6pm. Back in the day the elders told us that people would go shop for foods first and later they would go check their traps to see if they caught any turkeys, they would spend a few nights there until they catch one.

I did not go to school, because I had to take care of my two year old brother while my mom went to work. Still, I learned how to read a few words of Karen was because I went to work in the afternoon. I just watched television and copy whatever the television showed. I asked my uncle to teach me the Karen alphabet and he did. If I had the chance to go to school, I would have loved attending. One of the many reasons I could not attend was also because my mom could not afford it. The school was not close to me and it usually took 3 and 4 hours to get there if we walked. We did not have any transportation, such as cars. The village I lived in filled with big hills around me and it was a big area. There were a lot of trees, rivers, and a lot of vegetables. When I was with my friends, we would usually go to work together. The games we would play together would be rattan ball. It was around Christmas time, and I was around 13 or 14 years old when one of my uncles asked me to go play some games. The activities we were able to play were racing, jump ropes, and anything like else like that. I got the first place and they gave me certificates. The certificates I received, I sold it to those students in exchange of rice that their parents sent to them.

There was not any heirlooms that I received from my parents. My dad was really poor, he was a farmer and did not own any horses or elephants. My other siblings were the ones who got something from him, such as special rocks. I was 14 or 15 years old when I started to help my family out. I used to work in the garden and rice fields. When my little brother grew up, I finally had the chance to work cutting grasses and taking care of the elephants. I was earning some money to buy salt and rice.

I have never dated, but I was just a guy who would get along with any girl and maybe flirt with them a little. An old man who introduced me to my wife. She only lived with her mom and they had a hard life. This old man asked me if I was interested in her, I said “if we were meant to be together and if she loved me” then I will love her. I did not have a lot of things, but I knew how to work in farming and gardening. She was doing the same work as I was. She was willing to marry me and I was fine with that. I was 31 years old when we met up and the first thing I noticed from her was how pretty she was.  Our houses were really close to each other and we worked together. She worked since she was a little girl and had to look after her nieces and nephews. She had to carry them on her back while doing other things too. My parents did teach me about relationships. My siblings and I did not joke around about relationships, because we respected each other. There was a saying if we do not joke around with our own siblings then there will be a respect for one and another.

I got married when I was 31 years old. After marriage I went to live with her. There was a saying that guys usually do not have a home, so after marriage they would go with their wife and live with her.  (There were 7 girls and 7 boys , they did a contest to see who gather the most rice. The girls built their own houses with woods and the guys built their houses with mud. One day, it was raining really hard and since the guys homes were made out of mud it ruined all their houses. The guys’ parents got all wet. The girls felt bad, and they offered them to live with them.) This is the reason why after marriage the guy opens to live with the girl, instead of the girl going to live with them. If you force a girl to go live with you then your marriage might not end up well and there will be a divorce.

There was no hardship after the marriage, because my life over there consisted of working and supporting the family.  I have 8 girls and 1 boy and 1 stayed in Thailand. I taught my children to be respectful and listen to teachers when they are teaching and parents when they talk to them. In my country we celebrated Karen New Year and Martyr’s Day, because he was well known soldier who fought in the field and died for Karen people. My parents and I religion is Buddhism. I moved around since 1995 to 2013. I was born and raised in Burma and moved to Mae La Camp when I was 30 or 40 years old with my family. We slept a day on the road and we got to Mae La Camp. We did not face any problems while we were on our way to Mae La Camp. When I got to America in 2013 there I faced no problems, beside not knowing how to speak or how to read English. There were times we would come to the Karen Organization in San Diego for help.

I learned how to play harp when I was 12 or 13 years old. I was watching a man who was playing the harp and at the time I did not own any, because we were so poor. Since I knew how to play a little I would later on continue teaching myself on how to play harp.