I found this story on the Vision Beyond Borders newsletter and I thought it was worth sharing. If you are interested in subscribing to receive these newsletters, go to VisionBeyondBorders.com and at the bottom of the homepage is a link to sign up.
The story of this young girl, pictured above, was sent to us by our contacts in Thailand. It is condensed from her full testimony.
"This happened in a place where my parents prepared a new plantation to grow rice. A few years ago, the Burmese army came to our village and all the villagers fled. Some fled to Thailand and others to the tips of the streams behind our village. At first, we hid by a stream near our village. Later my father told us that more Burmese soldiers were patrolling near the riverside and he feared that they would find us and capture us so he took us to the border.
Mei Pya Po is located in a valley of a stream, and has no flatland. Some people plant crops on the slopes of the mountain. My parents prepared a paddy field in Ka Pler Hta with more than ten other families. We had to walk two hours from Mai Pya Po to get to the field. My father could walk without a problem, but it was a long walk for me.
One Sunday, when we finished worshiping at the midday service, I was with my parents in our house cooking dinner. My little sister was playing beside my mother. We heard gunshots and people screaming, "Pa Yaw! Pa Yaw!" (Burman! Burman!) I saw villagers fleeing. Suddenly, I saw many Burmese soldiers running down the road beside people's houses and shooting their guns. My father jumped up and ran away and my mother followed him carrying my little sister. I ran out of the house only a short distance and hid under a big tree. I looked for my parents but I did not see them. I saw Burmese soldiers running around and shooting their guns. There were many various sounds of gunfire, some sounded like avalanches from the mountains. After a long while, I heard my mother crying out. I saw one of the Burmese soldiers dragging her. In her hands, she was holding my little sister. I did not dare go and help my mother even though I saw her. I was stayed hidden under that big tree. I saw my father go try to help my mother. The soldier shot him, and he fell down. I heard my mother cry out about two more times and then I never saw her again.
The shootings continued for a while and then everything became calm. Then I saw some Burmese soldiers driving a herd of buffalo. After this, I did not see any other people. I did not dare to get out from under the tree. I did not know where the other villagers had gone. I hid under that big tree until later in the evening. Although I was hungry, I did not dare to venture out. I stayed there until dark and went to where my father lay and stayed beside him. I did know that he was dead and I was afraid to go anywhere else. The night came and I laid my head on my father's arm and slept next to him all night. The whole night I did not hear anything, except a dog that sniffed at us, so I drove it away.
The next morning my father's chest was very could and smelled a little foul. I still stayed with him until the sun came out and then I went back to a big tree where I hid the day before. I did not know where to go because my father had died, my mother was dragged away by the Burmese soldiers, and I did not know where she had gone. I stayed under that big tree all day and became very hungry and thirsty. I hid under the tree and sometimes looked over at my father's corpse. When the evening came I heard people speaking in Karen and saw a group of four or five people inspecting my father's corpse. They spoke to each other for a while, and they buried my father. I did not know who they were, and because they also had guns I dared not go up to them. They searched around the area and later one of them saw me. By this time I knew that they were Karen soldiers. They told me to come out from under the tree and they gave me some rice. They asked me about what had happened and I told them what I had seen. Later they took me to Mai Pya Po."
No comments:
Post a Comment