I remember, I remember by Dee Dee Htun

A Rensponse to I, remember, I remember by Prem Banfal

I remember, I remember

I remember some of the events that happened to me and my family before we came to new zealand.  I remember a river so clean and shallow you can drink from it and walk across it to the other side of the river. My brother nearly drowning on one part of the river because there was a deep hole that we didn’t know about. I remember my mum jumping into the river to help my little brother and rescue him. My father would sometime come down to the river with us to bath along side us and afterward he would swing us high onto his shoulder and carried us back home. The village beside the river was peaceful and we had a lot of fun staying there and going to school. In our country some of the people would eat betel nut and one of my friend would usually eat it raw. One day she came to school and she spew out a white worm that was inside her. It was so gross most of us screamed. I think that where my phobia of worm started.

Since we are refugee we usually have to run from one place to another. That village was one of the village where we stayed for a couple of months before the soldier would come and then we would had to pack up and leave to another. I remember my parents shaking us awake in the middle of the night and they were already packed. The took our hands and lead us out into the night. I can't remember what happen afterward.

I remember after we left the village we made a border cross into thailand. I don't remember much that event but I remember my parents separating so that my dad would go into thailand illegally to work then he would call us up. My brother was the first to go then it was me. I remember riding on the back of a motorcycle being transported to where my father lived. Afterward my mum follow us and we stay at an apartment in thailand. We would move from one apartment to another. I think most of the place was provided to us by my father and mother friends who lived in Thailand. While we were in thailand we were told not to go outside just incase the police saw us and catch us.  I remember we at this apartment for awhile then one day the police came for us. I can't remember why but now that i think about it someone must have tipped them off. We were sent to jail for a month, I’m not so sure about it.  After that month we were released into the UN care where they put us into a refugee camp. We stayed at the first refugee camp for a few years then we got moved to another refugee camp where we stayed there before we came to new zealand. We had fun at the second refugee camp. We had a school where we went to and we had an American missionary who teaches us english. I hated going to the english school. I can't remember why i hated that school.

At the second refugee camp we were the first refugee there so there were no house built for us, so my dad build us a house. He was such a good carpenter. Our house was made from bamboo and wood stilt. The wood stile was for the foundation where the house stood and the bamboo was for the wall and the floor.We had to be careful with the bamboo floor because if we sit wrongly the bamboo would pinch you and it would hurt. The roof was made out of flax weave together by my parents. There were big trees surrounding the house and when it is sunny it would be really cool because the tree would shade us from the sun. Once a lot of refugee flooded into the camp the house/apartment was made for family and we had to move.

Our new house was small but once our neighbour move oversea we break down the wall that separate the two apartment so our house became bigger. I remember us not having much food to eat since it is ration by the Thai government but we has enough to keep us alive. We were out going children. We would made up a fantasy story and would go exploring. We explore most of the camp area. One of our favorite game was playing tag up in the tree which i fell off once because the whole branch where i sat broke off. I wasn't hurt but it was such a mystery because it was such  big branch and i was really small, so how could the whole branch broke off just like that all of a sudden.

We had TV at our apartment where we watch Thai drama so that where we learnt Thai from. We stayed at the camp for 3 years so before we came to New Zealand out language in Thai was fluent but after coming to New Zealand I could only speak a little bit of Thai but i can understand it.

The last day of camp was a fun day because we thought it was a whole new adventure for us. Out parents took us shopping for new clothes to take to Thailand. I had a pretty dress which gotten dirty because I spew up on it while I was on the airplane. we waved goodbye to our friend and made our way to the airport. All I remember was that the airport was dark and falling asleep on the airplane and spewing up on my brand new dress. The next thing I knew was that I was already in New Zealand where they took us to a camp to prepare us for living in New Zealand.  In New Zealand i had a brand new house and school and friends. I’m glad my parents choose New Zealand to live in.