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I was so happy to see the beautiful mountains and jungle stretching out for miles wherever I looked. The air smells so fresh up there and you can see for miles. No freeways, billboards, power lines or anything to detract from the beauty of nature. We drove through 2 mountain Karen Hill Tribe villages and I remembered the year we were forced to spend the night in one because the road was too muddy to traverse after dark. That night was an experience I hope I never have to repeat!
After about 2.5 hours we finally drove up to the check point going into camp. The driver showed our passes and the bar across the road was raised. I am always touched that I have the freedom to come and go and the Karen are trapped inside. Po Po told the driver to take us to section 5 where Pastor Kasu lives. I saw right away that the SDA church they were rebuilding last year was finished and many new homes had been built to accommodate all the new arrivals. We were told that since the United Nations High Commission on Refugees has started the resettlement program that for every person sent to another country, 200 internally displaced persons living in the jungle are making their way into the camp seeking refuge.
Several of the children recognized me and brought one of the English speaking teachers who knew me She was so happy to see us. One of the boys ran to another section to get Pastor Kasu. We were taken to his house and everything unloaded from our truck. In just a few minutes Kasu was coming up the trail and I went to greet him. It had been 11 months since I was last there and we had lots to talk about. He distributes all the sponsor funds for me and he wanted to go over the distribution sheets with me and let me know which children had been re-settled, graduated or had married. After we had gone over all the sheets, I gave him the latest sheet and money for children who were due a distribution. 4 of those on the list had either re-settled or gotten married. When I get back home I will contact the sponsors and choose new children to get the money. It takes so long for mail to get back and forth between us, it is very frustrating. The Thai banks sometimes hold my checks for 45 days before the money is released. This camp is so remote, that we haven’t been able to come up with a better system. I was told the camp now has a satellite telephone, but it was expensive to use.
I asked Kasu if we could set up our registration table in the church and he agreed it was the ideal place. Last year I was sitting on the floor of one of the homes and there were so many people crowded in to get their pictures taken and talk to me that the bamboo floor broke! He set up a small table with 2 chairs on the stage and it was so much better! Rudy and Kasu got everyone organized for the registration/photo process. Kasu took the cards and used the camp loud speaker to summon the children to the church. It wasn’t long till children and parents were filing in and sitting on the wood plank “pews” waiting for their turn. Kasu had my cards and called out a name, the child came up, I checked info on card and took their pictures.
I had brought 300 “Jesus Loves Me” lollipops and each child was given one. The whole process went so smoothly it only took a couple hours take about 100 picture.
I had a great time seeing how the children had grown and greeting the parents who came to see us. It was a great reunion.